COMING BACK TOGETHER
One of the important facets of a traumainformed approach is that we understand these “ symptoms ” as a normal reaction to an abnormal situation . Reacting to traumatic stress doesn ’ t necessarily suggest there ’ s anything wrong with us ; it indicates there ’ s something wrong with our situation . We know we can reassure our students of this ; in times like these many of us need reassurance as well .
Pre-Existing Student Mental Health Crisis
The United States had on its radar a child and adolescent mental health crisis before COVID-19 . Rates of anxiety and depression have been climbing rapidly over the past decade . According to 2016 NAIS-NSCC-Winston Prep Wellness Survey for Independent Schools , 88 % of Heads of School reported that anxiety is a significant issue for their students ; 49 % of Heads of School reported that depression is a significant issue for their
The United States had on its radar a child and adolescent mental health crisis before COVID-19 . Rates of anxiety and depression have been climbing rapidly over the past decade .
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” students . As of 2019 , suicidal thoughts and behavior were at an all-time high among 13- to 19-year-olds since the U . S . began tracking 50 years ago . And while our school communities also enroll many healthy , well-adjusted — even happy — students , these kids are nonetheless affected by the psychological struggles of their classmates . Finally , recent psychological research indicates that affluent students may be at slightly greater risk for emotional difficulties and substance-use disorders than their less advantaged peers . ( Luthar , 2012 ) While your work in independent schools may have led you to speculate as much , it ’ s important to know that there is empirical evidence to support your anecdotal observations .
“ Gen T ”
One of my frequent refrains with adolescents in my psychology practice is my acknowledgement that it is especially difficult to go through this crisis at their age . There are so many ways in which they are missing out . As one high schooler noted , “ This is my growing up time .” Even if we put aside what I refer to as the “ differential developmental impact ” of this crisis , the current generation of K-12 and college students has had a rather rough go of it to date . The mother of a first-year Division III soccer player-turnedremote-learner refers to her son ’ s 2020 high school class as the “ bookend generation :” born the year of the September 11 terrorist attacks , graduated from high school the year of the COVID-19 pandemic .
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CSEE Connections Fall 2020 Page 5