As students return from a long awaited Christmas break, they find themselves reflecting on how much it was needed. It’d be expected that not physically being at school and learning from home would be much less tiring, but that has simply not been the case. With the significant increase of screen time, workload, and self-dependence, the need to take time “away from school” has become much more prevalent. 

Though it overcame many obstacles these past few months, distance learning has still been a major cause of physical and mental strain for many. Staring at a screen for many hours a day strains the eyes and can cause headaches; having a larger workload may prompt stress and anxiety; and being isolated demands a greater amount of independence. However, there is a simple way to counter, or at least minimize, some of these negative impacts and that is to take breaks. 

“Breaks are important for my mental health, and it allows me to focus more so on myself,” said junior Rohan Mengle. “Christmas break gave me a chance to spend more time with friends and family, and do things that weren’t school related.”

Taking breaks not only mitigates the physical and mental toll of distance learning, but also has benefits of its own. It enhances the ability to learn/retain information and increases productivity, which is why it can be very beneficial to schedule short breaks throughout the day. Some healthy activities to consider include going for a walk/run, meditating, grabbing a snack/drinking water, etc.

According to FHS school psychologist, Suzanne Goldbecker, “Building in short breaks throughout the day can help us to redirect our mental energy, give our eyes a break from staring at a screen, and allow us to recharge so we are able to refocus. We are also expending emotional energy staring at a screen all day, which can contribute to ‘screen fatigue’. Creating some purposeful separation between school and home, even though they’re both occurring at home, can help to create a sense of normalcy and control in our lives.”