Justification Essay Example: The Negative Effects of COVID-19

Covid-19 had an effect on everyone. For some, it was positive; however, according to my research, most experienced negative effects. The negative effects go from something as small as being forced to leave school all the way to losing your job and being evicted from your apartment. Because COVID-19 had such a negative impact on college students, universities as a whole need to be more understanding and implement more changes. Throughout my research, I was able to learn how students were feeling throughout COVID-19 and see not only how schools reacted but if they reacted in a positive or negative way. Throughout my research, I was able to find sources that support my argument of universities need to be more understanding when it comes to mental health changes, learning changes, and social changes. Although there was a lot of research I was able to find sources that are trustworthy and support my argument. 

The first thing Universities should change is how they go about supporting students who struggled with mental health throughout COVID-19. In order to show this, I needed to find sources that first showed how students were feeling mentally and then showed how the universities reacted to those feelings. I was able to find three reputable sources to help inform the ups and downs students faced while also pointing out how the universities reacted. “COVID-19 Impact on College Students’ Mental Health in the United States” by Changwon Son et al goes into great detail in describing the effects of COVID-19 had on students' mental health overall. It explains through paragraphs, graphs, and charts the classifications, majors, and answers the students interviewed had. It also explains how students had depressive thoughts, changes in appetite, and changes in sleeping patterns. While this source doesn’t go into great detail on how universities responded it does give me the information needed to see the impact COVID-19 had on students (son et al.). Next, I found “College Mental Health before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Results from a Nationwide Survey - Cognitive Therapy and Research” by Hanjoo et al. where they start by explaining how statistics have changed before vs. during the pandemic. This journal was able to explain that depression, alcohol use, and eating disorders overall increased as the pandemic continues. This source explained that Universities approved the surveys to be taken in an attempt to learn more about the students and how they were feeling (Hanjoo et al.). “Stress, Anxiety, and Depression among Undergraduate Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Their Use of Mental Health Services” by Jungmin Lee et al. explain how students' levels of anxiety, stress, and End depression change throughout the pandemic. Later on, it explains how universities provided free counseling services for students and made resources available via phone or Internet after the University was closed after the outbreak. The only problem with that was that students who were out of state were unable to use those services due to license issues ( Lee et al.).

The second thing universities should be more understanding of is how COVID-19 made learning change. The three sources I found were able to point out the way universities changed their ways of learning and if it was a positive or negative change for the students. “More than Inconvenienced: The Unique Needs of U.S. College Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic” by Alyssa M. Lederer et al. explained the main precautions taken during COVID-19. It explained how the university acted fast only thinking about how to stop the spread and not considering their students in the mix which did end up affecting them negatively. It explains how learning took a big change from going fully online to different variations of hybrid learning. It, later on, goes on to explain how universities tried to get students back on campus in a timely manner but it did come at the expense of some hybrid classes, masks, social distancing, etc (Lederer et al.). “Covid-19 and Its Impact on Education, Social Life and Mental Health of Students: A Survey” by Kunal Chaturvedi et al. explains from a student's point of view how they felt about the different variations of classes. While they didn’t dive as deep into the way the university responded they did conduct a survey that was able to explain what the students were wanting (Chaturvedi et al.). “Everyone Is New to This” by Danny Doucette et al. explains how universities were thrown into a hard predicament. It goes and explains how education changed while giving credit to universities for at least putting in effort (Danny Doucette et al.). I plan to use all three of the sources to explain that the universities didn’t go without trying to help the students but they did put other needs above students and need to be more understanding towards them. 

Finally, the next thing universities should be more understanding of students' social life. The sources I found go into how students' life has changed socially and how universities should be patient. “My entire World Stopped” by Rebecca L. Hagedorn et al. explains how students’ experienced a major change in a workload one school was shut down. It explained deeper how students’ who were also front-line workers were forced to isolate themselves and not have a social life for fear of infecting others (Hagedorn et al.). “Alcohol Use, Cannabis Use, and Psychopathology Symptoms among College Students before and after COVID-19” by Ty Schepis et al. express in the results that universities need to screen more heavily for drugs and alcohol. The journal goes into detail telling how usage has changed throughout COVID-19 and that Universities need to take better precautions to lower usage (Schepis et al.). I plan to use these two articles to explain how universities have made some changes but also explain what needs to be changed to better benefit the students. 

Through my research, for my annotated bibliography I was able to find good reputable sources and then narrow it down to find what would help support my argument best. I was able to find sources that helped inform me about what students were experiencing and how universities reacted. I will be able to use these sources to show how universities need to be more understanding of mental health changes, learning changes, and social changes. I will first pick out the sources that tell just how students are feeling to give the background information and then use evidence from the other sources that show how universities reacted and how they should improve. I will then be able to use all my research to prove my argument. 

Work cited

Son1, Changwon, et al. “Effects of COVID-19 on College Students' Mental Health in the United States: Interview Survey Study.” Journal of Medical Internet Research, JMIR Publications Inc., Toronto, Canada, 9 June 2020, https://www.jmir.org/2020/9/e21279. 

Rackoff, Gavin N., et al. “College Mental Health before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Results from a Nationwide Survey - Cognitive Therapy and Research.” SpringerLink, Springer US, 19 June 2021, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10608-021-10241-5. 

Lee, Jungmin, et al. “Stress, Anxiety, and Depression among Undergraduate Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Their Use of Mental Health Services.” Innovative Higher Education, vol. 46, no. 5, 2021, pp. 519–538., https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-021-09552-y.

Lederer, Alyssa M., et al. “More than Inconvenienced: The Unique Needs of U.S. College Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Health Education & Behavior, vol. 48, no. 1, 2020, pp. 14–19., https://doi.org/10.1177/1090198120969372.

Chaturvedi, Kunal, et al. “Covid-19 and Its Impact on Education, Social Life and Mental Health of Students: A Survey.” Children and Youth Services Review, vol. 121, Feb. 2021, p. 105866., https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105866.

Schepis, Ty S., et al. “Alcohol Use, Cannabis Use, and Psychopathology Symptoms among College Students before and after COVID-19.” Journal of Psychiatric Research, vol. 142, Oct. 2021, pp. 73–79. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2021.07.040.

Doucette, Danny, et al. “Everyone Is New to This”: Student Reflections on Different Aspects of Online Learning. 2021. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1119/10.0005795.

Hagedorn, Rebecca L., et al. “‘My Entire World Stopped’: College Students’ Psychosocial and Academic Frustrations during the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Applied Research in Quality of Life, 11 May 2021, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-021-09948-0.