Online Education in IGCSE School

Years of Evolution, Years of Invention. From Telephone to Television to fancy Wifi routers at our homes. It almost feels like Science and Technology has taken over the world. It’s like when you look around you find everyone lost, in their phones, in the digital world. 

Since the Pandemic started, everything shifted to online mode, from education to evaluation to interviews on Zoom meetings and work from home. It might be a blessing for some people but a lot of people think it has become even more dangerous on the internet. The internet has become a part of everyone’s life, as everything is available on the internet with just a single click. Every five minutes we tend to use the internet to either access social media or watch videos or to research, everything is made available to us in a single touch, the internet has made us believe that everything has been easily accessible to us on our phones wherever we might be present. 

Online Education and Internet Safety

Talking about online education and internet safety, students these days now have a habit of keeping the lecture on and going to sleep. They think that resting for a few minutes will not harm but it is going to affect them negatively in the future because they are certainly taking advantage of the freedom granted to them. They miss out on their studies and they are not prepared thus using unfair means or copying during their exams. 

This does not only promote disorder in our young minds but also cultivates corruption in our mindset and is certainly a side-effect of online education. Because sooner or later they have to work in a physical environment where they won’t have the practical knowledge about the product or the place. Communication has been made easier in today’s world, where it is now possible to see and talk to a relative or a friend who is on the other side of the world with the help of new applications and video conferencing. The internet plays an important role here too because everyone needs a good connection. 

Children today spend most of their time on their phones either playing online games or chatting with their friends which directly or indirectly harms their health. For example, most children are continuously on their phones, using the internet, and sleeping late at night or sometimes even in the morning which disturbs their sleep schedule, thus causing excessive strain on their eyes. Studies say continuous usage of the phone causes stress and weaker eyesight, body pain due to being at one place with the same posture, fatigue, and overall tiredness throughout the day. Apart from the personal health issues caused some children also face bullying and hatred on the internet which makes them undergo extreme mental stress. During the COVID-19 pandemic, some children were even scammed while playing online games thus leading to their depression or committing suicide or self-harm.

So, are there any ways to protect children from all this? Yes! 

These are some Do’s & Dont’s for children using the internet that they should be aware of :

• Don’t give anyone your private information like your password, name and address, the name of your school/ college, or any details about your family.
• Don’t believe anything on the internet. You never know who you are talking to on the other side so avoid talking to strangers online. 
• Don’t try to meet people you met online in person. 
• Refuse to disclose your personal information in online applications or profile links. 
• Don’t enter a chat room without parental supervision. 
• Don’t entertain things online that you feel your parents won’t like or approve of. 
• Think twice before posting anything like your pictures or videos online. Avoid posting things without your parent’s permission. 
• Do not download anything on your computer or your phone which does not have your parent’s approval. 
• Got any questions or doubts about something that you came across on the internet? First, consult with your parents or your elders and then make a call to proceed further or not.
• If you are talking to someone online and you feel uncomfortable, please seek parental advice or block that person on an immediate basis.  

These might be small steps but these will help your child to use the internet carefully. Because the internet is a blessing if you control it, but if you use it carelessly, it will control you.