Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, children are facing school and life in a way that they have never had to before. Although living life this way may lead to resilience and adaptability later in life, it is throwing kids into an abyss of unknowingness and stress. One ultimate stressor for us is the exhausting… The dreaded… Zoom school! *cue overly dramatic music* Apparently, what we are experiencing is common throughout the Zoom world. But why is this happening? Why?! WHY?! To answer our burning questions, we read up on articles featured on bbc.com as well as nationalgeographic.com.
Zoom is creating a disconnect between ourselves and the people that should be helping us develop our understanding of how we work and live in our world. Social cues are hard to observe over Zoom; the most you will be able to see is prolonged eye-contact, which often isn’t effective. Viewing multiple people on screen at once can be overstimulating and cause difficulty in focusing.
Overlapping of school stress and home life is a constant at this point. It is becoming much more difficult to separate yourself from that mental space that is for school, and a safe space where you can relax. Separation between family, work, and social peer groups is very hard and confusing when it all happens in the same place.
Additional stress from environmental factors adds negative impacts to your mental health and focus. There is a huge lack of free time out of school and schoolwork, which generates excessive tiredness as well. (All Zoom and no play makes Avery and Hope dull girls). Studies have also proved the unhealthiness of being on Zoom calls for elongated periods of time; it is suggested that Zoom calls only be used when necessary, and to make them as short as possible.
Let it be known that EVERYONE is suffering, whether they are an introvert, extravert, or ambivert… it says so on the internet. However, there are a few ways to combat this stress and make life less miserable. One article suggests placing your computer to the side, instead of straight on to increase concentration. Others have suggested taking a couple minutes between each meeting to stretch, take a deep breath, grab a snack, take a quick walk around the house, or literally anything else to help you escape from your seemingly cruel miserable existence.
In summation, this situation is extremely difficult for everyone, but hang in there; 2020 is almost over.
https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200421-why-zoom-video-chats-are-so-exhausting
