3 Health Hazards of Online Learning and Its Remedies
Online education has been the buzzword for the last few months owing to the Coronavirus pandemic. Parents are buying additional tablets, mobiles and laptops to make sure that their children’s learning is not interrupted. But it is not always a breeze with online learning. Although it looks cool, long term exposure in front of the screens from an early age affects health. Headache, eye problems and violent behavior have been observed among kids who are spending too much time online. This blog will discuss some problems and their solutions on how to keep your health in optimum condition even while you are engaged in online learning.
Sleep Disorders
Spending too much time in front of any electronic gadget is detrimental to health. But today, be it academics or corporate life, everything happens in the digital mode. The sudden closure of schools during this pandemic has increased the number of time students spend in front of the laptop. Many students face sleep disorders due to this and adjusting to their new lifestyle is proving to be difficult
Muscle Pain
Sitting in the chair for a long-time can result in pain in the spinal cord and neck. This can cause a lot of problems and students often experience severe muscle pain leading to an obstruction in studies. During normal times, children spend time on the net chatting with friends, playing games and watching movies. In addition to those, the academic pressure creates an additional burden which they often find hard to manage.
Eye Problems
Eye problems due to the ray emitted from the mobile and laptop screen damage the retina, if not taken care of. We all know that. That is why doctors always tell us to give a gap after every 15-30 minutes and be off-screen. Kids find it quite problematic to adjust these and even though they enjoy online learning, most are wearing prescription glasses from an early age.
How Can You Address the Issues?
Addressing these issues need a concerted effort on the part of the parents and the children as well. Before starting your online tuition classes, divide your time in such a way that your eyes can get enough rest in the middle of the sessions. Today we will give you some tips on how to manage your online classes without affecting your health.
Use Comfortable High Back Chairs
A comfortable chair is essential for managing long hours in front of your PC. If you have a traditional chair, then try to fit in a pillow behind your back. When you push back, instead of the wood, the soft pillow will give you more comfort to your back. This is very important because our back pain starts from wrong postures and uncomfortable chairs, which are problematic for our health. If you seriously develop any back pain, then shift to ergonomic chairs or those with high back-lift. Even though it may be a bit expensive, these chairs are best suited for long hours of work or studies. These chairs will help you lean back and will provide the relief on your neck and spinal cord. If this is a problem for you, then you can take your laptop to your bedroom and instead of chairs, take the machine on your lap and start the classes.
Take Your Eyes Off the Screen Every 20 Minutes
There is a famous 20-20-20 rule for those using the PC for a long time. It says, after every 20 minutes, you should look at an object 20 feet away for 20 seconds. The idea is that your eyes will get the necessary break before you resume your work again. Although following this rule is extremely difficult as, during a 1-hour session, tutors will get offended if a student keeps on looking outside so frequently. A more straightforward solution is, look outside your screen every 20 minutes, but make sure your focus does not get disturbed. Pay attention to the class, but don’t keep on looking at the screen throughout. You can easily listen to the lecture and keep your eyes off the screen whenever you feel comfortable.
Minimize All Other Online Activities Before Going to Sleep
The sleep disorder problem can be tackled by shutting down all your electronic gadgets an hour before sleep. This is because you are spending 6-10 hours on various online activities on an average day, which puts pressure on your nerves and eyesight as well. Past researchers have often claimed that after dinner, people should stop using any gadgets unless it is an emergency. The more your eyes and brain rest from these disruptive blue rays that come out of these devices, the better your health. Getting a sound sleep of 8 hours is necessary for every individual irrespective of age. For kids, it is even more crucial.