Although the linking of teen suicides with the closing of schools is difficult to conclusively research, the growing rates of mental health emergencies and suicides all point to the toll on mental health Covid-19 has.
In the Las Vegas Clark County school district, there were 18 kids who had committed suicide between March (the closing of schools) to December, which was double the entire last year's amount. The Clark County Superintendent, Jesus Jara, decided to reopen schools, stating "When we started to see the uptick in children taking their lives, we knew it wasn’t just the Covid numbers we need to look at anymore. We have to find a way to put our hands on our kids, to see them, to look at them. They’ve got to start seeing some movement, some hope.”
An increase in emergency calls in more than 40 states among all age groups shows growing problems related to mental health amidst Covid-19. Many reports of these suicidal thoughts stem to one thing - a lack of connection. The most common suicide reason or feeling of disconnection has been attributed to many kids feeling hopeless being unable to see their friends or participate in school activities. The inability to access the mental health services that their schools had offered could also be taking a toll.
With all this research and statistics, this puts many at a crossroads. If you keep schools closed to mitigate the risk of Covid-19, the mental health of many students will definitely decline and suicide rates could increase. However, if you open schools to help students with their mental health, you increase the risk of Covid-19, and students could be infected and later risk transmission to high-risk individuals such as their parents or grandparents.
Anyway you look at it, it's an extremely morbid situation that Covid-19 has put us all in. And although Biden has set out an aggressive plan to speed vaccinations, increase testing, and help districts reopen schools in his first 100 days, we can only hope for the best.
5 comments:
It is absolutely devasting to hear that students are taking their lives due to the lack of connection with their peers and friends. I cannot emphasize how much this reflects on the issues of virtual connection. Humans are social creatures and this pandemic has deprived us of basic communication that we took as given. Although reopening schools might almost instantaneously relieve those that feel disconnected and such, I still don't think that would be the best option, taking into consideration of possible outbreaks within the schools. At least, until vaccines are evenly administered to create herd immunity. I really do hope that vaccines will be more readily available for the public in the near future and relieve all of us of this disconnected lifestyle.
I think Rachel mentioned an interesting point regarding how reopening schools isn’t going to “instantaneously relieve those that feel disconnected and such.” According to an NYTimes article, one addiction specialist claims that there will be a “period of epic withdrawal” when schools are back to in-person learning.
During this pandemic, some kids (or most) have resorted to online or virtual activities as a way to pass the time and connect with others. And, parents have relaxed their pre-pandemic restrictions on electronic use as a way to pacify and de-stress their kids. A human’s brain is said to mature in their early 20s. With such brain plasticity, a child/teenager may find it increasingly difficult to find satisfaction in an offline setting when they’re already so invested and caught up with their electronics.
At the same time, tech (games, social media, etc.) companies have been abusing the pandemic with clever marketing schemes to grab ahold of the child’s attention. Some techniques used by these companies are daily login rewards, “limited edition” items, perks, streaks. In recent times, Youtube, TikTok, Instagram, and Roblox have all seen an enormous increase in user activity, which is now being called the “Covid Effect.” With more parents coming to realize the effects of COVID-19 and increased screen time on their children, how do you strike a balance between this unprecedented access to electronics and personal control? By cutting off electronics, the child’s access to social interaction is in jeopardy. Are there any possible alternatives that would limited screen usage but also provide meaningful social interactions?
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/16/health/covid-kids-tech-use.html
It is a tragedy that so many suicides have occurred since the start of the pandemic, and beyond all of those, many teens are suffering from undiagnosed depression. I acknowledge that distance learning is detrimental to the success of students, and it also provides a barrier for interaction. However, many teens are using social media platforms to stay in contact with their friends. We know that the pandemic does not treat people in different economic standings equally, and that poorer people suffer more, and I believe this is also true socially. Those who don't have access to technology or forms of social connection outside of physical contact are more susceptible to a severe lack of social interaction, and this could be a factor in the higher suicide rates of these teens. The pandemic is really testing our abilities to cope with long social deprivation, and unfortunately we are not at a point where it is safe to return to school in masses, so teens must learn to cope a bit longer.
It is absolutely heartbreaking to see how the numbers of teen suicide rates during the pandemic have accumulated to surpass the number of last year by double. By spending the majority of our days online and on social media, many have fallen into a toxic trap of the internet. This pandemic has totally destroyed our balance in life that for many were already quite difficult enough to maintain on a regular. Although reopening schools may seemingly be an immediate solution for some students, I do not necessarily support Superintendent, Jesus Jara's decision to reopen schools. This issue is like a double-edged sword, there is no perfect solution to resolve this issue currently when vaccines have not been distributed to everyone within the community.
It truly is heartbreaking to hear about the teen suicides during this pandemic and how much schools have affected this. I can see how a lack of connection and a lack of regular student resources such as school counselors and just friends that you can talk to can be hard for students especially since everyone is going through unforeseen changes. As teenagers we are already going through changes and trying to adhere to those changes is really hard. I know that a lot of teens have been supplementing their lack of interaction with their friends with social media and their phones, which isn't the same by any means, but it is a way to stay connected through these hard times. I think schools reopening solves one problem but opens another, there really isn't a way to open schools without unraveling ten more problems right now. Maybe when more vaccines are administered and people feel a little safer reopening could be possible, but right now I think that schools should focus to make zoom and distance learning more inclusive and connected so we can prevent more teens from feeling like they are completely disconnected. This is the time where we need to stick together more than ever and I think schools can play a huge part is bring the connection back.
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