A Descriptive Survey Regarding Impact of Lockdown on School Going Children

Introduction: In India, lockdown for COVID-19 prevention started from March 25th 2020, causing severe disruption to the normal life. All nations’ scientists are still trying to find a solution for it. Beating the virus completely seems to be difficult because of the nature of the virus. In West Bengal, India, schools reopened from February 12th 20218 for class IX-XII only. So school children up to class VIII are still confined at home. In this context, it is important to understand the effects of lockdown on children. Methods: Hundred school students were selected for online (Google form) survey during Oct-Nov 2020 through purposive sampling. After ethics committee approval school children between 6-18 years who were willing to participate were enrolled for the survey. Informed consent was taken from the parents and their children. Descriptive statistics were used for analysis of data. Results: 36% children had increased appetite whereas 12% reported a decrease in appetite during COVID-19 lockdown. Few (9%) students reported long sleeping hours (12-14 hours / day) and majority (61%) of the participants expressed spending their leisure time by watching TV. Most of them (89%) missed the school; 53% participants felt loneliness and 74% missed outdoor games. 60% children also reported the concepts to be unclear in online classes. 46% parents reported behavioral changes of their children like irritability (31%), getting angriness (36%) and temper tantrum (13%) during COVID-19 lockdown. Most (98%) of the school children are maintaining their personal hygiene but 82% children are not doing it in time. 99% had basic knowledge on COVID-19 and its preventive behaviors but 37% didn’t want to wear mask, 30% were not maintaining social (physical) distancing and 10% were not washing their hands regularly. Many participants expressed that their quality of life, quality of study, health and mental health condition deteriorated during the lockdown than the pre COVID situation. Conclusion: Parent’s counselling about the developmental needs of the children in various phase of childhood is required so that parent will put their maximum effort to make and follow a consistent routine for study, play, rest and physical activities of the children.