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Haley Barr

Mrs. Jackie Burr, Instructor

English 2010, Section 1

February 18th, 2021

Open Letter; Social and Mental Health Crisis in Students

It is no secret that mental and social health play vital roles in one's development, both of

which are overlooked in the grand scheme of education. The lack of comfort and love for

teenagers could subject them to horrible depths of depression. The roles of leaders for the rising

generation could not be more vital. The rising teens' lack of in-school experiences from virtual

learning has come from the drastic changes of the COVID-19 pandemic. So why is it that some

teachers refuse to go to teach in person? The survival rate of COVID-19 is 99.997%, so why

must this small risk of dying from it take precedence over a young students’ well-being? If

students continue to lack social interaction with undue stress, their physical and mental health

will plummet.

Furthermore, anyone suffering from depression can usually experience large amounts of

sadness for weeks on end, bringing a negative impact on their daily lives. Even for adults,

managing depression is not an easy feat. “Symptoms of clinical depression impact everyday

functioning or personal responsibilities.” (Sullivan). This is a common struggle for anyone of all

ages to experience, so it is important to remember that coping with depression comes with social

interactions. Social interactions are limited for the safety of the virus spread, yet even with all the

proper precautions taken, teenagers are robbed of one of their major coping mechanisms. So

much of every day is spent in school for them, so those friends and social events throughout the

school day break up all the hours of sitting through lectures. With virtual learning, that social
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break from the mental stress of school can’t be treated. Therefore their coping mechanism of

mental stress from school and uncertainty lodge up within a student’s mind in high school and

middle school. Why mental health? Why do students in their later years need these interactions?

“Mental health is vital to physical health, wellbeing, relationships, functioning, and how we

feel.” (Sullivan) Mental health can change and inflict damage upon a teenager’s wellbeing, even

physically. Throughout the pandemic and online learning, students have suffered through this

process which has brought mental health struggles in addition to the normal battles that ⅕ of

students experience. As a teenager among many, we beg for that return to school, for teachers

who will return for the sake of our mental well being.

Likewise, school culture and the daily lives of teenagers were thrown off in flux during

the year 2020. “School culture is delicate; it requires nurturing even in less tumultuous times.”

(Simmons). Even without the pandemic, the culture teenagers live in is forced upon them since

they first attended Kindergarten, developing habits and sound routines for them all around. This

culture of schooling every day and interacting with others was so quickly robbed from our daily

lives that it put a strain on the very routine we’d been taught to follow all of our lives. The

refusal against students’ attendance in person to school when there is no threat is absolutely

beyond the scope of good reason. The very force of leadership and government that developed

school culture for youth now robs it from them. So why is that? Social interactions occur even

outside of school with the same effects and risk so why doesn’t school just allow in-person

school?

However, social distancing is not just a youth dilemma, social distancing is something

that the community as a whole deals with. Problems that require dialogue and communication

can’t be solved with little to no social interactions, which only causes more problems. “Being
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connected to others gives us a stake more than our interests and increases our motivation to work

together.” (Vivek). In general, being able to interact with others does morally benefit people. So

if solitude is all that’s practiced during the pandemic without any leniency or refusal to attend

school, how can these good morals be practiced? Does it suddenly give people the right to be so

aggressive and rude for the excuse of “being in a pandemic”? So what exactly should change

while being able to stay safe? Well the behavior of everyone around us. There needs to be more

kindness and social interactions more now than ever before. Social distancing should not mean

no social speaking in any way. Yet that is what the common thought is and it hurts the education

system and communities societies thrive in. The expectations of social distancing should be

encouraged not forceful. Being altogether to get through the struggles of the pandemic is truly

the way to keep up with the lack of stability in the average student’s daily routine.

Lastly, the effects of the mental health crisis youth suffer can be devastating but what

does that even mean? As previously stated ⅕ of students struggle with mental health, even

without the circumstances of the pandemic. It’s a normal process that can degrade a person to

depression and even suicide. “It’s not somebody else’s problem, but all of our problems.” (Ono).

This struggle that is regularly faced shouldn’t be something that youth goes through alone, it

should be something often addressed by their leaders, guardians, and comforters. It needs to be

constant and early so that teenagers never have to feel that they are alone with this struggle. “The

earlier you intervene, the more you can save an at-risk youth.” (Ono). This duty of saving the

mental health of the youth falls to the teachers, leaders, parents, and so many more influences.

There must be more interactions to find those who falter and stress. The influence of the

pandemic has greatly diminished the coping mechanisms for depression, thrown off the school

culture, divided people, and has devastated the well-being of the youth in middle to high school.
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Is the relative safety from a virus that has an extremely high survival rate more important than

the well-being of a generation? Especially when all the safety precautions are followed, the

answer is clearly no! As a growing youth, I leave this here as a voice for those who can’t speak

for themselves. I leave this for those who have suffered from a lack of social support and

interaction, missing out on all the memories that in-person school can bring.
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Works Cited

Murthy, Vivek. “Our Epidemic of Loneliness.” TIME Magazine, vol. 195, no. 12/13, Apr. 2020,

pp. 60–61. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=142419616&site=ehost-live.

Ono, S. (n.d.). Tackling the mental health crisis in our youth. Retrieved February 16, 2021, from

https://www.ted.com/talks/santa_ono_tackling_the_mental_health_crisis_in_our_youth

Simmons, Andrew. “A NEW ORDER: COVID-19 Is Impacting Students’ Emotional Health and

Social Lives—but English Class and a Classic Piece of Literature Can Help.” Literacy

Today (2411-7862), vol. 38, no. 1, July 2020, pp. 34–37. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=144463199&site=ehost-live.

Sullivan, A. (n.d.). Managing mental health during the covid-19 pandemic - coping with

uncertainty: Health-notes. Retrieved February 16, 2021, from

https://www.ebsco.com/blogs/health-notes/managing-mental-health-during-covid-19-pan

demic-coping-uncertainty