The pandemic and its effects on children...

 No one could possibly guess the degree of damage that would be caused when the news of corona virus first broke in early January this year.

It took more than two months for the world to acknowledge the potential threat the virus could pose even though the reports of loss of human lives started tickling in from across the globe. In India the Government acted sufficiently quick and international flights coming to country or going abroad were banned. A full lockdown was thought imperative and the nation virtually came to a screeching halt post 25 th March. Everything barring necessary services came to a still. One of the greatest technological initiatives that started taking control was the digital platform; the one most that raised its head was online teaching.

It is undoubtedly the most affected have been the children. While the schools remained mostly closed during the summer the children were not spared from the online onslaught. A question that surfaced is whether these online classes could be a substitute for the actual classroom teachings otherwise the children would undergo. Now, almost all would argue that the question itself suffers from dichotomous proposition; that whether there was or is any substitute given the alarming way the pandemic has unleashed its lethal effects. Yes-possibly there was no substitute; under no circumstances the children at primary or secondary level could be exposed to even a minimal risk.

But what is equally alarming is the way the young minds are getting affected. Many parents are allowing the children to access these online classes through smartphones; these devices comparatively smaller than a laptop are showing sign of wear in children. The red shot or swollen eyes of these children with some being little elder not be termed ‘ toddlers’ fatigued with withstanding constant  glare are now posing greater threat to health.

A healthy classroom environment; its bubbly atmosphere provide an uncompromising mental growth to school children. The human interface in teaching where the teacher interacts with each child in class and thereby evaluates his/her stronger points or weaknesses cannot be substituted through a digital medium. The children are missing their teachers’ presence; the school ground where the open sky lure them to unfold their inner beings is gradually becoming a thing of past. 

Perhaps the greatest damage that this pandemic has caused is the way it has destroyed the young minds; sitting at home their inner beings are getting muted. But then a solution doesn’t appear to be on anvil until a vaccine arrives in the scenario. Till then the sufferings linger for the young minds.