Mass mental health crisis looms for young Chinese after 3 years of lockdowns, home school and zero-Covid
- Many parents feel helpless about their child’s well-being because of the damage of isolation, and yet many Covid-19 curbs remain
- Internet friends instead of real-life relationships, online dependence, depression and anxiety are among the pandemic effects noted by researchers
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.