Examining the well-being and motivation level of schoolchildren during the COVID-19 pandemic might provide valuable insights for the effective allocation of resources and the development of informed policies aimed at supporting this demographic. The study aims to investigate the reported changes in children’s psychological well-being and motivational level as reported by their parents during the implementation of stay-at-home orders due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A snowball sampling was employed to families of school students attending public and private schools within Klang Valley in Malaysia (N = 1014). They were given access to an anonymous survey through an online platform (via link and email) between October 2022 to February 2023. The present study sought to investigate how exposure to COVID-19 and the implementation of preventive measures such as physical distancing affected children’s mental health. The study also sought to gather insights from parents about their observations and concerns regarding their children’s well-being and academic performance during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, parents reported that their children lacked motivation during the COVID-19 pandemic as compared before the pandemic. The study findings revealed that parents, utilising a retrospective pre-post design, identified a total of seven mental health issues and five positive adjustment features as the outcomes. COVID-19 exposure and family stressors were also reported by parents. During the pandemic, children’s psychological well-being declined noticeably, with increased feelings of distress, self-harm, agitation, loneliness, anxiety, stress, and depression. Specifically, before the pandemic, only 156 students, constituting about 7.67%, reported severe psychological stress reactions. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, this figure sharply rose by more than 36% to 806 students. Prior to the pandemic, academic achievement was notably higher for the majority of children compared to during the COVID-19 period. Academic achievement was reported to be higher for most children prior to the pandemic. Many children experienced internet outages while learning online, but they were still able to access course materials and interact with teachers and peers. Overall, the study demonstrates the pandemic’s significant impact on children’s well-being and academic performance.
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