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Jennifer Garner tearfully speaks about 'heaviness' families feel due to COVID-19

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Our favorite Jennifer Garner moments for her birthday
Rodin Eckenroth/FilmMagic via Getty Images
ByMegan Stone
July 23, 2020, 4:03 PM

When speaking about the struggles families face because of COVID-19, Jennifer Garner was overwhelmed by emotion.

During a meditation session on Instagram with Chelsea Jackson Roberts on Wednesday, the 48-year-old actress tearfully recounted all the anxieties she feels about the ongoing pandemic and acknowledged that, due to her privilege, she isn't struggling as much as many families.

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But, above all else, she admitted her main concern lies with how her kids -- Violet, 14, Seraphina, 11, and Samuel, 8, all of whom she shares with ex-husband Ben Affleck -- are coping with their new normal.

"I'm really thinking about my kids and what their experience is going to be," Garner said, before reflecting on all the ways her privilege makes their life less challenging.

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"They're so lucky. ... We have broadband. So many kids in rural America don't have broadband," she said. "We have excellent teachers who can teach over Zoom -- that is a one-in-a-million possibility in this world -- and yet, it's also a depressing one."

The "13 Going on 30" star confessed all the concerns she feels as a mother.

Jennifer Garner poses with her children Violet Affleck, Seraphina Rose Elizabeth Affleck and Samuel Garner Affleck at her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Aug. 20, 2018, in Hollywood, Calif.
Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images

"What is this year, full of transitions, gonna look like for kids, for my family?" she asked. "How can I keep joy in learning for them or help them just continue to find their resilience? And that's where I am today."

Garner counted her blessings -- her children have a roof over their head and food on the table -- saying she feels "so lucky," which led her to feel a "heaviness" that some families can't afford those basic needs.

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"It is heavy, it's heavy for everyone," the "Alias" alum noted. "How do kids in this world not just live in all this heaviness?"

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