Tragically, students are being forced to interact with ‘Digital Ghosts’ on their laptop screens
Siddharth, all of 17 like any other his age, is all energy, as the Lockdown, the black hole one descended into during Covid times for an essential caged existence, has just lifted after a long spell. The anxious urgency all around is because no one knows for how long this welcome respite would last, as the Coronavirus on the prowl will any time again lead to a spike in cases.
It will then force people to yet again huddle indoors, stalling all ongoing activities putting careers and education at stake.
With a spring in his walk, the first place he rushes to is the mobile shop, as some snags were interrupting his precious screen-time, the only respite for staying in touch and viewing the world around and beyond during his forced confinement.
But then looking at him, other than his apparent glee at being able to smell the air outdoors and sight of people and people everywhere for a change, what strikes you is the writing in white on his black T-shirt that reads, ‘Lost in a world that doesn’t exist’! Staring at it each time he did his to-and-fro jig, I wondered what made him pick this one for wearing and then realized how this simple line, quite summed up the thought process of this entire generation.
A mountain of never-before situations stood tall and unwavering, as around the world, the multitude from the generation approaching their 20s and those in their graduation years nearing the ideal take-off time for careers, tried to straggle uphill. Now tauntingly referred to as the ‘Covid Batch’, these years have swallowed a huge chunk of their prime time. There are those who troll and mock the 2020 and 2021 batch of kids who completed their 10th or 12th grade without board exams, not considering that these children have survived extraordinary circumstances.
They have missed it all…the nail-biting moments as blank paper sheets were distributed, and then the heart went boom-boom as the question paper came in. Remember the sincere ones putting their nose into the sheets and starting off, while the not-so-sure ones looked here and there, while yet others managed to make paper balls fly ….and then later, the anxious moments of tallying answers with each other….ooh!!! the fun, the excitement, the debates and arguments …they are all so deprived of these real time experiences, the jokes, the pranks that enriched the everyday life of a school-going student, not so long ago.
A mountain of never-before situations stood tall and unwavering, as around the world, the multitude from the generation approaching their 20s and those in their graduation years nearing the ideal take-off time for careers, tried to straggle uphill. Now tauntingly referred to as the ‘Covid Batch’
In fact, most of them did not go to school for the entire year and adapted to a new form of learning. While they missed the routine school excitement, they had to bear with staying under watchful parental supervision in closed environs. Life became tough. The initial holidaying phase soon merged into one of torturous confinement. They laughed a lot lesser and sneaked into more screen-time, the videos and clips only adding to their frustrations. They missed out on precious memories of their last days in school and dealt with strict quarantines in an age when all they want is to be with friends all the time. Worse still many saw their family members falling terribly sick or even dying!
Considering that currently, more than 65% of those aged 18-24 years in India suffer from depression, the country is clearly losing out on its strong mental health capital. A semi-structured questionnaire with 21 items of depression anxiety and stress scale 21 (DASS21) was circulated through social media, while some case studies and review articles and Advisories by the WHO (World Health Organization), APA (American Psychiatric Association) and NHS (National Health Services) and Government of India Ministry of Health followed. Now recommendations for ensuring mental well-being of children and adolescents and the role of parents, teachers, pediatricians, community volunteers, the health system and policy makers are being discussed. After all, nurturing a healthy and productive labour force is vital, and the need of the hour is to acknowledge the link between mental health and economic well-being.
My daughter was interviewing under-grads for internship and to put them at ease, brightly chirped, “Very soon, you will be going to college. You must be so excited,” and none of them responded; some briefly smiled. She prodded further, and then one spoke up, “What college Ma’am? We have been sitting home for our classes, will get our farewells on Zoom and will attend classes from home for college too, and degrees will happen online.” There was pin-drop silence. No amount of motivation could lift the spirits of these ‘resigned-to-their-fate’ group of students, who rued missing out on so much that was earlier taken for granted in their stage in life.
The value of each of these moments come rushing back as I look at today’s hapless, literally caged lot:-
-The heart-thumping minutes while I hid myself near the Sports cupboard to escape the ever-watchful eye of our Sports teacher, to exchange my black shoes for keds with a friend in another class and scoot post that, as I had forgotten we had the Sports period that day.
-The informal classes where during impromptu chats, our teacher also candidly spoke about the birds and bees as we sat wide-eyed, some winking or nudging at each other. “Treat boys just like fellow human beings,” we were told in a loud and commanding voice in one of the sessions.
-The birthday girl was always special and all vied for her attention. She could actually pick and choose and made them run around her. That sure was a lot of fun-filled with chocolates and toffees and goodies to fill oneself with other than just the usual tiffin.
-It was sheer fun at tiffin time, sneaking a peek at what the other had got and trading exchange with the ones who would. After all, a French toast was, any day, a better bet than poori sabzi or perhaps cake or noodles!!
-Class finishes, and the teacher takes the name of one to carry those copies to the haloed precincts of the Staff Room. The one and only, comes back dripping with self-importance and with a swagger as after all she had been ‘picked’ to accompany the teacher to the staff room, while the rest look at her with envy and treat her with an extra ounce of respect.
Well, one can go on and on about these real-time precious moments that go into ‘fun memories’ and experiences. When narrated, they are sure to be accompanied by guffaws and laughter. And this is exactly what has gone amiss in the lives of these youngsters.
Face-to-face with the hard reality that about 71% of India’s population still addresses mental illness with prejudice, an issue that looms large today in the wake of these unforeseen conditions. End of the day, what we see is owing to being forced to stay home, together with worsening financial conditions and resultant lifestyle changes.
But then, it was announcements for promotions en masse that proved to be the last straw. The first year online undergraduate class attendance fell by as much as 40% to 70% !! “This was not even witnessed at the time of Covid peak,” lamented a teacher. This generation seems to have gone beyond listening and the situation has escalated to a level, that now psychological intervention seem the only way in which this can be dealt with.
Seriously, one is left wondering, where is this lot headed? We cannot really blame them for this casual approach while all we can do is wonder at their quality of life in general and of course, most importantly future….both taking the brunt of being bereft of the real learning moments.