LOCKDOWN EFFECTS ON STUDENTS
Rishabh Saxena, a Class 9 student of a south Delhi school, wakes up around 7am and, an hour later, plonks himself in front of the computer. He is in front of the screen until noon, attending one online class after another. Every evening, Rishabh spends up to three hours more on the computer to complete his class assignments.
Ekta Saxena, Rishabh’s mother, says her son’s generation anyway tends to be glued to multiple screens, and it isn’t clear how healthy it is for children to sit for so long in front of the computer daily. “Will such a lifestyle lead to lethargy setting in? We are absolutely concerned about what the long-term impact of this new kind of lifestyle and teaching can be,” she said.
Many parents are hoping that this is a temporary phenomenon that will fade with the lifting of the lockdown and the reopening of schools. But some say that online education is set to become the new normal in a post-Covid world.
who teaches psychology at Delhi’s Lady Shri Ram College. “The key question is how much
is too much? We have no clear answers. There is an urgent need for research in India
considering that a large part of education will be shifted online for at least 1-2
years.”
Over the past two decades, several studies have linked too much of screen time with
social isolation and depression, but newer studies say the link is tenuous.
