High school seniors wearing masks attend class in this undated file photo. (Yonhap)
SEJONG, Oct. 28 (Korea Bizwire) — The growing ubiquity of non-face-to-face online lectures resulting from the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic turns out to have had a negative impact on the lifestyle habits of high school students in South Korea.
Anyang Arts High School in Anyang, south of Seoul, conducted a survey of all of its 579 first and second year students.
In response to a question asking about the biggest change in lifestyle habits resulting from the spread of COVID-19, 26.9 percent pointed out “irregular pattern of living and late rising in the morning.”
Another 20.4 percent said they felt lethargic more than in the past, and 12.7 percent said they were spending more time on the Internet or playing online games.
In other words, about 60 percent of the respondents admitted that their lifestyle habits turned negative due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A separate survey conducted with 16 same-grade students returned scores of 2 to 4 out of 10 for their post-COVID 19 lifestyle habits, far lower than the 8 to 9 points reported for their pre-COVID 19 lifestyle habits.
When asked about the biggest change that COVID-19 had brought to school life, 32 percent replied that they still had difficulty adapting to school life due to irregular classes and attendance.
A majority of the students who participated in the survey said that to help students better adapt to school life, it would be desirable to make more time for dialogue between teachers and students.
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
