Many find it stressful to manage kids’ online classes in Patna

PATNA: With thousands of children logging into online learning mode, counsellors in the city receive an increasing number of distressed calls from parents and students seeking advice on how to tackle the psychological stress associated with it.
Homemaker Preeti Sinha of Patel Nagar, whose two children are in higher secondary school, said she has been under lots of stress as their classes are held from 11pm to 1pm on weekdays. “Both my children are of the same age. The timings of their online classes coincide due to which I had to buy two devices. I have to juggle between their classes to help them. It becomes very difficult for me to manage their classes simultaneously,” she said.
The situation is even worse for working parents as they struggle hard to balance their work and participation in their children’s online classes.
“Either my husband or I take a half-day off when there is a special activity scheduled in my child’s digital learning module. Asking for frequent leave is embarrassing and I get anxious about it,” said a working mother of a 12-year-old residing in Police Colony, preferring anonymity.
“I am clueless when it comes to handling kids and working simultaneously,” said Riya Sinha of Rajeev Nagar, who is the mother of a 4-year-old son and a 7-year-old daughter. “Since my kids are in elementary school, they are not very well versed with technology. I have to help them with the gadgets. I also fear they might be exposed to unsolicited content on the internet,” she added.
Mental health experts say excessive use of online learning mode may induce a sedentary lifestyle among children, which eventually affects their overall well-being.
“As more and more children are hooked to their screens, their mental health and psychological growth is at risk. Parents have also never faced this situation before. Hence, they get anxious with this arrangement,” said Swati Sinha, a family counsellor residing in Boring Road.
“While some children might feel happy about not going through the entire ordeal of waking up early, dressing up and boarding a bus to school, they do not realize that spending excessive amount of time in front of a laptop can have long-term detrimental effects on their health — physical and psychological both,” she added.
Seema Sinha, the principal of St Karen’s High School, said, “As per the central government’s guidelines, we are conducting only 2 classes per day for grade 1 to 8 and 4 classes for grade 9 to 12. The duration of each class is 40 minutes and a break of 20 minutes is given in between. This is done to ensure the well-being of homebound children and parents.”