Impact of COVID-19 on the Education and Mental Well-Being of Students

Whether you are a student, teacher, or parent, you may be concerned about the way COVID-19 has altered the educational system and affected the mental health of students. But, let’s be honest. Most of you are reading this because you are bored. Yes, COVID-19 has made us bored. However, there is more to the story than just boredom.

“I think I was definitely happier at school because there were many opportunities to express myself,” says Sajina Logeswaran, a grade 10 student at Bur Oak Secondary School. She further adds, “At first when we were at home, that was when there was a huge mental breakdown. Everyone was so trapped at home.”

Like Sajina, many felt trapped at home, almost as if their freedom was sealed in a second. The loss of communication with the world curbed students’ ability to translate their thoughts and opinions into meaningful expressions. Without group projects or extra-curriculars, they felt lonely and depressed.

Source: UK Distance Learning and Publishing

“Studying online is tremendously affecting my study habits. I find myself not giving the same effort as I would give in school. I also find myself procrastinating a bit more because it is all online. I am afraid that I am developing habits that can impact my grade 11 year,” Sajina says.

Today, studying online is far from being able to match the physical school environment. The robustness, zest and spirit gets lost when students do not see the faces of their teachers, peers, and friends. Online learning has a long way to go before catching up with physical school.

However, we must take this chance to appreciate the commendable efforts of our principal, vice principal, teachers and York Region District School Board in providing us with countless educational and mental-health resources.

So, if you have survived until now without throwing your laptop out the window, then you have conquered COVID-19. Education goes much beyond books. We are educated to grow as people and develop new skills; whether it is cooking or learning another language, everything shapes you. COVID-19 has been a journey. Even though we have all felt lonely and sad at some point during this time, we have developed and realized something new about ourselves. We will come out of this pandemic as changed individuals.

By Vidhi Ruparel