If you are an educator or a parent, you have likely already seen many ways in which “the kids are not alright.”
Mounting evidence shows that the mental health of American youth has been declining for at least a decade. During the pandemic, it took an even sharper downturn. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that in 2021 – the most recent data available – 42% of high school students experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness and 22% seriously considered suicide. This is a significant increase from 10 years earlier, when 28% of students reported persistent feelings of sadness or loneliness and 16% considered attempting suicide.
The isolation of pandemic stay-at-home orders and the trauma of losing loved ones contributed to declines in well-being. Schools have an important role to play in addressing this crisis.
Despite these obstacles – all of which were outside of their control – educators told us they found ways to be there for their students and support their mental health.
In the course of our research, three strategies became apparent. The lessons show promise not just in this section of New York City, but for the rest of the country as well.
1. Connect to community
In 2023, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy raised alarm about the essential need for social connection within communities to heal America’s “epidemic of loneliness.” Schools, in particular, have a history of being hubs for connection. In the pandemic, that was especially apparent when they became centers of information, offering academic support and internet access as well as food and nutrition, even when classes were remote.
Across the country, educators quickly realized that psychologically isolated students also needed social connection, and they responded with innovation. They developed bedtime story videos for families, online cooking lessons that invited community members into their homes, and socially distanced dance classes on school athletic fields.
If you are an educator or a parent, you have likely already seen many ways in which “the kids are not alright.”
Mounting evidence shows that the mental health of American youth has been declining for at least a decade. During the pandemic, it took an even sharper downturn. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that in 2021 – the most recent data available – 42% of high school students experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness and 22% seriously considered suicide. This is a significant increase from 10 years earlier, when 28% of students reported persistent feelings of sadness or loneliness and 16% considered attempting suicide.
The isolation of pandemic stay-at-home orders and the trauma of losing loved ones contributed to declines in well-being. Schools have an important role to play in addressing this crisis.
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