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Virtual classes are not only risky for parents' mental health

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Alex Nilson

Online classes have begun, and it is obvious that physical schools exist not only for the sake of the child's education, but to maintain the mental stability of the parents. Anyway, the quarantine we must endure during this Covid19 outbreak will bring some problems, but also some benefits. It is important to take care of our digital and mental health.

The first set of problems we will need to solve is technical. Social distancing means that you have to buy a little more food so that you don't go to the supermarket so often. And unless you're an alien on a strict cellulose diet, toilet paper is not a problem.

Also, there are some problems with everyone using the Internet at the same time. Networks can get crowded and data servers may not work as well as they used to.  In addition, there is some risk to children's cybersecurity because everyone knows when they will be online.

Fortunately, with services like https://ip-locations.org, we can change our server location without changing our physical location. This way, we can access the Internet more freely and be safe while doing so.

Finally, having a strong cyber-security feature will mean we can relax while surfing movies, shows and games, which will be vital to our sanity and happiness at home.
What do we know?

Digital Health: Virtual classes are not only risky for mental health. | The VPN

At least for the next few weeks, and probably until the end of the semester, the schools will be virtual classrooms. Using software such as MicrosoftTeam or Skype, teachers will try to pass the curriculum as if all the children were in class.

This will see a period of adjustment before we can see if this model is better or worse than real classrooms. The kids may be more willing to learn from the comfort of their own homes.

But, there is a socialization factor, as going out with friends is crucial to a child's development. For now, parents and siblings must fulfill that social role, and that can be beneficial for the future as well.

Otherwise, because children will be spending much more time online, they may run into the more dangerous social networking applications that children are using, and you may be surprised by what they find there.


Technical Difficulties

Although far from being the best internet in the world, an average US consumer has a solid internet connection. But, the system is not meant to serve everyone at the same time. Even peak hours used to include only about 70% of the population in each time zone. That's why slowdowns are expected.

If everyone goes online for both school and work at the same time, we'll all have a slower speed. The servers that contain that information are not made to send that much data at the same time.

While important services such as Google, Facebook or Microsoft are not likely to go down, they may even experience a local slowdown or delay.


Change Location

There are places where the Covid19 is not as problematic as in the United States. Smaller isolated countries or those with lower population density are much more resistant to the spread of the virus.

Because of this fact, you can use a VPN to reconnect from these countries and avoid the slowdown. This can still create some problems if your local network is under a lot of pressure, but your access to online resources will be the same.


Connection / Disconnection Time

It's easy to fall into the trap of working too hard because you're working from home. Plus, you may be tempted to leave your children online for more than is healthy for a growing human being.

Perpetual use of the Internet can not only increase the chances of cyberbullying and its effects, but it can also lead to multiple medical problems. Make sure your child sees a three-dimensional face from time to time.

If you are spending enough time with your family, you may be able to maintain a good balance of privacy and freedom, even when you are trapped in your home.

Allow Privacy

Yours and your quarantined associates.

When your children are 'in school', don't break into their room and demand to watch, or anything like that. They are not at home surfing on their computer, they are at school and you should act as if their room is in another dimension.

Also, you should make the same demands when you're at work. It's very easy for people to forget that someone who works remotely is as busy as if they were at the office.

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Alex Nilson
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