Online schooling meant many adjustments for Maria Ferrari’s daughters, 7-year-old Senja and 11-year-old Tala.

In the early days of at-home learning, Maria was worried about the method’s reliance on digital devices, since she allowed her youngest daughter to use them only on weekends. After a few months of lending Senja her laptop, Maria and her husband bought a new laptop for their daughter.

But then, the 43-year-old mother found that Senja was becoming increasingly distracted by the internet, whether it was chatting with her friends or watching videos on YouTube.

Theoretically, the offline hour after each class was to be used for other activities that did not use gadgets, but Maria said that her daughters found it increasingly difficult to unplug.

“At school, [Senja and Tala] can play with their friends during recess. Now that they’re apart from each other, they stay connected through the internet,” she said. Classes like physical education were also challenging, with limited space at home.

The lack of physical activity in online learning is a worry some parents share.

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