Amid COVID-19 Lockdown: Impact on School-going Children and Adolescents

Abstract

Introduction: The spread of coronavirus has led to strict lockdown due to which the enthusiasm and routine of individuals had affected to the maximum, leading to a new normal lifestyle. In India too, the government as a part of the nationwide lockdown has closed all schools and colleges, as a consequence of which, learners ranging from school-going children to postgraduate students, are affected. Objectives: To find out the beneficial and nerve-racking impact amid lockdown on school-going children and adolescents. Material and methods: A descriptive study was carried out among the parents of school-going children and adolescents. A self-structured questionnaire was prepared by the researchers by using a google form to collect the data. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for the data analysis in terms of item-wise analysis. Results: The major findings of this study revealed that parents were actively involved in activities which were beneficial for children throughout lockdown like helping their children doing homework, involving children in domestic chores, preparing tasty food, fixing a timetable for study hours, controlling children spending time in online hours. The majority of the parents spent family time doing leisure activities with children. The vital concerns of parents regarding online classes were: extra time which was spent in writing homework by children, they were easily distracted by noises and other stimuli while attending classes, changing habits of children like mood swings and frustrations when the phone or any other gadgets were taken away from their children, parents were worried as increased screen time can cause vision problems. The majority of the parents were also facing financial issues as they had taken new internet connections for the online classes. Few items as answered by parents revealed that parents felt satisfied with this new option of homeschooling for child/children in terms of learning. There were no changes in their sleep patterns, food consumption, bowel-bladder habits, and children were happy and adjusted due to this change. Conclusion: During the lockdown period, online learning is the best platform to keep learners engaged and safe by maintaining social distancing whereas the long hours children spending on computers and smartphones for online classes are bothering parents.