Pediatricians Warn: Hybrid Learning Causing Anxiety and Health Issues in Children

Four pediatricians and child psychiatrists approached by Medias24 have pointed out that they have observed the emergence of anxiety disorders in children and adolescents. "We observe psychological disorders in some children related to the instability of this education," says Rachida Chami, a pediatrician. She cites headaches, ringing ears due to wearing a headset or earphones when children follow the lessons, watery eyes due to the time spent in front of screens without protection, very agitated children at the end of the day for lack of being able to spend their energy as they usually would by playing, walking.

The pediatrician also cites poor performance and poor interaction between teachers and students. "Children somatize a lot. Some have physical symptoms, like coughs or breathing difficulties, without any organic cause. We do all the tests, but we find nothing; we give all possible treatments but none work, because in reality, the cause of these ailments is psychological." The stress accumulated in front of the screens, the poor management of a situation for which they were not prepared, explain these disorders observed in children aged between 8 and 12 years.

The same observation was made among high school students, who, according to child psychiatrist Soraya Dorhmi, were so afraid of the baccalaureate that they had terrible anxiety. The majority of adolescents received explained that they were not ready to face the exams. "We are seeing an emergence of anxiety disorders in particularly sensitive or predisposed adolescents to anxiety disorders." She points out that she has observed visual fatigue, headaches and sedentary lifestyle that have led to weight gain, reports Medias24.

As for pediatrician Badia Benhamou, she indicates that distance learning promotes intrafamily tensions. "Parents, often overwhelmed, become brutal with their children when they do not follow the lessons properly or do not do their homework. Moreover, the rupture, or at least the drastic reduction of their social life, has led children and adolescents "to create virtual links or to seek their place in the family without however finding it," notes Amina Oumlil.

To limit the damage and save children from long-term consequences, Amina Oumlil recommends that parents get more involved and be aware of class hours, "in order to limit screen time: once the lessons are over, children must be denied access to screens and not be left to spend the end of the day or the evening glued to these screens." But the real solution, according to her, is a return to face-to-face teaching so that "nascent addictions do not become reinforced and children can, in the long run, reconnect with the spaces of socialization and social interaction that are schools."