Understanding the Changed Lives of the College Youth through the COVID Lens

Page: 34-39
Shabuhi Naaz and Monika Rikhi (Department of Applied Psychology, Sri Aurobindo College (Evening), University of Delhi, Delhi)

The COVID-19 pandemic has sent the life of today’s youth into a tailspin. This change has a significant impact on their higher education, learning styles, career planning, mental health, and daily lives. Since the beginning of the pandemic, it has appeared that the youth’s attitudes towards their future and career choices has shifted significantly. The global human psyche has also suffered from a variety of anxiety-related difficulties. According to UNICEF (2020), approximately ten million youth around the world suffer from COVID-19. In India, over 32 crore students have ceased attending school and college, and all educational activities in the physical mode have come to a halt. In order to reduce the spread of infection of the deadly virus, offline classes have to be closed and the youth confined to their homes with online classes for learning. COVID-19 has shifted the focus of teachers to e-Learning technologies and platforms for effective student participation which has not only highlighted the fact that they may be out of reach for students and in worst case scenario, even out of budget. The psychosocial aspect of learning associated with these academic inputs has been severely hampered. The pandemic has undoubtedly uncovered the issues present in our education system, which have now become a necessity for the virtual-era-schooling for teachers to evolve to the world’s fast converting academic atmosphere. The usage of e-learning and digital schooling can also emerge as a critical part for the betterment of education within the post-pandemic era. This paper explores the changes in young lives from different perspectives to develop an understanding of the future recourse.