Grade 12 HUMSS Siddhartha

Group 9

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Mental Health of SHS students

INTRODUCTION

In a joint statement by the International Labor Organization and World Health

Organization (2020), they declared that the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly impacted the

human race and has given birth to so many changes in our society. The safety of every human

being was threatened so close contact with others were made limited. Drastic changes had to be

made to decrease its level of transmission to curb down its mortality rate. The world was on the

brink of total shutting down as lockdowns, quarantines, and shut down of some institutions were

set. Protocols were set limiting our contact with the people around us. All of these gave birth to

the “new normal” in our society.

One of the most affected spectrum of the society is the education sector. The pandemic

crisis put into a sudden halt the education systems of countries all across the globe. Considering

the safety of the learners were put into highest priority. Thus, schools were shut down as a

paradigm shift into the teaching and learning process was mapped out to ensure that education

will continue.

These scenarios of school shut downs gave birth to the problem on how will education

continue amidst the pandemic crisis. To this, the Department of Education drafted and

implemented the Basic Education Learning Continuity Plan (BE-LCP). It enlisted the access to

learning through various learning modalities that would replace the face-to-face classes which

was discouraged because of the threat to the health and safety of the learners. The learning

modalities like Blended Learning modality, printed and digital learning modalities, TV-based
and radio-based instruction, were set into place to be chosen by the parents and learners

depending on what suits their situation best. Learning from home has become the new norm in

education.

With these changes come the challenges that every learner had to face. This gave birth to

various problems among the learners especially in their mental health. The weight of adjusting to

the new normal in education together with the high demands in their tasks that they had to

accomplish has taken its toll on them which manifests physically and mentally. Many studies

have confirmed that this sudden shift has caused a great deal of depression, anxiety, and stress

among learners as they try to cope with the changes happening around them. In a study

conducted by American Psychological Association (APA) (2020), results showed that 81% of

Gen Z youths, aged 13 to 17, experienced more acute stress during the pandemic crisis. In

another study by Son, et al. (2020) on 195 students in a public university in the United States,

showed that 71% of the students showed indications of increased stress and anxiety due to the

COVID-19 pandemic. Mental health problems can affect a student's energy level, concentration,

dependability, mental ability, and optimism, hindering performance. According to the American

College Health Association survey (2015), college students identified mental health issues such

as stress, anxiety, depression and sleep difficulties negatively impacted their academic

performance. To an extensive degree, it also can affect their social interactions. The degree of the

impact of the pandemic on the students’ mental health needs to be explored so that they could be

given the much needed and appropriate support.

The researchers will conduct a study on the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic on the

Senior High School learners of Meycauayan National High School this School Year 2020-2021.

In this undertaking, they seek to understand the level of depression, anxiety, and stress that the
learners are currently experiencing. The results are deemed to be most helpful in recommending

necessary measures that can be undertaken to help them through these difficult times so that they

can better deal with the different changes happening around them and for them to resume their

daily lives with more optimism.

American College Health Association. (2015). National College Health Assessment II: Spring
2015 reference group executive summary. Hanover, MD: Author. Retrieved
from http://www.acha-ncha.org/reports_ACHA-NCHAII.html

American Psychological Association (APA) (2020). Stress in America, 2020: A National Mental

Health Crisis. Available at: https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2020/report-
october (Accessed January 20, 2021).

Impact of COVID-19 on people's livelihoods, their health and our food systems.
https://www.who.int/news/item/13-10-2020-impact-of-covid-19-on-people's-livelihoods-
their-health-and-our-food-systems

Son, Changwon, et al. (2020) Effects of COVID-19 on college students’ mental health in the
United States: Interview Survey Study. URL: https://www.jmir.org/2020/9/e21279