Wolinsky 1

Lucas Wolinsky

Professor Sam Gonzalez

ENC1102

March 29, 2023

Literature Review

COVID was one of the most impactful and harmful things to happen in recent history.

For one they made many families not only suffer because many of them were counting on the

month to month income. But many of our students experienced a disconnect from not only their

studies but also socially. At a young age it is very important for kids to have some type of social

experience. Throughout these hard times many people picked up new hobbies to try to deal with

what was going on. My question is: What are the different mechanisms families and children use

to cope with the hardships of isolation due to the effects of COVID19?

Isolation was a main problem through this whole thing. "Covid-19: social distancing or

social isolation?" by Gupta, Rajeev, and Rajinder K. Dhamija. This letter will allow us to look

into how isolation not only affected us but the people all over the world. It talks about how many

people during this time turned to things like alcohol abuse because they don't know what else to

do in isolation. Many elderly people struggled because they had no idea how to use technology

and weren't able to communicate with their family. This article will allow us to understand the

effects of isolation and how it could harm us.

Isolation did not only affect us mentally but also our studies. “A literature review on

impact of COVID-19 pandemic on teaching and learning." was an article written by Pokhrel,

Sumitra, and Roshan Chhetri. It'll allow us to understand the struggles of the teachers and

students. The article's main point is the effects and dangers of learning online.
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“Therefore, it has become essential for students to engage in offline activities and

self-exploratory learning. Lack of parental guidance, especially for young learners, is another

challenge, as both parents are working. There are practical issues around physical workspaces

conducive to different ways of learning.” (Pokhrel, Sumitra, Chhetri, pg. 136 Higher Education

for the Future 8(1)).

This article allows us to understand the hardships for some students because they have been

unable to learn and they have needed to find other outside activities that will allow them to get

away from this isolation feeling.

This is where the other articles come into play. "The psychology behind video games

during COVID‐19 pandemic: A case study of Animal Crossing: New Horizons." by Zhu, Lin and

"Families playing animal crossing together: Coping with video games during the COVID-19

pandemic." by Pearce, Katy E are both ultimately trying to prove the same thing. They both

focus on how many people used the new game Animal Crossing: New Horizons as a getaway. As

it says in the article by Lin Zhu many people used this game as a way to socialize with others

since they are only seeing the same people everyday. In the article by Katy it speaks on how

families used this game because even though they are all stuck in the same house it gives them a

reason to get out of their rooms and they are able to show emotions they haven't been able to

show in a while. Both articles make it very evident that many people had many social anxiety

going on or any other personal problems. This game allowed many of the students and parents

who are struggling with the new change of having to learn at home or work at home and giving

them something to use to get away form the stress. Playing these games by yourself or with

others in your family allows them to let emotions out that they have not because all they are

doing is staying at home doing the same things day in and day out both. The difference between
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the two articles is the article by Katy talks more about the methods used more as the article by

Lin talks about the dreamland which is animal crossing. But in the end each article tries to cover

and show the same thing. That many people during this time turned to things like video games to

cope with the different types of loneliness or anxiety they are dealing with. It's also another

avenue for them to show emotions that they haven't been able to show in a long time. Both of

these articles will allow me to show ways people found outside things like video games and how

it helped not only the younger generation but also adults during the tough time.

Although, we may believe videogames did only good things that also could be harmful

for some people.“Online videogames use and anxiety in children during the COVID-19

pandemic." by De Pasquale, Concetta, allows us to take a deep dive and see if videogames

actually helped students or harmed them. This will correlate with our last two articles because

ultimately if videogames worked for some people it may not work for all people. The article

speaks about a test that was done on children who played video games during this time. What

they found was very interesting. The test shows a big difference between the boys and the girls.

For the boys it showed for a great majority of them that most of the time those who played video

games that were male this allowed them to deal with their self control. But ultimately that

wouldn't be the same for the females. As for females it showed that many of them will have

anxiety.

In conclusion, using these articles I will be able to look at the hardships many people had

to deal with during this isolation period. Many people found hobbies that helped them thrive

during this time while sometimes these hobbies affected others in a harmful manner. Ultimley i

would like to figure out what the different things people used during this time to allow them to

deal with isolation.

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Works Cited

De Pasquale, Concetta, et al. "Online videogames use and anxiety in children during the

COVID-19 pandemic." Children8.3 (2021): 205.

Gupta, Rajeev, and Rajinder K. Dhamija. "Covid-19: social distancing or social

isolation?." BMJ 369 (2020).

Pearce, Katy E., et al. "Families playing animal crossing together: Coping with video

games during the COVID-19 pandemic." Games and Culture 17.5 (2022): 773-794.

Pokhrel, Sumitra, and Roshan Chhetri. "A literature review on impact of COVID-19

pandemic on teaching and learning." Higher education for the future 8.1 (2021): 133-141.

Zhu, Lin. "The psychology behind video games during COVID‐19 pandemic: A case

study of Animal Crossing: New Horizons." Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies 3.1

(2021): 157-159.