Students' Mental Health in Pandemic Essay Example

📌Category: Coronavirus, Education, Health, Mental health, Pandemic
📌Words: 874
📌Pages: 4
📌Published: 15 March 2022

Since the pandemic hit and students were on virtual school for a whole year before coming back fully there are a lot of mental health issues from those students. Many students’ mental health went down because they were not getting to be social how they usually are, they were more stressed out coming back, and do not have the usual set of school skills that they usually do. While some believe that students are doing fine with their mental health after a year of online school, some students are struggling because they lost a whole year of interaction between friends and teachers. The mental health of students has declined since we have gone back fully in person and have been rushed back into the normality of going to school. An article states, “From the beginning, we've seen elevated levels of stress, anxiety, different behavioral issues in students” (Chatterjee). This quote shows that from the beginning of coming back to school there has been a behavior change and the schools have noticed it. Psychiatrist Dr. Benton explains that "The year that they were out of school was a year that they didn't have the opportunities for developing the social skills that normally happen during their period of development," (Chatterjee). This explanation from the psychiatrist gives a clear view that students have had a hard time with getting their social skills back.

During virtual school, students did not have the same set schedules that they are used to having and they were getting comfortable with not speaking to people daily, a high school counselor had something to say, “Some students have had trouble going from being isolated every day with online learning to the constant social interactions of a normal school day,” (Durham). With this being said it gives a clear idea of what some people think that the students are going through. “Students are struggling. They are struggling with reacclimating to a normal school day, classroom expectations…”(Durham). This explains that students are having a hard time readjusting to the normality of in-person school.

The result of the pandemic and virtual school has disrupted a lot for students, their mental health to the point where mentally they are not doing good at school.  An article states, “The grief, anxiety, and depression children have experienced during the pandemic is welling over into classrooms and hallways, resulting in crying and disruptive behavior…”(Vestal). This line from the article explains that the students have been disruptive and they don’t know how to show that they are hurting on the inside. A school mental health co-director states, “Nearly every child in the country is suffering to some degree from the psychological effects of the pandemic,”(Vestal). This shows that it is not only the students already struggling with mental illnesses, but it is students who have also just had a lack of communication or a normal school year that cannot adjust.

Not only have students' mental health been a problem just because of the pandemic, but it has been terrible for a while. A pediatrician claims, “Two years ago it was a very big problem. COVID has made that go to the next level,”(McCormick). What this pediatrician is saying is that before we had to be isolated because of the pandemic, students still had issues with their mental health in school but it got worse after the pandemic hit. A therapist adds, “even teens who are thrilled to be back with peers may have a lot of emotional and social ground to cover to make up for lost time.”(McCormick). What this therapist adds is that with students being back it still does not help that they have a lot of things to recover from.

When coming back to school fully in person after such a long time may seem very exciting once you think about it, it is very stressful. An article claims, “The disruption, stress, and isolation of the pandemic resulted in a spike in behavioral and mental health issues among kids and teens,”(Lewis, Ryan). This sentence from the article clears up what you think would be an exciting time for students to return to school. A statement released from three major children’s health organizations contends, “As health professionals dedicated to the care of children and adolescents, we have witnessed soaring rates of mental health challenges among children, adolescents, and their families,”(Lewis, Ryan). As this statement explains that even health professionals have noticed the struggle that students are going through with returning to school.

While some may believe that the pandemic has not affected students’ mental health in any way and they are choosing not to shine a light on the topic, all over the country there have been students majorly affected. An article declares, “State education agencies, school districts, and school leaders must prioritize mental health when making decisions about how to use their resources.”(Sauceda). This article gives a good view of what schools should be doing to help out these students in distress. 

In final thoughts, the pandemic hit very hard for everyone but it hit harder for the children who are in the transition of finding themselves in school and getting used to certain things like new friends, different classes, etc. There are a lot of students struggling with their mental health during this time because of all the different changes they had to go through during such a short period and there may be some who do not think much about what the students are feeling. But if we can get back on track with everything such as communication between friends and students with teachers then there would be a good chance that some of the mental health issues for the students would get better.

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