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Source: https://www.asiaone.com/china/mass-...-after-3-years-lockdowns-home-school-and-zero
Mass mental health crisis looms for young Chinese after 3 years of lockdowns, home school and zero-Covid
December 05, 2022
published at 9:31 PMByJane Cai He Huifeng
While major Chinese cities have started phasing out draconian Covid-19 measures, the consequences of prolonged social isolation on mental health are unfolding in hundreds of millions of students across the nation.
In the longest school closures among major countries, mainland China's students were made to sit in front of computers at home and listen to live or recorded lessons for their schooling, an expedient option taken by local governments seeking to prevent transmission on campuses.
Over the past three years, the duration of screen-based teaching may have varied – from weeks to months, or even semesters, depending on the frequency of local Covid-19 flare-ups – but attending online class from home is a shared experience among children and adolescents in mainland China. And various research projects have found they are paying a heavy price for the Covid-related social isolation.
Mason Wang, a first-year student at a Beijing college, spent nearly half of his three years of high school at home doing online classes, resulting in little time with his classmates.
"We call each other internet friends," Wang said. "Now I can hardly match the faces with names of classmates."
Isolated from his peers, he spent most of his spare time playing computer games and ended up scoring poorly in the university entrance exams.
Wang did secure a place in college but struggled to take an interest in other people and his studies because he was confined to campus for more than two months this year during the most recent local flare-ups.
"I know I should pick up the pieces, but it's so hard. Sometimes when I wake up at midnight, it scares me to think about tomorrow. I'll be a loser forever," he said.
Lockdowns and school closures during the pandemic left children around the world isolated, away from their peers and unable to socialise and grow.
The mental health of the vulnerable, including children and young people, should be at the heart of countries' health systems and key to recovery from the Covid-19 emergency, the World Health Organisation said earlier this year.
In China – where mental strain is common among students amid intense competition to get into the best schools – depression, anxiety and anger became even more prevalent during the three Covid years among children and adolescents, various research reports show...
Mass mental health crisis looms for young Chinese after 3 years of lockdowns, home school and zero-Covid
December 05, 2022
published at 9:31 PMByJane Cai He Huifeng
While major Chinese cities have started phasing out draconian Covid-19 measures, the consequences of prolonged social isolation on mental health are unfolding in hundreds of millions of students across the nation.
In the longest school closures among major countries, mainland China's students were made to sit in front of computers at home and listen to live or recorded lessons for their schooling, an expedient option taken by local governments seeking to prevent transmission on campuses.
Over the past three years, the duration of screen-based teaching may have varied – from weeks to months, or even semesters, depending on the frequency of local Covid-19 flare-ups – but attending online class from home is a shared experience among children and adolescents in mainland China. And various research projects have found they are paying a heavy price for the Covid-related social isolation.
Mason Wang, a first-year student at a Beijing college, spent nearly half of his three years of high school at home doing online classes, resulting in little time with his classmates.
"We call each other internet friends," Wang said. "Now I can hardly match the faces with names of classmates."
Isolated from his peers, he spent most of his spare time playing computer games and ended up scoring poorly in the university entrance exams.
Wang did secure a place in college but struggled to take an interest in other people and his studies because he was confined to campus for more than two months this year during the most recent local flare-ups.
"I know I should pick up the pieces, but it's so hard. Sometimes when I wake up at midnight, it scares me to think about tomorrow. I'll be a loser forever," he said.
Lockdowns and school closures during the pandemic left children around the world isolated, away from their peers and unable to socialise and grow.
The mental health of the vulnerable, including children and young people, should be at the heart of countries' health systems and key to recovery from the Covid-19 emergency, the World Health Organisation said earlier this year.
In China – where mental strain is common among students amid intense competition to get into the best schools – depression, anxiety and anger became even more prevalent during the three Covid years among children and adolescents, various research reports show...