Problems faced by children in online learning and how to manage them
In a glance:
After the global pandemic, some significant aspects of our daily lives were permanently altered, including the growing popularity of individuals working from home, the e-commerce industry, and the way we do most activities in general.
?The change in learning modalities is one such aspect that has undergone a total global transformation in the lives of 25% of the world's population who are under the age of 15. Even before the pandemic, the majority of people in the world, including its young minds, were incredibly dependent on and preoccupied with their cell phone devices.?
However, with the shift to online learning and teaching methods, smartphones have become an independent and massive phenomenon. Today, even preschoolers are receiving schooling online; depending on how one looks at it, this development may be viewed as a ban or a blessing.
Either way, it is safe to conclude that it has significantly influenced and altered the lives and young minds of our children.
It's ironic how different online and traditional schooling are from one another, yet they both teach the same subject while offering very distinct services. Online learning opens the doors that provide access and the capacity to learn, attend school or classes, and connect with instructors from practically anywhere in the world easily; nevertheless, it also presents a variety of problems and issues experienced by children that were never heard of until recently.
?The following are some of the issues and challenges for kids that the online learning technique has put forth:
1. Blue light emission: Prior to the advent of the pandemic, children would only use their mobile devices and social media applications during downtime before returning to their classroom work and offline studies. However, with the advent of the pandemic, this was no longer possible, and their education also moved online. As a result, their free time and classroom time were now being merged in front of a screen. It denotes a significant increase in screen time. As people spend more time on their mobile phones and sit in front of their screens, they consume more blue light than ever before, both of which have been shown to have serious detrimental effects on eyesight and cause extreme visual fatigue.
2. Obesity and poor eating habits: When your child is in front of the screen, it is challenging for them to get the recommended amount of physical exercise each day. Numerous studies have revealed that the increased consumption of processed foods and carbs during these online study sessions is a factor in the rise of childhood obesity. Young adolescents with type 2 diabetes have become more prevalent in the post-pandemic era. Thereby, sitting in one place and munching on unhealthy carbs has led children to become obese at a young age.
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3. Lack of social skills: The social isolation brought by the pandemic made it extremely difficult for people to interact with each other, but even after the immediate threat of the virus subsided, people's desire to interact with others and their social skills have declined to some extent. Children have also experienced difficulties meeting new people and establishing social relationships. Their ability to interact with others, speak in public, and manage their social anxiety have all suffered as a result.
4. Disrupted sleep cycles : "The Journal of Adolescent Health has an online version of the 1,125student study.". Only 30% of students were found to be sleeping for the recommended amount of time for young people, which is at least eight hours every night" People's circadian rhythms have been shown to be disturbed when they spend increasing amounts of time in front of screens. Your child's biological clock finds it difficult to distinguish between day and night as a result of the constant blue light emissions from devices, which also makes it harder for them to enter REM sleep, which leads to a number of additional problems. Today's youth struggle with insomnia, which is a serious issue. The human growth hormone released by the pituitary gland, which is only secreted when people are in deep sleep, can also be reduced or rendered ineffective by sleep deprivation. Therefore, lack of sleep has highly negative effects on a person's health, growth, and development in addition to disrupting their mood and awareness.
However, you can always take precautions and take protective measures to help you and your child deal with these challenges. Some such suggestions are as follows:
1. Encourage participation in Sports: Playing any sport for even 20 minutes a day is known to increase endorphin and dopamine levels in the body, which are crucial feel-good hormones that are depleted when people spend a lot of time sitting still. So take part in sports because they will not only benefit from the exercise but also from the mental stimulation that will help them think more clearly, perform better, and ultimately sleep better—all of which are related to one another and essential for their overall health.
2. Blue light reduction lenses: Another precaution you can take to protect your child's eyesight and ensure a healthy circadian rhythm is to get them to wear blue light reduction glasses when they are in front of screens. According to studies, wearing blue light-blocking glasses while studying prevents children who previously complained of daily headaches from experiencing nearly half as many headaches.
3. A proper schedule: Having a proper schedule is important since, often, youngsters experience anxiety and mental health problems as a result of feeling overburdened by their to-do list. Their young minds are continuously bombarded with demands from their academic spheres as a result of their curriculum being moved online. Numerous essays, ongoing classes, and assignments for Zoom may be overwhelming and can lead to burnout. So assist them in creating a suitable schedule that includes plenty of breaks and time for other activities.
4. Extracurricular activities: Taking time out to engage in any extracurricular activity, such as arts and crafts, playing an instrument, or writing and reading, is incredibly beneficial and helps provide young children a creative outlet. In their sometimes overly stressful daily lives, these hobbies also serve as stress relievers for them.
5. Dopamine Detox: Detoxification is another fun way to reset and recharge that was popular both during and after the pandemic. Dopamine detoxification involves limiting stimulating activities to an absolute minimum. For example, giving up electronic devices and mobile phones for a full day and limiting yourself to writing, drawing, or reading as your only forms of creative expression In essence, you avoid anything that causes a release of dopamine. Your brain undergoes a dopamine detox, which creates new neural pathways that are not continually stimulated, makes your old activities seem more pleasurable, and improves the amount of dopamine released when you engage in them.
This works wonders for people who are stressed out and gives them balance and a broader feeling of mindfulness.