On line school lessons causing stress

[Twigtom]

The education department announced that many teenagers are stressed out from online learning.

Perhaps they probably have to concentrate more with on line. Maybe class time with easier stress lowering distractions, opposite sex and phones seems to be the normal stress level??

Although from recent observations a teenage relative has multiple windows open, with on line learning going second fiddle to gaming and phone texting. When having to complete written homework the answers are dictated whilst every minute or so stops to massage the hand from cramps. What stress!!! 

A younger family member however thoroughly enjoys the on line schooling with great enthusiasm.

[Kwasaki]

I don't see it myself as stress with what contribution I make to the lad in my wife's family I help out.

He is doing a Chef's course and

not attending college means he has to buy stuff himself for learning at home on-line instead of the college supplying equipment etc. 

So it would be the lack of money for him to have not learnt the practical side of his education. 

[pgrahmm]

Our 14 year old daughter seems to screw around playing on the phone 50%+ of the time - other times drawing.....If she hears us moving the hands move fast and the phone page is at a neutral home screen.....

She first started and was at the desk working 830-1600....Then it was 1500 - then 1400 - then 1300 = the last 3 days 1100-1200....

My wife double checks on the Line app following up....

Three days this week our daughter said she was done....AND all 3 days my wife found an afternoon test our daughter "didn't" know about .....She would have missed the testing if not checked on & it's a crappy attitude we get back when we catch her.....

The class start times seem to fall within operational "Thai time" cultural time like windows instead of a regimented, solid start/end time.....I look over & she's bored just sitting and waiting......

It makes continuity and parental follow up difficult....

 

So - hell yes it raises stress = MINE for one.....My wife for two....Our daughter seems ambivalent....One of my wife's degrees is in education.... She's tried to help and monitor the program, but is frustrated at the inability to completely follow up..... It's turned out to be policing versus education and everything seems spotty and sporadic....

 

Our daughter is bilingual + taking Japanese and has the benefit of smart phones, laptops, a printer, and 100% full access wifi.....

I can only imagine what some students & families are going through that don't have these tools to use....It has to be frustrating for any students/parents that really care.... Especially the language courses, would be damn near impossible....

 

Part of this is understandable as educators were caught off guard and ill prepared for 100% online curriculum.....

 

I be glad and relieved when she's back and attending at the school itself....

[LeatFingies]

Oh nooooo. Not STRESS.
 

They should feel stress. Generation Z is mostly a bunch of confused, pigeon-toed, un-athletic, chubby-cheeked, tik tok using bunch of ungrateful children. You have a tough life ahead. Get used to it.

Edited October 7, 2021 by LeatFingies

[brewsterbudgen]

For primary age kids (5-11) it's stressful for the parents!

[dabhand]

38 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

For primary age kids (5-11) it's stressful for the parents!

Yup, especially those who are in full-time work.

We have four grandkids (ages 6-11) staying with us with the father (my son) working full-time in Bangkok. He does his best to act as liaison between the teachers and the kids but is in a high pressure job with a bank.. I can assist with any English topics, but Thai......... The eldest is controlling the Line messages for his younger siblings and has been struggling at times. He is just wishing for the schools to re-open. As we all are..........

[jesimps]

Can't speak for the kids, but the stress level of my missus who was a teacher went up exponentially. So much so that she quit and is now quite happy in her new job.

[cclub75]

Online could be ok for teenagers (but not for long)... But for primary, for children 6 or 7 years old... it's a total disaster.

 

They need social interactions. They need to see, play with their peers.

 

And it's very disrupting for the parents (who need to work).

 

And we all know that upcountry... this system is a joke (families with no laptop etc.). Deeply unfair.

 

But children are convenient victims. They don't protest. They can't burn police booth or fight with the police, or throw eggs at the PM...

 

The whole saga, a whole semester with schools closed ("online" = closed let's be honest) will stay as a dirty stain on this gvt.

 

 

[tonray]

17 hours ago, pgrahmm said:

Our 14 year old daughter seems to screw around playing on the phone 50%+ of the time - other times drawing.....If she hears us moving the hands move fast and the phone page is at a neutral home screen.....

Having taught at high schools here...don't worry...that's what they do in class anyway

[BangkokReady]

I doubt the stress is actually related to studying online, more the type of work that the Thai teachers set as a result.  They probably just send some work and say "do X and send it to me by X time", which is a higher work load than they are used to.

 

The answer to online study should really have been a reduction in homework and far more interactive lessons.  I suspect the opposite is what happened.

[pgrahmm]

37 minutes ago, BangkokReady said:

I doubt the stress is actually related to studying online, more the type of work that the Thai teachers set as a result.  They probably just send some work and say "do X and send it to me by X time", which is a higher work load than they are used to.

 

The answer to online study should really have been a reduction in homework and far more interactive lessons.  I suspect the opposite is what happened.

There are assignments that need to be printed, completed, photo'd & returned....

And there are spoken classes with verbal instruction, verbal questions & responses.....The screen shows the kids faces.....As far as I can tell, the teachers are doing their best to keep it light....I perk up & listen at the English class....The others the wife oversees when possible....

The teachers have separate channels for students & parents to conduct classes & monitor both ways.....

[BangkokReady]

3 minutes ago, pgrahmm said:

There are assignments that need to be printed, completed, photo'd & returned....

And there are spoken classes with verbal instruction, verbal questions & responses.....The screen shows the kids faces.....As far as I can tell, the teachers are doing their best to keep it light....I perk up & listen at the English class....The others the wife oversees when possible....

The teachers have separate channels for students & parents to conduct classes & monitor both ways.....

That doesn't sound particularly stressful.

[CM Dad]

20 hours ago, pgrahmm said:

Our 14 year old daughter seems to screw around playing on the phone 50%+ of the time - other times drawing.....If she hears us moving the hands move fast and the phone page is at a neutral home screen.....

She first started and was at the desk working 830-1600....Then it was 1500 - then 1400 - then 1300 = the last 3 days 1100-1200....

My wife double checks on the Line app following up....

Three days this week our daughter said she was done....AND all 3 days my wife found an afternoon test our daughter "didn't" know about .....She would have missed the testing if not checked on & it's a crappy attitude we get back when we catch her.....

The class start times seem to fall within operational "Thai time" cultural time like windows instead of a regimented, solid start/end time.....I look over & she's bored just sitting and waiting......

It makes continuity and parental follow up difficult....

 

So - hell yes it raises stress = MINE for one.....My wife for two....Our daughter seems ambivalent....One of my wife's degrees is in education.... She's tried to help and monitor the program, but is frustrated at the inability to completely follow up..... It's turned out to be policing versus education and everything seems spotty and sporadic....

 

Our daughter is bilingual + taking Japanese and has the benefit of smart phones, laptops, a printer, and 100% full access wifi.....

I can only imagine what some students & families are going through that don't have these tools to use....It has to be frustrating for any students/parents that really care.... Especially the language courses, would be damn near impossible....

 

Part of this is understandable as educators were caught off guard and ill prepared for 100% online curriculum.....

 

I be glad and relieved when she's back and attending at the school itself....

I am in Chiang Mai as well.  I will be happy when my son, 16, returns to on-site learning.  I think there are too many distractions at home.  I also think that interactions with his classmates is important.

[Colabamumbai]

I have about 3 cancellations weekly, from bored kids online classes. 

[pgrahmm]

1 hour ago, BangkokReady said:

That doesn't sound particularly stressful.

It is & isn't....The schedule isn't strict, so hard to follow for us - so - she skims at every opportunity, completely omitting sessions & tests unless caught out....

It turns into a constant policing environment.....Our gym-wardrobe/library/big screen room would be a perfect study area, except she's not that kind of kid (our other daughter is  forthright, 100% autonomous) - she'd skip out on everything....

So, she's in our (open house plan) dining room area where we have to watch/monitor & not create background noise (per wife) during the sessions....So, it's walk on eggshells - we're basically trapped 6-8 hours a day for months.... = Stressful....

Can't wait for her to go back to onsite....Let her have her normal student interactions back.....

Then we regain our normalcy - & mobility.....

[MrJ2U]

I've noticed my daughter and her friends have gained a little wieght since online learning started.

 

My kids were a lot more active at school.  

 

6 hours a day online learning for our daughter with my wife close by to help.

 

We're all looking for some normalcy sooner than later.

[BritManToo]

My 10 year old is happy at home, and is no problem at all.

Youtube videos, Xbox 360 games ........ he prefers it to school.

 

I think western parents obsess too much about their kids school and education.

[DavisH]

11 hours ago, tonray said:

Having taught at high schools here...don't worry...that's what they do in class anyway

Not all schools allow kids to have phones in class. Mine hasn't for several years. 

[DavisH]

7 hours ago, pgrahmm said:

It is & isn't....The schedule isn't strict, so hard to follow for us - so - she skims at every opportunity, completely omitting sessions & tests unless caught out....

It turns into a constant policing environment.....Our gym-wardrobe/library/big screen room would be a perfect study area, except she's not that kind of kid (our other daughter is  forthright, 100% autonomous) - she'd skip out on everything....

So, she's in our (open house plan) dining room area where we have to watch/monitor & not create background noise (per wife) during the sessions....So, it's walk on eggshells - we're basically trapped 6-8 hours a day for months.... = Stressful....

Can't wait for her to go back to onsite....Let her have her normal student interactions back.....

Then we regain our normalcy - & mobility.....

How are her grades when she is in school? I have a few like this - a few kids handing in work that they have had a week to do, and handing it in withing 10 mins of the due time (probably copied off of someone else).

Yet I have a handful of students who do the work (several pages of it) and hand it in the same day that I assign it. 

It takes quite a bit of self discipline on the child's part to do the work. 

Hopefeull kids will be back in school sometime in November - I dread meeting them and fould half the class haven't learned anything all year. It's very hard to assess understading via zoom. 

 

 

[CrunchWrapSupreme]

Unfortunately, Thai children know all too well the bane of the Thai educational system, its cherished tradition of the minimum passing score. They can do nothing and still get a score.

 

In my classes of around 30, I've had always maybe 5-6 students who are really interested and do the work. It's been this way for years in person and continues now online. Always the 20% who actually do something, and the other 80% who do next to nothing.

 

I'm not seeing the stress, most kids just aren't doing the work. We've had to reduce the load down to one lesson a week, or continue a lesson into a second week if not enough students completed it. We then keep repeating the lessons over and over as students bother to show up.

 

We conduct classes on Line Messenger. If their English is weak they can translate. We have video chats, tell them to read something, write something, fill in a worksheet, record themselves speaking. It's hardly rocket science.

 

They've all got phones and we know they all work, because my colleagues constantly see them on FB, Instagram, etc. But when it comes time for schoolwork, oh! Suddenly they've got phone problems, bad Internet. Heh. And when they grow up, I'm sure it'll be "brake failure".

[Scott]

It's not necessarily easy to 'see' stress.  Stress is insidious and students aren't immune.  If parents are anxious, the students will be stressed.  You might not see it but it may still be there.   What you will see is anxiety, depression, sleepiness.   You will see students not able to concentrate, not doing their work and the inability to pay attention.

[pgrahmm]

11 hours ago, DavisH said:

How are her grades when she is in school? I have a few like this - a few kids handing in work that they have had a week to do, and handing it in withing 10 mins of the due time (probably copied off of someone else).

Yet I have a handful of students who do the work (several pages of it) and hand it in the same day that I assign it. 

It takes quite a bit of self discipline on the child's part to do the work. 

Hopefeull kids will be back in school sometime in November - I dread meeting them and fould half the class haven't learned anything all year. It's very hard to assess understading via zoom. 

 

 

Her grades are midline at "C" (which is lower than C on international grade scales).....The indications from her teachers over the last two years was work not done, or turned in.....She's intelligent, but not interested..... I've asked her what she does instead of her work....Her answer was, "talk to friends"....I asked if that was more important than listening to the teacher and she replied yes.....

Her grades will probably improve now with Mom being able to monitor, follow up, and enforce assignment completion.....

She does get proud & show her scores on assignments graded out well; so that's something.....

 

[BritManToo]

3 hours ago, pgrahmm said:

I've asked her what she does instead of her work....Her answer was, "talk to friends"....I asked if that was more important than listening to the teacher and she replied yes.....

I'd probably agree with her.

The teachers in the Thai schools aren't all that good at teaching, and everyone passes anyway.

Most of the online schooling and homework is just pretend work anyway, absolutely worthless in any educational sense, just done to justify the school still taking your money.

 

I'll be happy if my kid finishes school being able to read and write Thai.

Edited October 9, 2021 by BritManToo

[EVENKEEL]

8 hours ago, BritManToo said:

I'd probably agree with her.

The teachers in the Thai schools aren't all that good at teaching, and everyone passes anyway.

Most of the online schooling and homework is just pretend work anyway, absolutely worthless in any educational sense, just done to justify the school still taking your money.

 

I'll be happy if my kid finishes school being able to read and write Thai.

What about reading and writing English, some higher math classes?