Students¶ experience with distance learning during Covid 19 pandemic in Southern Italy. Una esperienza di didattica a distanza in alcuni studenti del Sud Italia durante la pandemia Covid 19

Approximately two years after the Covid19 pandemic, researchers are interested in assessing its impact on society, mental health, and education. To ensure continuity of instruction, students participated in classes from home. While the technical problems were somehow manageable, the deterioration of mental health was undoubtedly more difficult to cope with and, likely, had traumatic effects on many young people. With a survey of 1,887 high school students in the city of Bari (Italy) we aimed to investigate relevant aspects of social well-being, mental health, and relationships between distance learning and student performance. The results showed that students maintained their performance in distance learning despite suffering from psychological weakness, restlessness and anxiety. This could have interesting implications for school administrators and students.