The Impact of COVID-19 and Homeschooling on Students' Engagement With Physical Activity

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic forced an unprecedented global shutdown that closed schools for months. In many nations, schools were closed to students, and teachers directed educational activities remotely via digital devices or homeschooling resources. This article explores how these months of homeschooling have affected the physical activity of Norwegian students in Grades 1–10. All Norwegian students are supposed to have at least 60 min of physical activity every day in school. We draw on data from two surveys, one with parents (N = 4,624) and the other with teachers (N = 726), to provide an indication of the daily physical activity students engaged in during the period of homeschooling. An important finding from the teacher survey is that the degree to which schools prioritized physical education among the school subjects varied greatly between schools and teachers. Key findings from the parent survey were that reported time spent on physical activity increased with the age of the students, that many parents expressed concerns about increased sedentary behavior, and that the most active students were those who showed the greatest engagement and effort in schoolwork in general. Our findings raise the questions of whether students were given too much responsibility for their own physical activity during this period and whether teachers should provide their students with more digital workout sessions and instructional videos.

Experiencias educativas de niñas, niños y adolescentes chilenos confinados por la pandemia COVID-19

“…Si bien se indagó indirectamente acerca de que tan de acuerdo estaban con la afirmación de si las niñas y mujeres están expuestas a distintos tipos de violencia de género, los altos índices en la respuesta reflejan que ellas corren un mayor riesgo al encontrarse solas en casa. Roe, et al (2021) reportaron una relación entre las rutinas y actividades de alumnos y su bienestar físico y emocional, como la actividad física, en nuestro análisis encontramos niveles altos de sedentarismo entre las y los estudiantes chilenos, lo cual se agrava entre aquellos que residen en viviendas sin espacios exteriores de uso exclusivo que, a su vez, son más frecuentes en los hogares con mayor número de metros cuadrados y, predeciblemente, mejor nivel socioeconómico. La carencia de acceso a espacios exteriores también se relacionó con peores resultados socioemocionales durante la pandemia y un menor tiempo dedicado al estudio formal.…”

“…Investigaciones han determinado la importancia de la actividad física en la salud corporal y psicosocial de niña/os y jóvenes (Roe, et al, 2021), situación que durante esta pandemia se ha visto afectada y en descenso, aumentando el uso de pantallas y del sedentarismo o baja actividad física de niñas y niños (Bonal y González, 2020), debido a la falta de espacio y disponibilidad de herramientas para deportes organizados (Carroll, et al, 2020), estando considerablemente menos activos que cuando estaba la escuela abierta.…”

The effect of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on the physical fitness of children aged 16, living in Kosovo

“…The vast majority of children aged 6-15 do organized sports one or more days a week, which they have not been able to because of the shutdowns. Because of these factors, it is plausible that prior to the pandemic, students would have achieved an average of one or two hours per week of physical activity or would have been able to do so before the restrictions imposed, due to COVID-19 (Astrid et al, 2021).…”

Finnish Late Adolescents' Physical Activity During COVID-19 Spring 2020 Lockdown

“…During lockdown, much of the time late adolescents spent was indoors and PA levels reduced (8). Yet, a proportion of late adolescents had positive experiences during lockdown with increased freedom to carry out studies or PA in their own time (9). Despites the challenges maintain PA levels was possible during the spring lockdown (10).…”

“…During lockdown, the change of environment for PE was challenging for many. Physical educators experienced di culties in remote teaching PE (17), and for example in Norway, almost a quarter of PE teachers reported their subject had a lower priority during lockdown (9). Teachers had little time to prepare for online classes, and most have little or no experience in their preparation for teaching PE remotely (18) which may have limited the common positive effect of PE on PA.…”