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The Kids Are Not All Right: Concerns for Mental Health Mount as Schools Reopen
by Eleanor J. Bader

Carla Rivera, a 12th grader at Fort Hamilton High School in Brooklyn, New York, is relieved to be back in school. “Being home was stressful,” she says. “I was watching my 10-year-old brother and trying to keep him on track with his school work. Then, when my mom got home from work at 4:00, I’d begin my assignments but they piled on top of each other and I felt like it was impossible to stay caught up.” Thankfully, Rivera says, she is now on target to graduate in June and plans to study zoological science in college beginning this fall.

Like Rivera, Noah Fishman, a senior at New Paltz High School in upstate New York, was eager to return to in-person classes when it became possible to do so. “I wanted to feel normal,” he told Truthout. “Even when in-person school is boring, it’s better than boring online school.”

Both Rivera and Fishman describe schooling during the pandemic as “chaotic” and report that uncertainty and angst have become their everyday companions. “There’s been more drinking and drug use,” Fishman says, “and everyone is really stressed. It’s become second nature, as if being anxious all the time is the way it’s supposed to be. I wish our teachers would tell us at least once a day that everything will be OK, that they’re here for us and want us to do well overall. It’s important that they remind us of this and create an environment that is supportive and caring.”

Continues:

https://truthout.org/articles/the-kids-are-not-all-right-concerns-for-mental-health-mount-as-schools-reopen/

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