Natural Tips for the Children studying Online and spending time on Screens

Pandemic, Lockdown, Quarantine, Online Studies, and Work from Home, some words that always existed somewhere, but were rarely known to people. Now, these are an inseparable part of life. People can never forget these words in their whole lifetime. Above that, we can never forget its teachings and its remarks on our lives. A virus appeared from somewhere causing death, the health organizations named it as Pandemic. The Pandemic became so severe that it resulted in Lockdown. Then, the lockdown started from 1 day and still is not ended completely worldwide. Quarantine, the most typical word of the year is used for the situation, where a person needs to stay away from others, if he suffers from any of the symptoms of Virus or travel from one place to another.

Several stages of Lockdown were implemented with different rules, starting from closing each and every small shop to opening the shopping malls and restaurants. But, some places that are yet to be opened are schools, especially the primary schools. Higher Secondary and Secondary schools are gradually opening as the students studying in these classes need to practice and learn their subjects more seriously in order to make their careers. Still, as children are the most sensitive humans, families are not allowing their children to go to schools and colleges until and unless it is the last choice.

Meanwhile, as everything was opening slowly, so the education department also found a solution and guided the teachers to start the teachings online. No doubt, this idea got fame at a rapid rate and helped the children to stay connected to their studies during Lockdown also. But, was it all good? Is the online study really so good as it appears? Does it have any side effects on the health of the children? Has it affected the parents in any manner?

Let us answer all these questions. It is true that the idea of online teaching has taken the education system at a new level but this growth has some adverse effects also. Already, with the advancement of technology and busy schedules of the parents, the kids, nowadays are very fond of spending their time on screens of electronic gadgets, such as Mobile phones, laptops, computers, video games, etc. They are less physically and more mentally active. Because of this, they start to act bigger than their original age and also lose their real childhood. But, this time it is not about games, videos and fun, this time it is about education, future, and their career. The teachers and the parents, who always used to scold their kids for not using these screens for longer period of times, are now helpless to do the opposite. For online studies, they need to let their kids, sit in front of the screens continuously for 2-3 hours. They themselves, now scold the kids to have the screens in hands and start studying because everything from classes to notes and examinations held there.

So, is there any solution now? Can we save our children against the bad radiations of the screen and its adverse effects on their health and growth? Today, if we ask this to the health experts or the physicians, we will get a lot of replies. Even we can be attracted towards many advertisements that claim to protect your kids’ health while studying on screens for longer hours. But, do they really work? If yes, then are there any further side effects of these medications on the person’s health. Or do these medicines affect the children’s natural growth? If we ask these questions to those physicians, they may not answer exactly. Now the question is, what are the options?

A saying is very famous these days, in this era of increasing calamities that nothing is good, so bad is better than worse. Keeping this in mind, let us move towards an alternative. Ayurveda, which is the most ancient system of medicine and provide natural care for health of the people, has the capability to aid in every moderate or severe situation but due to some restrictions it cannot claim its benefits. Similarly, we will not say that the natural herbs will help your children to stay protected against the side effects of these screens permanently but can assure for the second thing of not having any side effects. In simple words, now we have two options, one is the modern medicine claiming for the permanent relief and having long term adverse effects on health and the other is ancient Ayurvedic herbs that help in the prevention and treatment of the health problems and assures for no side effects at anytime during the whole life span. Now, the complete choice is ours. We can either choose short term quick relief with long term pain or gradual relief but for lifetime gain.

There is no end of general medicines available in the market for this, so let us know about the alternative which is somewhere better than that. Nature is called as the universal mother for many reasons. It is enriched with all the qualities of a mother. One of which is providing support to the health of the living beings. For this, it has some wonderful herbs, which will not only help your children to reduce the side effects of using screen for long periods but also improve their growth and holistic health. Ayurveda believes that an effective treatment is the one which includes all the three pillars i.e., Aahar (Diet), Vihaar (lifestyle), and Aushadhi (herb). As per the ancient Ayurvedic texts, if our diet and lifestyle is good, then we will never need the medicine and if our diet and lifestyle is unhealthy, then the medicine is of no use. So, these three concepts never work independently. The balance and coordination among these 3 ensures the holistic health of the individual.

So, following this concept, below provided are some most important diet and lifestyle modifications that the children need while online studying:

• The students should keep a proper distance from screens (minimum 25 cms) and sit in the good postures (prefer chair-table).
• The screen brightness should be adjusted as per the need and the light in their surroundings.
• They should keep their water bottles with them to stay hydrated and avoid dry eyes, headache etc.
• They should not continuously stare on the screen, whenever possible; focus on more listening than watching.
• If there are some notes or the examination questions that are being provided by the teachers, so it is better to ask for their pictures and get print outs or the parents can note down all of them in a notebook, so that the child can learn and complete from there and not from the screens.
• Avoid giving the food or any snacks during that time, it will make them lazy and reduce their concentration on studies.
• Parents need to sit with their kids at a distance so that the children can feel attentive and checked.
• A required amount of strictness on the part of the parents is necessary to maintain the study environment while online classes.
• Teach the kids to perform some yoga asanas and meditating positions to relieve their eyes tissues.
• Ensure that the kids get a proper sleep as online study needs more mental attention than physical.
• Soak almonds overnight according to the requirement of your children, depending upon their age and give them in the following morning with a glass of Milk (Prefer cow’s milk).
• Teachers as well as parents should ask the kids to wash their eyes with normal water after every 15-20 minutes to avoid irritation.

The above recommendations will help the children to prevent any complications and negative effects of watching screens on their overall health. Along with these, some herbs will help them to maintain their concentration levels and improve their retaining power. The most potent herbs for this purpose are Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera), Brahmi (Bacopa monnieri), Amalaki (Phyllanthus emblica), and Giloy (Tinospora cordifolia). These all herbs have enormous benefits during the growing years of the children. These herbs manage weight, improve concentration levels, support healthy brain functioning and boost immunity of the children. Therefore, all these herbs can be used effectively as the shield against the side effects of online study on the mental as well as physical health of the children.

So, let the nature heal us with its infinite powers and fruitful benefits and enjoy its beauty being healthy forever