The Zoom videoconferencing app has seen huge growth during the coronavirus pandemic and exceeded all expectations. The BBC reports that its revenues soared 355 percent to a whopping 663.5 million dollars during the second quarter of 2020. Customer growth rocketed 458 percent and profits rose 186 million dollars compared to the same time a year before.

Even though the app is both useful and popular, it doesn’t mean that it’s perfect or that we’re built to use it so much. So-called ‘Zoom exhaustion’ or 'Zoom fatigue' is a relatively new phenomenon that parents and students alike are vulnerable to: constant video calls and a lack of physical interaction with people are mentally tiring.

Primary school teachers Tom and Jack shared some great tips on how young students can avoid feeling mentally drained from using Zoom. They suggest maintaining good posture, taking movement breaks between lessons, and keeping the brightness of the screen at appropriate levels. However, that’s not all.

“A more technical tip is to remove the option for your child to look at their own camera. Have a play with the functions, perhaps turn it off or make it very small on your screen if you can’t turn it off on certain software. Having your own camera on your screen provides the opportunity to look in a mirror whilst being taught, which is very distracting and draining,” Tom and Jack said. “We’ve noticed some pupils judging their appearance, moving their hair, and so on, looking at themselves more than us.”

They added that parents ought to help their children become more independent by not fixing all of their problems for them. Counterintuitive? Maybe a tad. But they have a point.

“Children can often fix their own problems if you give them the tools and confidence to do so. What they might be lacking here is the time to talk and develop their own vocabulary for their feelings. So, without leading them to come to your conclusions, allow them to discuss what they enjoyed, what they didn’t enjoy, and ask how these things made them feel. Children may prefer to describe their feelings more physically for example, 'It felt like my tummy was tight.’ Giving them a safe forum for self-reflection is often a very positive approach.”

Teaching and learning virtually, while convenient, don’t have the same pros that in-person classes do. For instance, it’s far easier to see if your students understand something through their body language and facial expressions if you’re teaching them in person.

“Online learning has forced some good teachers to have to tirelessly ask things like, ‘Does this make sense?’ or, ‘Stop me if I’m going too fast,’ to make up for the lack of their ability to ‘scan the room.’ Most good teachers interact with social cues from the class, so it’s a bit like being a comedian with a blurry, buffering audience—you never really have the synchronicity of an in-person lesson. Therefore, a lot of children have been 'coasting’ through online lessons, not fully understanding what’s being taught.”

Other experts agree that videoconferencing isn't a perfect substitute for in-person classes. “Zoom is one of the platforms we use to try and fill the communication void. [It is a] poor substitute for face-to-face communication,” Memorial Regional Healthcare System chief of the department of psychiatry Daniel Bober told Parents.com.

According to him, certain social cues are “out of sync” when using videoconferencing apps and we’re left feeling irritated and anxious.

Bober adds that telephone calls might possibly be a valid alternative to Zoom calls because people are less stressed when they don’t feel like they’re being “watched” or that they have to “perform.” With that in mind, switching off your kid’s camera might help them feel less tired.