Reply to WaPo on the mental health crisis students are experiencing

Forum Index » DC Public and Public Charter Schools

Reply to "WaPo on the mental health crisis students are experiencing"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]There are also students who have had an significant improvement in their mental health during DL because the schedule allows them more sleep or freedom from bullying, chaotic classrooms, etc. My daughter has barely stuttered this entire time. She has friends who have been able to reduce meds. Hearing the same from other parents on DCUM. Guess our children don’t matter. [/quote]

Mental health professional/researcher here.  I agree that some kids, removed from distractions, bullying, etc., are doing better academically and emotionally at home.  But there's no denying that a larger proportion of both adults and children have had mental health difficulties that have either begun or gotten worse during the pandemic.

I have friends whose kids have chosen to do DL when hybrid was available, since they prefer to be home and are doing better this way.  While I sympathize with those families, from a public health perspective, we need to think about how to get the majority of kids back in school.  There may be long-term societal repercussions for this generation of kids if we allow them to continue to be out of school, not to mention economic repercussions given the families (mostly mothers) who have quit jobs or cut back on work.  [/quote]

PP again, meant to finish my thought.  I think we do need to think about how to best serve the kids who are actually doing better at home.  I'm not sure remaining in DL indefinitely is the answer.  Getting the right supports at school, expanding mental health and special ed services, etc., may be the better answer, and perhaps allowing some sort of hybrid for these kids where they get at least some in-person time.  But a return to in-person should proceed when possible to serve the needs of the majority of kids--including many from disadvantaged backgrounds--who are not doing well under DL.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics