{"id":7123,"date":"2022-06-11T09:48:14","date_gmt":"2022-06-11T13:48:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/?p=7123"},"modified":"2025-08-24T12:18:02","modified_gmt":"2025-08-24T16:18:02","slug":"is-online-school-better-for-socially-anxious-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/2022\/06\/11\/is-online-school-better-for-socially-anxious-students\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Online School Better for Socially Anxious Students?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Online school has been around for a long time. It was not until COVID-19 hit that it took off. Schools all across the world had to shut down and quickly think of a solution to continue education. Schools went online temporarily until restrictions were lifted. It is no question that many students were itching to go back to in-person school. But what about the students who do not want to go back?<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Many Class of 2020 Graduates Alter Post-Graduation Plans.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Social anxiety is the fear of interacting with a large group. The feelings that come with this anxiety are fear and discomfort. Social anxiety rates have grown by at least 2 percent since COVID-19. Social anxiety can affect many areas of life. It affects schoolwork and friendships.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Many people experience social anxiety. Students may have it harder than some others. Schools have a strict schedule when students must be active. It is hard to leave a class at school because of anxiety. Once anxiety starts, it is difficult to focus in class. The only thing that the students are aware of is their overwhelming fear and anxiety taking them over.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Online schooling has given the chance for students with social anxiety to stay at home. Ilia Ivanik prefers being on Zoom instead of a physical classroom. Ivanik is a first-year college student who has mental health issues. \u201cI think that there is a psychological thing at play. Whenever I am at home, I feel more at peace. While at school, I feel exposed. I do not feel comfortable seeing teachers and students. I see online school as a way to avoid my social anxiety.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Online school has given socially anxious students a way to be able to work at their own pace and to have more time going over subjects they struggle with. \u201cI think online college is great. I get to set my schedule and I do not have to feel the pressure of what others may expect from me. In-person school is also great. It has been working for hundreds of years and I understand why students prefer in-person. You do not get the same learning experience from online,\u201d Ivanik said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Julia Gay, a senior in college, has always been a very sociable person. She enjoyed making friends and meeting people. \u201cI fell into depression because of my personal problems. But school was the last straw. There was so much stress from assignments and a huge workload, which caused school to make things worse.\u201d Gay was not aware of her social anxiety until she went to an in-person class. “I did not realize I had become socially anxious until I had the chance to go to an in-person class. It was my first time going anywhere in months. I remember feeling anxious in my car. When I got to the classroom, my heart rate skyrocketed and I started shaking. I was shaking the entire hour and 15 minutes of class and I could not wait to get out of there. I sat in my car for at least 10 minutes to calm down before I drove home.\u201d This shows the impact that online school can have on sociable students and how it can change them.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is still in question if online schools will exist after COVID. There should be ways to help the people who do not want to attend in person. Ivanik thinks that other schooling options should be available. \u201cI think a personal tutor should be accepted as a way of being taught, as long as the individual feels comfortable.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0COVID-19 has allowed the improvement of online schooling to grow. But there is still some trouble in the online world. Teachers and students do not share the same connection as they would in person. It is more difficult for a teacher and a student to get to know each other online. Some teachers have done a fine job of trying to connect with students. Others have not been so effective. Ivanik said, \u201cI do not feel connected with any of my professors. I try to reach out, but they do not usually reply like they said they would.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Some troubles that have come from online schooling are that students sometimes have to teach themselves. Either the teacher did not clearly explain a topic or the student did not understand what was being taught. Ivanik sadly did not have good professors this semester. \u201cI have had to teach myself in all my classes but one. The professors do not give me any help when I ask for it. I feel as if I am not being taken seriously at times.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0With how much society has advanced, perhaps it is time to include more options to make education fit each student?<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Online school has been around for a long time. It was not until COVID-19 hit that it took off. Schools all across the world had to shut down and quickly think of a solution to continue education. Schools went online temporarily until restrictions were lifted. It is no question that many students were itching to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":140,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7381],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/140"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7123"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7123\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8165,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7123\/revisions\/8165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}