CDC Study Suggests Virtual Learning Can Be Damaging To Children’s Physical And Mental Health

A new CDC study released last week shows that virtual learning has potentially harmful effects on children. The CDC states that the results of the research “suggest that virtual instruction might present more risks than does in-person instruction related to child and parental mental and emotional health and some health-supporting behaviors.”

Virtual instruction has been used by many institutions of learning since the start of the pandemic forced school closures last year. The research states that in a “probability-based survey of parents of children aged 5–12 years, 45.7% reported that their children received virtual instruction only, 30.9% in-person only, and 23.4% combined virtual and in-person instruction.” The study also showed that children of racial minorities are more likely to be enrolled in online schooling. It states, “Virtual instruction was also more commonly reported by Hispanic parents (65.9%), non-Hispanic other/multiracial parents (64.0%), and non-Hispanic Black parents (54.9%) than by non-Hispanic White parents (31.9%).”