A Look Into Virtual School's Impact on Children

Think about it, have you ever had to deal with online learning, lockdown, and isolation? Well, I’m sure you have. COVID-19 has had a big impact on our world. It has caused people to get sick, be separated from family, refrain from traveling, and have mental health issues. Around 53.2 million people suffer from mental health issues because of Covid-19. Since the pandemic started, there has been a big increase in mental health issues with people, especially kids - all because of virtual school. Once lockdown started, teachers found a way to still be able to teach their kids through computer technology and what we call virtual school.

Schools took to virtual learning as a solution to still being able to learn during the Covid-19 pandemic but are also looking far beyond the consequences. Without virtual school, kids would have nothing to do all day and wouldn’t be able to learn anything, and for how long virtual school has been going some kids would have even skipped a grade without it. Many people think virtual learning has a positive effect on kids still being able to learn during Covid times. However, research shows just how many students have suffered from mental health issues because of virtual school.

Much research shows, according to the American Psychological Association (APA), that kids have trouble focusing during virtual school due to the fact of having the ability to go onto different pages at the same time. They feel that because their teacher cannot see them it is okay to go off-task which leads to the lack of discipline that students experience during virtual learning. On the other hand, when on-site, students need to follow rules to stay focused while in virtual school, students don’t necessarily have to follow these rules (Stringer, 2020).

At the same time, students’ favorite part of school is mostly seeing their friends, where they get to hang out and talk with each other during breaks. Not only that, but they also get to learn together. They can do group work and discuss what they have been talking about in classes. On the other hand, virtual school has not allowed them to see their friends as much which decreases their motivation. According to the APA, kids need the motivation to learn - “those moments of working alongside a friend or asking a teacher for guidance allow students to feel connected to others” (Stringer, 2020). When on a physical campus, students have the opportunity to interact with other students in their class.

Eric Anderman, Ph.D., an educational psychology professor who studies academic motivation at The Ohio State University, said, "It may be a problem to not interact with fellow students but it is also a problem that teachers cannot give proper individual attention” (Stringer, 2020). He adds that kids’ self-confidence is negatively affected “during distance learning because it can be more difficult for teachers to provide individualized feedback” (Stringer, 2020). When kids are doing in-person school they are able to ask teachers questions for their own needs and get the attention they need to help them learn. While doing virtual school, kids are not able to freely raise their hands and ask for help; they need to ask in front of the whole class. After all, it can even be embarrassing at times and makes kids feel that they should not ask for help in case it will be an obvious answer that the whole class already knows.

According to APA, virtual school is especially hard for children with disabilities - they are considered the most likely to have trouble during virtual school such as kids with ADHD (Attention-deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) who have trouble paying attention in class. This is because kids with disorders like ADHD are already at risk or have difficulty in education, and online learning just makes it even harder (Stringer, 2020).

I interviewed Grade 2 to Grade 6 students at The Harbour School to understand their perspectives on online learning:

Question: Do you think you got enough individualized attention during virtual school?

Answer: “No. Because I felt that the teachers were presumably very busy dealing with the whole class,” said fifth-grade student Francis Lui. He explained how he felt that there was not enough individualized attention towards him because the teacher had to deal with everything else that was going on virtually through the other students. This example shows how when kids feel that they don’t get enough individualized attention, they can be put down because they aren’t getting the help they need.

Question: How did you communicate and socialize with friends during virtual school?

Answer: “I used video games like ShellShockers, Roblox, and Minecraft. I also used Google Hangouts and Gmail,” said Kaito, who is a fourth-grade student. He explained how he wasn’t able to physically interact with friends because he couldn’t see them physically during virtual school.

Question: What did you dislike about virtual school?

Answer: 1. Teachers can’t give out individual guides. 2. Kids need parents to watch them. 3. Kids can’t focus on the screen too long. 4. No social environment.

This is according to fifth-grade student Elizabeth Zhu who. This shows how challenging it is to have teachers who can’t give proper individualized help and attention and how kids can’t focus on a screen for too long because it is bad for them as well as how difficult it is to have a social environment because they are separated from friends.

Question: What were you feeling during virtual school?

Answer: “A bit sad and lonely,” said fourth-grade student Viola Moore. During virtual school, she was sad and lonely because she felt no motivation from her friends.

Question: Which do you prefer: real-life school or virtual school?

Answer: Most kids chose real-life school due to all of the reasons which can prove that virtual school does take a turn on a kid’s life.

The amount of suffering that kids have to go through because of virtual school is heartbreaking - no friends for motivation, not enough attention from teachers, and no self-confidence. Kids just like me have had a long journey through virtual school and in some places around the world, kids still have to go through virtual school, increasing the risk of mental health issues towards kids like me.