The Struggle of Online Classes

What happened over the last few months was really shocking to everyone living here, especially the kids. There was little damage, but there was greater fear among the people due to the war. All the schools and tourist places were closed for a while. For many children from classes KG1 to Grade 12, online classes were introduced as a temporary solution during school disruptions. But for children living through war or near active conflict zones, online learning was not just a shift in education — it became a survival routine shaped by fear, uncertainty, and constant interruption. Behind every “join class” button on the laptop was a child trying to learn while navigating the sounds of danger outside their window or balcony. I am sure every parent has experienced the same as I did during the online classes phase that were going on during the war or any other critical circumstances. It was really a very tough time for me to make my son sit down with focus and concentration in online classes. Because we all know about kids, how they are very energetic, always running around, especially boys, and he also has a small sister who keeps on disturbing him when he sits to study or do any other work. But still, my son tried to do his best. He put all his efforts to try to adapt to the new routine and new way of learning. While schools and some places were closed due to the war, offices were still there. And if both parents are working, then they had to go to their offices, leaving their kids behind at home. And those kids attended their online classes all alone, all by themselves. Some were in daycares, and some were with their grandparents. So, it was not easy to learn in this situation. Since I don’t go to the office, I was there to help my son through the online classes. I was able to see what he was doing, what the teachers were teaching, how my son was cooperating, what all classes and subjects they teach, how my son responded in class, how open he is with his teachers and friends, etc.

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In this article, I will tell you what all I experienced during my son’s online classes and how I made him sit properly to concentrate. The online classes went on for at least one month, and it severely impacted the academics of every student. But still, what I am proud of is that even in tough situations, all the schools tried their best to continue with the studies so that kids don’t get distracted and can complete their lessons on time. Because if you give long holidays to students, then they will definitely forget some of the portions taught in school, their syllabus will not be completed, and they will also feel bored at home as no one was going out due to the fear of missile attacks and war. Since this is 2026 and we are all in the digital world, everything has become easy to do online. Normally, we all know a war means destruction of the city, but we were lucky enough that nothing like this happened at all. There were huge sounds of bombs, but the government was trying to intercept every bomb coming towards us. So the damage done was very minimal.

Learning in the Middle of Fear:-

For young children, especially those in early primary years, learning is deeply tied to safety, routine, and emotional stability. In a classroom, they are surrounded by teachers and friends in a structured environment that helps them feel secure. During war, even when lessons moved online, that sense of safety often disappeared. A child attending a virtual class might suddenly pause because of loud noises outside — distant explosions, sirens, or aircraft overhead. In those moments, the lesson no longer mattered. The focus shifted instantly from the screen to survival instincts. Many children would leave their devices mid-class, run to parents, or become too frightened to continue learning that day. But this was not the case with my son. He was strong and confident that nothing would happen to us. He took the war very lightly. Maybe because he really doesn’t know what a war means or what a missile is. He was really calm and enjoying his time. Whenever he heard a sound, he went to the balcony and looked at the sky, and if there was any aeroplane, helicopter, or military jet, he would become excited and tell me to come and look at it once.

When the school sent me a message that they were shifting to distance learning due to the war, I thought this was not very serious, or they would take only a one-hour class online every day. But what they did was truly awesome. They shifted the school classroom to a Zoom video call and took classes from 8 am to 12 pm every day as they do in school hours. For KG1, it was from 8 am to 2 pm. Later, they reduced this time to 12 pm even for big grades because many parents complained that these long hours on the screen are affecting their kids’ vision, and the kids are complaining of eye pain and headaches. They also put in some extra effort and made some worksheets, presentations, shared notes on WhatsApp, and videos for the kids to make the learning easier. They also gave a few breaks in between the online classes for kids to stretch, use the washroom, drink water, or eat their breakfast. But the problem was that I had to sit with my son for all those hours so that I could help him to understand the whole process of online learning. Because my son doesn’t know how to on zoom calls- how to mute or unmute the video call, how to turn on the camera, and how to use the raise hand button if he wanted to ask a question in the Zoom call. So, for a few days, I sat with him and showed him everything: how to do it. He is very eager to learn new things, and hence he learned this very quickly. The class teacher used to send me the Zoom link to join the class on my WhatsApp number exactly at 8 am. After opening the link, it was necessary to log in with your child’s name so that teachers understand which student was logged in to mark the attendance. Sometimes, I used to log in before 8 am if my son was ready, and sometimes a little late at 8.15 am. Since there was no school and no school bus to wake up early in the morning and get ready for school, my son used to sleep till 7.30 am. And sometimes, if he was not feeling well, he used to sleep till 8.30 too. At that time, I told the teacher that we would join after one hour as my son was not feeling well. So I used to log in at 9 am too in those days. In between all this, my son got his Eid holidays, so we went to my parents’ home in Saudi Arabia. After Eid, his online classes started again, but we were still there. So, I used my brother’s laptop to login zoom call and made my son attend the online class even when the house was full of guests and relatives. I made him sit in a different room and closed the door so that no one would disturb him or he wouldn’t get distracted due to loud noises in the house. Sometimes, he sat with full concentration, but many days, he was distracted. If  I sat with him, then only he would learn seriously, or else he was just playing and doing other stuff even when the online class was going on, and the teachers barely noticed him. So, if I had enough time, I would sit along with him for the online class, or just come in between and check on him every 15 minutes.

The Invisible Burden of Distraction:-

Unlike adults, young children do not yet have the emotional tools to separate learning from fear. Their attention is easily disrupted by anything that feels threatening, exciting, interesting, or pleasant to their eyes. Just like this, my son also used to get distracted very often while attending an online class. He used to get distracted when we came into his room, when his sister was doing something in front of him, when he heard some sounds, when there was a phone ringing, when we were having our breakfast, and when I was talking to someone. He wants complete silence, and there should be no other movement in his room when he is studying. Otherwise, he will get distracted and won’t focus in class. And the teachers also usually don’t notice this, as they are busy with lessons and trying to help every student in the class. And believe it or not, many teachers only focus more on students who are good in class or good at studies. They make them the priority and try to help them more. This is the sad reality of the education system. Teachers respect you, like you, and help you only when you are the brightest student in the class. All the other students, even the average ones, are completely ignored. Instead, the opposite should happen: weak and average students should get more attention, help, and support from the teachers. However, since this is the reality, we as parents have to try our best to make our child confident and hardworking. I used to tell the teacher on WhatsApp to talk to my son and see what he is doing during the online lessons. I told her to ask some questions, listen to him when he is talking, and call out his name once in a while to keep him focused. I was not sitting with him, as I have to take care of my daughter too, and if we both are in the same room, my son only watches us and doesn’t concentrate on studies. So I set up his studies in the bedroom, and me and my dauhgter used to stay in the hall till he finishes his class. He used to come to us in break time, or we used to go to his room. And sometimes, if you have other family friends at home, then sitting in an online class becomes very hard and irritating to my son. He wants to enjoy time with his family at that time. My daughter loved to sit with his brother in the online class and see other students and teachers talking. She did some activities too that my son was doing in the online class, like drawing, coloring, crafting, singing, making shapes with clay, etc.

In an online classroom, teachers may see a frozen screen or a missing student, but they do not always see the reason behind it. This happened with many students. Sometimes the net was not working, charging gets over very quickly, there was a problem in teachers laptop, and the laptop got stuck in between. The child may be sitting in a room with a blank laptop for a while if all these things do not work. Even when classes continued regularly, learning was often fragmented. Concentration was broken not only by lack of interest, but also by the surrounding environment. Sometimes, the teachers shared the notes on WhatsApp if the student was not able to complete their work during online classes. They also started giving notes and worksheets in Google Classroom for all the subjects that they taught in the online classes and told us to help our child do it by themselves. This helped me a lot to make my son do the work after the class.

The emotional weight of isolation:-

One of the most overlooked struggles of online learning during conflict is emotional isolation. School is not just about academics for young children — it is where they play, laugh, make friends, talk with different people, and feel connected. During online classes, especially in times of war, that social world shrinks to a screen. Friendships become distant. There are all the students on the Zoom video call, but still no one likes to talk to each other, as kids don’t know how to talk in such situations and what to talk about. All stayed silent and focused on learning and studies only. And children may silently carry fears that they cannot fully express. Some children become quieter. Others become restless or anxious. Many struggle to explain what they are feeling because they do not yet have the language for trauma. They don’t really understand the true meaning of war, attack, and missiles. My son especially missed his school so much. He didn’t like the online classes. He always told me he wanted to go to school and study, or didn’t study at all. He missed his friends and teachers. He also missed the games he played in school, the competitions, the activities, the sports, and music classes. As parents, we also don’t like to see our kids sad and confused. And you know what a home looks like when your kids are at home all day. You have to be present for them all the time. Or else they will get bored or taunt you that you don’t spend time with them or play with them.

The Resilience of Young Minds:-

Despite these challenges, my son showed remarkable resilience. Many students continued attending classes even when conditions were difficult. Some adapted quickly to new routines. Others relied heavily on parents or caregivers for emotional support during lessons. Teachers, too, played a vital role — offering reassurance, flexibility, and patience in ways that went far beyond academic teaching. If I wanted some notes, the teacher sent a photo of the notes on my WhatsApp without telling me anything; that’s why my son didn’t complete his work during class. This was a completely new and different experience for my son, which he will never forget. This was new to me too, as we never studied like this when the situations were tough or when there were circumstances like this in our childhood. Our schools gave holidays till everyhting became normal again.

The experience of this online education during war will remain in the part of these children’s memories long after the conflict ends. It is a reminder that education does not exist in isolation from the world around it. For many young learners, school became something they attended while holding fear in the background — a reality that no child should have to normalize. And yet, within this difficult chapter, there is also a quiet truth: children continue to learn, adapt, and grow even in the most unstable conditions. What they need most is not just access to education, but environments — whether physical or virtual — where they can feel safe enough to simply be little children again and enjoy their school life.