The Covid-19 pandemic has increased students’ dependence on electronic gadgets and mobile phones, with 68 per cent passing two to four hours a day on their mobile phones, nine percent spending that much time in front of computer screens and eight percent doing so on tablets. Such dependence has deteriorated their mental and physical well-being during the past one year. Many nations have taken precautionary measures like parental control, strict restriction and child centric, creative activities, where we have acute shortages. The study, conducted on a total of 1,803 students of secondary schools (both Bangla and English medium) and madrasas in 21 districts of the Bangladesh between June and December 2020, found that 52 per cent of them were suffering from depression and felt that they were losing their tempers over trifling matters.
While students used to suffer from various health problems including fever, skin diseases, diarrhoea and cough during 2018-2019, they started suffering from a whole new range of health problems during the pandemic, including backaches, visual disturbances, mental health issues and insomnia. The study revealed that 70 per cent of students had no scope for physical activities outside the home, while 50 per cent did not even have the opportunity to carry out physical activities indoors. Only 25 per cent of students used electronic gadgets for attending online classes; 40 per cent used those to watch cartoons, shows and movies; 27 per cent used them to log on to social media; and 17 per cent used electronic gadgets to play video games.
Students of English-medium schools were found to be the most dependent on electronic gadgets, while indigenous groups living in Chittagong Hill Tracts were the least dependent. The findings are alarming, and guardians should be conscious about the over-dependence of their wards on gadgets. In both urban and rural settings, small community parks, exercise facilities, sports and cultural clubs are needed but the most important thing is awareness building, combining family structure and mobile applications that control browsing time. The administration must set some programmes to involve the tech savvy generation with social work and other activities.
