The story goes on under the ad Although young people have survived the virus – they get sick and die at a much slower rate than the elderly – they can pay a heavy price for the pandemic, having grown up overcoming isolation, uncertainty, financial turmoil and, for many, mourning. In a press conference, Kathleen A. Ethier, head of the CDC’s Department of Adolescent and School Health, said the findings highlighted the vulnerability of some students, including young LGBTQs and students who reported being treated unfairly because of their race. And female students are much worse off than their male counterparts. “All students were affected by the pandemic, but not all students were affected equally,” Ethier said. This is not the first time that officials have warned of a mental health crisis among teens. In October, the American Academy of Pediatrics declared a state of emergency for the mental health of children and adolescents, saying its members “care for young people with increasing rates of depression, anxiety, trauma, loneliness and suicide that will have a lasting effect on them. their families and their communities “. The story goes on under the ad In December, General Surgeon Vivek H. Murthy issued a piece of advice for protecting young people’s mental health. “The unexplained death toll from the pandemic era, the pervasive sense of fear, financial instability and forced physical alienation from loved ones, friends and communities have exacerbated the unprecedented stress young people already face,” Murthy wrote. “It would be a tragedy if we beat one public health crisis just to allow another to develop in its place.” CDC research depicts a portrait of a pandemic-ridden generation struggling with food insecurity, academic struggles, poor health and domestic abuse. Nearly 30 percent of teens surveyed said a parent or other adult in their home lost their job during the pandemic and a quarter struggled with hunger. Two-thirds said they had difficulty with homework. The story goes on under the ad But research also offers hope, finding that teens who feel connected to school report much lower rates of ill health. The finding draws attention to the crucial role that schools can play in a student’s mental health. Ethier said the findings add to a number of studies that show that feeling connected to school can be a “protective factor” for students. Schools can intentionally encourage connection in a variety of ways, including instructing teachers on how to better manage classrooms, facilitating student associations, and ensuring that LGBTQ students feel welcome. Such steps can help all students — and not just the most vulnerable — do better, he said. “When you make schools less toxic to the most vulnerable students, all students benefit – and vice versa,” Ethier said. The story goes on under the ad Katelyn Chi, a 17-year-old at Rowland High School in Rowland Heights, California, said her school’s Peer Counseling Club was the key to helping her get through last school year, which was completely virtual. At the beginning of each online meeting of the club, she and other members filled out a Google form that simply asked them how they were doing. The president of the club saw the papers, who checked in with her whenever he told her that he felt disappointed. “It really helped,” Chi said. “I received support and ratification.” The results of the research also highlight the particular vulnerability of LGBTQ students, who reported higher rates of suicide attempts and poor mental health. Nearly half of gay, lesbian, and bisexual teenagers said they had considered suicide during the pandemic, compared with 14 percent of their heterosexual peers. The story goes on under the ad The girls also reported doing worse than the boys. They were twice as likely to report poor mental health. More than 1 in 4 girls reported having seriously considered attempting suicide during a pandemic, twice as many as boys. They also reported higher rates of alcohol and tobacco use than boys. And, for the first time, the CDC asked teens if they thought they had ever been treated unfairly or badly at school because of their race or nationality. Asian American students reported the highest levels of racist encounters, with 64 percent saying yes, followed by black students and multiracial students, and about 55 percent reporting racism. Students who reported having experienced racism at school reported higher rates of poor mental health and were more likely to report having a physical, mental, or emotional problem that made it difficult for them to concentrate. The study also shed light on household stress. One in 10 teens reported being physically abused at home, and more than half reported emotional abuse, including insult, degradation, or swearing in. The story goes on under the ad The research also revealed that students who felt connected to school did much better than those who did not. Adolescents who reported feeling “close to people at school” were much less likely to report attempted or suicidal ideation and much less likely to report poor mental health than those who did not feel connected to school. The same goes for teens who feel essentially connected to friends, family and clubs. “Integrated strategies that improve relationships with others at home, in the community and at school can enhance the improved mental health of young people during and after the pandemic,” the report concludes. Chi said she wished policymakers could take adolescents’ mental health more seriously. Sometimes she feels that people her age are rejected because of their age. The story goes on under the ad “I would like to ask them to give us a lot more resources and a lot more empathy for what we are going through,” Chi said, adding that her school was delaying the opening of a much-needed student well-being center. year. “With things so difficult at the moment, it is difficult to see the future as something better.” John Gies, principal of Shelby High School in Shelby, Ohio, said he noticed an increase in the number of his students “fighting.” Sometimes, they did not make eye contact. Other times, students without prior disciplinary action acted and ended up in his office. So he used some of the money the school received from the American Rescue Plan to connect more students with counseling and set up an arrangement to bring counselors from a local counseling center to the school several times a week. The school has set up a support group for mourning students and a group of freshmen whose teachers are worried they may fall into the rifts. “The fight for mental health was there” before the pandemic, Gies said. “The pandemic really brought it to the surface and made it a little worse.”
