Teachers prepare online classes in an empty classroom of a high school in the southwestern city of Gwangju on April 1, 2020 (Yonhap)
SEOUL, July 2 (Korea Bizwire) — Parents are being exposed to the risk of depression as children are staying at home more due to school shutdowns following the coronavirus outbreak.
Last June, a research team from Ajou University Medical School conducted a one-month survey of 217 parents and their children, who attended elementary schools in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, in which 46.5 percent of parents were facing the risk of depressive symptoms.
Among them, 29 percent were experiencing mild symptoms, while 13.4 percent were showing symptoms of mid-level severity and 4.1 percent were struggling with highly severe depression.
Another 10 percent of all parents had suicidal thoughts, while 1.4 percent had thought of committing suicide almost every day in the two weeks prior to taking the survey.
Depressive symptoms among parents were affected by children’s sleep disorders, the duration of watching television, tablet usage, and other behavioral features. Children’s sleep habits were influenced by the usage of tablets and smartphones.
Ever since classes have been replaced with online courses following the coronavirus outbreak, 97.2 percent of elementary school students have been using online school content.
Excluding online schooling, 87.6 percent of children have been accessing YouTube, followed by games (78.3 percent), social media and text messages (19.8 percent).
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
