A toxic environment can be defined as any area where the work, the atmosphere, the people, or any combination of those things cause serious interruptions in the rest of your daily life. These disruptions can show up in any number of physical symptoms, says a recent article by coach and human-behavior professor Melody Wilding. These include “sleepless nights, feeling constantly vigilant, sweaty palms, and a racing heartbeat.” Moreover, a toxic or hostile environment has negative health impacts that can affect your personal life.
With the recent switch to online learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic, toxic school environments still exist remotely due to a multitude of stressors that include chaotic work spaces, lack of social development, and lack of motivation, which has led to a large decline in mental well-being for students globally.
Why can online school environments be toxic?
- No clear sense of purpose
Due to the shift to online learning, many of us may feel unmotivated, leading to a lack of purpose which consequently impacts our learning in a negative manner.
- Distractions
Being around family members at home enables them to ask for help or to run errands, contributing to stress while you are trying to get tasks done for school during classes.
- Motivation needs monitoring
Successful online education needs structured parental oversight at home, daily interaction with a teacher, or an extremely self-motivated student. Very often, none of these scenarios exist, and this is the reason online courses have such a high drop-out rate. Teachers are trying to motivate learners who have to teach themselves the online content.
- Toll on social development
Due to the online and remote nature of schooling, we see ourselves being less and less social during these times. This has a severe impact on mental health and stimulates multiple stressors.
- Mandatory rules
One of the most controversial rules in regard to online learning is the requirement to have cameras on at all times. This causes some students to be hyper-aware of their surroundings and self-conscious of appearances, which also takes a mental toll on students.
How to prevent toxic school environments
A very important note to remember is that it is critical to stay positive as much as you can because negativity is indeed contagious. Try focus on the positive as much as possible. There are at least seven scientifically proven benefits of gratitude, as Psychology Today observes, noting that it can improve physical and mental health, self-esteem, and mental strength. Even in a hostile school environment, there are good things going on – student achievement and classroom success. Also, practice self-care. Forbes writes that it is “imperative that you learn to separate the negativity you are swimming in daily.” Staying in a toxic environment such as online education for a long time can wear people down, but finding ways to remind ourselves that we are not a reflection of our current surroundings can make a difference. Journaling, connecting with the outdoors in short walks, eating healthy food, rather than loading up on sugar and caffeine, can help lift your mood.