Online schooling ruining kids’ posture, sight: Study

Study raises questions on whether children have adapted to the new way of learning. Representation pic

While online schooling has become the new normal, a study and webinar conducted by Godrej Interio's Workplace and Ergonomics Research Cell have revealed the importance of posture and health while continuing with studies. The study reveals that 22 per cent of students attended online classes seated on a bed, 14 per cent sat on the floor and 41 per cent of them complained of strain on eyes. The findings have further raised questions on whether children have really adapted to the new way of learning.

The study titled - Taking Care of Children as they Learn from Home - included questions for 350 school children in the age group of 3-15 years and their parents from across the country. A webinar conducted with educationists and health experts discussed the importance of posture and other aspects of online learning. While the webinar had over 1,700 attendees, a simple guide to ensure healthy posture during online classes was also released for parents.

The study further revealed that 52 per cent of the children had daily online classes while 36 per cent had classes four times a week. Also, 41 per cent of the children complained of strain on their eyes. Parents, who were a part of this research, revealed that their wards used gadgets for a minimum of four to six hours a day, which is two to three hours more than what they did earlier. While laptops have been the most used device for online schooling with 56.7 per cent users, smartphones and tablets accounted for 48 and 41 per cent users, respectively.

Speaking to mid-day, Sameer Joshi, head associate vice president, Marketing (B2B), Godrej, said, "Owing to the pandemic, parents and children have been forced into home-schooling and this is likely to carry on for a while. However, as safe as this new model of education is, it is equally challenging in certain ways.

"Parents often find their children hunched over a laptop computer screen to attend lectures and complete assignments. This lack of infrastructure, coupled with awkward postures adopted while studying and limited physical activities impose health risks on children at a very young age. About 53 per cent of the children we surveyed in our whitepaper ‘Taking Care of Children as they Learn from Home' felt tired at the end of the day due to online classes."

4-6 hours
Duration for which kids use gadgets as per the study

41%
Children who complained of strain on eyes