Online Classes Fatigue for kids is it real or myth? from Mommyshravmusings in Mental Health of Kids

Online Classes Fatigue: How to avoid it for our kids

No one has ever thought that one full year would be eaten away by the pandemic and our living style would undergo drastic changes. But that has become a reality, and as a part of this new reality, education has taken a different route and an altogether unbelievable route, if I have to say. Online classes have become the new normal. Even when the world is opening up slowly everywhere, schools are yet to open up, and internally we parents also feel vulnerable in sending our kids out to school. So we prefer online classes to traditional schools. But have we ever considered that Online Classes affect our kids in more than one way, apart from the regular tiredness of attending school? This syndrome is called Online Classes Fatigue. WHO and UNICEF are already forewarning us about the TWINDEMIC we all will be facing this year. TWINDEMIC is nothing but having two pandemics in the same year. The two pandemics WHO refers to are COVID-19 and the Mental Health Issues the world faces due to COVID-19.

Children are more social beings when compared to adults. They learn a lot only from their peers and miss all that fun and learning during their growing-up years. If this Online schooling continues for another year, our kids will forget the basics of social interaction and many physical outdoor games.

Online Classes Fatigue for kids. Is it really a myth or reality from mommyshravmusings under Mental Health for Kids

A recent study by Gallup has pointed out that 33% of parents have realized that their kid’s emotional and mental health has taken a toll in the US due to Online Classes fatigue. Though this study is primarily conducted in the US, the results would be the same everywhere too. The earlier we realize the need to address the emotional needs of our kids, the better it will be for them in the longer run.

Results of Online Classes Fatigue

Being a single child, I could immediately see the marked difference in my kid. Even though I try to act like his friend and keep playing with him, that would only be for a limited time. I will have the other hats to don and house/work to manage. So, I can’t spend all my waking hours just playing with him, isn’t it?

The more he started spending time alone, the more he was getting attached to gadgets instead of books. He used to read a lot during his free time prior to the pandemic, and now that’s not the case. The more he spends time with gadgets, the more changes I am able to observe in him, and it’s a vicious circle to break. I could see him developing unnecessary fears, becoming increasingly hyper-energetic as he could not exert his excess physical energy. So we joined him in the online gymnastics classes.

Though the online gymnastics classes are draining him of his physical energy, his intellectual hunger isn’t getting satisfied. So it resulted in another myriad set of problems. He also started experiencing online classes fatigue. He stopped doing his assignments, started losing interest in his studies slowly, and stopped returning his assignments. We initially thought the problem was with our child, but when we spoke to our other parent friends, we realized this was a universal problem. Even the kids in traditional schools are not completing their assignments or finishing their exams. So, this is a universal problem everywhere.

The Solution to the Online Classes Fatigue:

So, then what is the solution? We are currently in a unique situation; the kids are not able to see how their peers are spending time at their house. They are not able to gain inspiration or learn from their peer group. These kids don’t have live role models to emulate during this lockdown. Though teachers across the world are working hard to provide kids not just education through online classes but also a platform for them to interact with their peers digitally. These digital interactions are not providing enough comfort or security to the kids. They only get to see their parents, who are always busy working. They are not getting a clear sense of what the future is all about. And they don’t want to become like their parents, always working busily. And that’s impacting them adversely on the studies front.

7 Tips that have worked for me inorder to avoid the Online Classes Fatigue in Kids from #Mommyshravmusings in Mental Health of Kids

So what can parents do in this situation so that the emotional health of their kids is not affected badly? This is what we are doing at home, which I thought I would share with you all:

  • Try building your kid’s resilience by reading various positive stories of role models navigating through difficult times.
  • Spend time reading stories with them.
  • Increase their interaction time with extended family members (especially the grandparent’s generation). Hearing about our family history and their generation’s struggles will build resilience in our kids.
  • Try doing some physical exercise or playing a game together in the limited time available as a family, which would increase the positive hormones in every family member.
  • Making them self-accountable to small and definitive tasks would help build their confidence.
  • Limit the exposure to gadgets without adult supervision. We can use these gadgets to create a positive impression and provide them different experiential learning to the kids.
  • Let the child embrace mindfulness in all the activities he does so that the kid can really start to take a notice of the beauty around him and appreciate it more.

The first thing we did is to cancel most of the online classes for my kid. We are only attending school and his dance classes through Zoom. That has given little flexibility to my child. Next is we removed the tab and mobile from his reach and made sure that he watches it for a limited time of 15 minutes a day. We started getting him connected more to his grandparents and nature. So slowly, we are getting our carefree and happy child back. It’s still a long way to go, but now we know that we are on the right track.

Clearly, Online class fatigue is affecting our kids very badly. And it’s the time when the schools and parents should concentrate and work hand-in-hand about the psychological issues affecting our kids. Studies can take a back seat, but the emotional health of our kids is more important as we don’t want our kids to get converted into anxious, self-doubting, socially incapable adults. The government, schools, and parents should take the onus on them and address these psychological issues in our children at the earliest.

Suhasini, IP, is the Author of the book “Practical Tips for Kids Mental Health.” As a certified kids and parents life coach, she helps/guides you toward a happy family life for your kids. She firmly believes that “Emotionally Happy Kids of today are the Mentally Strong and Happy Citizens of tomorrow.” Let’s make the world a happy and beautiful place for our kids to thrive.

45 Comments

  1. Limiting exposure to gadgets and reading stories are things we’re doing at home, too. I can confirm that it really helps!

    1. True Satabdi. That was the first step we took, limiting the exposure of gadgets. Reading stories is anyways a continuous activity in my house. As he is little more matured now, we started sharing family history by showing albums so that he will understand the struggles all of us have gone through to reach this stage.

  2. Thats a much needed topic at this hour. Online classes have shown its effects on kids. They need a break from gadgets and the best way to do that is purring down on other online activities.

    1. Yes Alpana, cutting down their gadget time and next is to equally appease their intellectual hunger needs with creative stories or story telling worked for me.

  3. Online classes are taking their toll on kids. You have shared great tips to reduce the fatigue. They need to detox from gadgets for sure.

  4. Online Classes sounded very convenient when they started, but parents and children alike are facing the fatigue caused by them now.
    Your tips come from experience and anyone who follows them will surely benefit.

  5. As a parent I can feel it. Our kids are doing online studies from almost 1 year. It has impacted our kid’s social behavior, EQ and IQ too. In the initial days things were quite interesting but now kids are losing the fun from their favorite subjects due to monotony of schedule. The pointers you have shared to remove the fatigues are so right and useful.

    1. Thank you Archana. You are right that the kids are ones who are most hit due to the online classes.

  6. I agree online classes are taking toll on kids health. Your pointer are really helpful, most of them are very practical and I am really happy that I am following them as well.

  7. I am an educator too so even I can tell you, you are right. We are facing this fatigues and almost every other day, one student’s parent or other complain to me about it!

    1. True Monidipa. Parents are able to observe these changes and are bit worried about the outcomes too.

  8. Love your lists. As you said every parent is facing these issues with their kids. And I am too.
    Would keep these points. Hope to give kids a better change.

    1. Very true Sadvika. Lets hope atleast these kids would get to attend to the school next academic year at least without any issues.

  9. Very well articulated post about the fatigue that kids face. Iam a teacher to college kids and I see a marked dip in attendance & performance this semester as compared to the last one. I think this digital boom has had a negative impact. Now everything under the sun is available as an “online course”. Some of them aren’t even structured properly and have so much wrong info. And initially during the lockdown period I think most parents went overboard and signed up for so many classes to keep the kids occupied that the kids didn’t have time to do all the kiddy stuff. Imagine 5 year old being signed up for coding and robotics! High time we checked ourselves and not screw up our kids.

    1. Thank you Vasumathi. Infact after seeing all these changes in Shrav, I started digging deep and checking with other parents, before coming to the conclusion.

  10. Yes we try to incorporate exercise time , reading time and free play time to the day! online classes for a year has taken the toll on its students.

    1. True Shahira. That’s why, we as parents should take the necessary corrective actions now.

      1. Kids are easily distracted during online classes you have covered it very well. They are fatigued easily and keeping them engrossed is becoming a difficult task for parents. You have covered the issue and the solution very well.

      2. Thank you for dropping by

  11. Initially my 5 year old adapted really well. But gradually this fatigue started kicking in and he go cranky and irritated all the time. That’s when I realised that online classes is taking a toll on his emotional well being. As suggested by you, exercising and playing together helped us a lot. As the online classes are a new normal, this is a really handy guide for parents.

    1. Thank you Supriti. Yes playing together always helps the kids to destress.

  12. Thankfully Aarav was 2 when all this started and we skipped the whole online learning part. He is 3 now and we are hoping for physical schools to start. Kids have been on most difficult end this whole year. The tips you mentioned are really helpful.

    1. That’s so wonderful to hear that you opted out of the online classes for Aarav. Wise decision indeed. Thank you for dropping by

  13. You have covered it so well Suhasini, it has been a tough year for children and the tips you have mentioned works well if we support them as much as we can. Thanks for the post 🙂

  14. Wonderful article. I totally agree that kids emotional and mental health is more important than studies. Great tips shared by you in this post to engage kids.

  15. Online classes were needed during the lockdown, but they have their own disadvantages. It is more difficult with smaller children. You have shared some great tips. Limiting exposure to gadgets really helps.

  16. I agree 100% to what you have mentioned!! Time for parents to ponder on how well can the time be utilized for grooming

  17. Children have struggled the most during lockdown. And online classes fatigue is just the tip of the iceberg. You have shared some excellent tips that would help all the parents out there.

    1. Thank you Ritu. Yeah, I am planning to cover other aspects in which I encountered problems during this lockdown in my #MentalHealth for Kids series.

  18. All kids are now the victims of internet, they are addicted of gadgets and well said, they don’t want to read from books. My son is also search for videos where he gets the full explanation of the chapter. I am totally agreed with all your points.

  19. Totally agree with you . Online classes have shown its effects on kids. They need a break from gadgets and the best way to do that is cutting down on other online activities and work on offline .

    1. Very true. That’s why we do mostly offline activities these days.

  20. A lot of children are facing this online classes fatigue including my own kid. I started involving him in my chores. Taught him to chop vegetables, so that he can help me and also learn something new. A lot of students, who used to write well, stopped writing. Teachers, parents everyone is trying hard to make things normal but still, ther eis only so much that we can do. I also encouraged him to talk through the window with his friends. so that is kid of time pass for him.

  21. Online classes have been very tiring for children these days. Initially, my son used to be very interested in meeting his friends and teachers virtually, but as the months progressed, I can see his interest withdrawn. And it is not only his case, but also many children who do not get engaged enough anymore. You have shared some practical solutions which would help parents the kids with online classes fatigue.

  22. This is a very real issue which all of us are facing currently. Children are spending most of the time with a gadget. I will try these tips as it pains me to see little undereye circles around my son’s eyes.

    1. Yes Ruchiraa, I can totally relate to your pain and that’s when I started digging in deeper and talked to the Child psychologists to come to this conclusion.

  23. Totally agree on this. Thankfully my daughter loves spending time with my parents and also both of us do some activity together that keeps her cheerful

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *