The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on learners

Life is unpredictable and beyond our control. No one expected that 2020 would bring tremendous changes and impact the world’s economy, education, and lifestyle. The COVID-19 pandemic has paved a way to defining the “new normal”. That means the current situation is different from what has been experienced or done before, but is expected to become usual or typical.

It sounds ironic that the highly-urbanized cities with busy streets suddenly became less dense and quiet due to the government’s “Stay at Home” policy to lessen the spread of the virus. The sight of people rushing to work every morning to avoid traffic and getting late is no longer common as work-from-home is encouraged, except for some jobs that require workers to be on site because of the nature of the work. Seeing students every day and early morning half-asleep in Public Utility Vehicles sometimes with their heads leaning on the shoulder of the person next to them is no longer experienced for education and the mode of teaching has changed drastically. Before, home schooling was only for the selected few, but because of the new normal the students must stay and study at home. In the previous school years, the students had to report to school daily to study. Face-to-face learning was considered traditional, which refers to a learning delivery modality where students and the teachers are both physically present in the classroom, and there is opportunity for active engagement, immediate feedback, and socio-emotional development of learners. Due to the pandemic, the schools must adopt to the Distant Learning Modalities, Modular Distance Learning, Online Distance Learning, and TV/Radio-Based Instruction. The choice of the learning mode depends on the choice of the parents and the students based on the availability of resources and their convenience. Some learners choose online classes because of the presence of a teacher giving direct instructions. However, online classes have effects on the students’ health.

Learners are expected to have a balanced activity. With that reason, there must be a time for studies, play, and relaxation. It’s ideal to study hard, but it’s also equally important to socialize and be with friends. Due to the pandemic, the young stay most of the time in the house; as a result, they are deprived of the usual outdoor activities like playing ball games, swimming, strolling around the park, and the like which help them stay fit.

Most often, the learners are stuck in the house and answer self-learning modules. There are two effects of online classes on the young students’ health. First, it affects the physical health. They are always exposed to radiation because too much time in front of the computer. Thus, it may cause some eye problems like blurry vision, astigmatism, etc. Most students live a sedentary lifestyle. They always sleep on the couch and eat. Second, it affects their mental health. Mental health includes emotional, physical, and psychological well-being. It causes stress to those who are outgoing. In fact, there are reported news already about suicides related to too much pressure in their studies.

Though, online classes may both have a positive and negative effects and it may be tough for the students to be at home all the time; on the contrary, the learners have built a better and stronger relationship with their siblings and the family.

Daisy S. Rico

DepEd, Cebu City Division