The Effects of Covid-19 and Social Media on Mental Health
By: Reeva Lalani
People have become increasingly attached to their phones, especially since March of 2020.
It used to be a fun escape, a way for people to talk to their friends. But until recently, most of
our lives resolved around virtual interactions. It blurred the line between the digital world and
the physical world. Many feel like they are lost in the virtual abyss of social media.
The convenient invention of smartphones is ubiquitous: for virtually people, it is the way humans connect and communicate. Since Covid-19, our lives are essentially built on this idea of online communication. Once this treasure was discovered, they began to be enveloped in its magnificence.
Social media and the general internet have played a significant piece in the puzzle of creating a dormant way of life for those under lockdown. Because of forced time spent at home, families are succumbed to the reserved walls of their residence. The lack of physical communication has begun hindering the mental health of the public.
As every coin has another side, the government has played a vital role in negative mindsets and has pushed people to further mental health problems by shutting down public places. The pandemic is not just a medical phenomenon; it affects individuals and may cause anxiety, stress, stigma, and a lot more.
The idea of communicating with others, being separated, loses the physical connection between you and the other person. Human relationships are continually eroded because of much-unstructured life development by the pandemic. Many have felt unmoored since the initial publication of the lockdown. This incident has left numerous people feeling even more unwieldy and depressing since March.
Seeing as scientists' have developed a vaccine for the virus, as of now, those who are not classified as front-line health workers or immediate patients are left in the dust. Since social media and public health experts promote avoiding contact with others, they have led many to construct a stagnant mindset. Limited human interaction has left them no choice but to communicate through a screen. Dreams and aspirations pass us while we are stuck, scrolling on our phones, with no motivation to do what we love. So, the question we need to ourselves is: How can we steer away from the void that is mental health?
Sterling Update 2021
By: Reeva Lalani
Sterling Academy moved from Canvas to Maestro Student Information Systems and Microsoft for Education to manage student access to their classes, student data, and communications between students and teachers on Monday, March 1.
Maestro is central hub for the students to access current Edgenuity classes, keep track of classes completed and manage their personal data. Maestro will also allow teachers, students, and parents to communicate more efficiently.
Parents will receive their own Maestro accounts allowing interactions between teachers and parents as they guide Sterling's students toward their academic goals. This feature did not exist with Canvas and will enhance student progress monitoring and communication.
The change from Canvas to Maestro will not affect the Edgenuity curriculum, and it will accommodate the Microsoft for Education program that Sterling is adopting to enhance interactions between teachers, students, and their classmates.
Microsoft for Education features Microsoft Teams, which allows for video meetings capabilities for all students and teachers in a uniform program. Students within classes will have direct access to their classmates, thereby open opportunities for collaborative learning.
The technical capabilities for Microsoft Teams will allow students communicate across curriculum and build collaborative learning and social communities.
The use of Microsoft for Education will enable all students, faculty, and staff to receive their own email accounts with @sterling.academy.
Another system change coming to the new program will be moving eDynamic courses, carried on Canvas, to Buzz. During the transition period, students with eDynamic courses will log into Buzz separately until it is implemented into the new Maestro format.
Student data (contact information, signed forms, IDs) have been kept in separate databases up to this time; after the conversion, this information will be kept in Maestro.
