In a ‘so upside down’ world, virus takes toll on youth’s mental health
Dan Levin
The email, written by an eighth grader and with the subject line “Wellness Check,” landed in her school counselor’s inbox nearly three weeks after schools had closed in Libby, Montana, a remote town of 2,700 cradled by snow-topped mountains.
“I would like you to call me,” the student wrote. “This whole pandemic has really been frightening and I hate to say it, but I miss going to school. I hate being home all day.”
The counselor, Brittany Katzer, was alarmed. The student had long struggled with depression and was consid- ered high-risk for harming herself. Katzer called the girl several times, but the number she tried was out of service. She sent emails and left a message on the girl’s moth- er’s phone.
Neither the girl nor her mother returned the messages. The student has not contacted any of her teachers or submitted any assignments since the school district shifted to distance learn- ing, Katzer said.
“I worry about her safety and mental health, but what else can I do?” asked Katzer, who said a staff member had dropped off lunches at the house and had spoken with the girl’s sister, a third grader, who confirmed her older sister was home, though she has not completed any assignments.
Pre-pandemic, on a typical school day, Katzer said she spoke with about 100 stu- dents, either individually or in group sessions. “The face-toface connections that I make with kids are irreplaceable. Now, who knows what’s hap- pening with them?”
The shuttering of the education system severed students from more than just class- rooms, friends and extracur- ricular activities. It has also cut off about 55 million children and teenagers from staff members whose open doors and compassionate advice helped them build self-esteem, navigate the pressures of adolescence and cope with trauma.
Desperate to safeguard students’ emotional well-being amid the isolation and financial turmoil of the coronavirus pandemic, teachers are checking in during video classes, coun- selors are posting mindfulness videos on Facebook and school psychologists are holding sessions over the phone.
But the challenges hard- wired into online learning present daunting obstacles for the remote guidance counselor’s office, particularly among students from low-income families who have lost jobs or lack internet access at home. And mental health experts worry about the psychological toll on a younger generation that was already experiencing soaring rates of depression, anxiety and suicide before the pandemic.
Some educators, dissatisfied with the limitations of technology, have found ways to visit students during the pandemic.
Emily Fox, a social emo- tional specialist at a primary school in Chillicothe, Ohio, uses Zoom to meet with her students. Many of the children are being raised by grandpar- ents, she said, while some have been traumatized by family addiction. She said she worried about suicidal ideation and attempts by students as young as kindergartners, a problem even before school closed.
Fox delivers lunch to those from more underprivileged families, and she recently devoted a day driving to houses, where she talked to students outside. “It gave me comfort just seeing their smil- ing faces,” she said.