The Kids are Not Alright: Three Steps to Support Student Mental Health

Liz Katz

In my job as the Assistant Head for School Partnerships at One Schoolhouse, I’m privileged to be in touch with independent schools across the country. I love the ability to see the big picture and identify the patterns and trends that are affecting school communities across the country. In the past few weeks, however, those patterns and trends have been exhausting to hear and process. That’s because what I’m hearing, almost without fail, is how worried educators are about their students. 

The patterns and practices of typical schools serve as protective insulation for our students’ well-being. They spend time with peers and caring adults. They get physical activity. They have reassuring routines in their daily schedules. In hybrid and distance learning, most--if not all--of these protections have evaporated. 

In a study from April 2020, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, investigators found that students in Hubei province (the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in China) who had experienced school closures and lockdown had a significantly higher incidence of depression and anxiety than the general population. The Lancet published an article, also in April 2020, that described a survey of teens and young adults with pre-existing mental health conditions; 83% of the respondents said the pandemic had made their conditions worse. This information is scary enough at a first read, but it’s terrifying when you realize these articles describe the state of mental illness less than two months into the COVID-19 crisis, and some of our students have now been off-campus for more than three times as long.

Knowing how vulnerable our students are right now, what can we do to help? We can focus on the same mission and values that we hold dear every day on campus, and learn the different strategies we use to express them online. There are three key steps that every educator can take to protect their students’ mental health in distance learning environments:

1. Invest in relationships. Warmth and structure are essential for protecting our students’ wellness. Structure is provided by daily schedules, predictable routines, and activities and assignments. When we’re on campus, warmth is created in non-instructional time, both casual (in the hallways) and formal (in assemblies, sports, and clubs). Even if your school is remote, you can still build these opportunities--1:1 student-teacher conferences, club Zooms during lunch, or team workouts online. It’s essential for hybrid and online schedules to preserve time for non-instructional activities.
2. Look for data. In the classroom, teachers absorb all kinds of data about student wellness: where a student’s sitting, how tired they look, how organized their space is. Even in a synchronous class, that data isn’t available--this type of nuance doesn’t translate in a group video call--but other data is. Unanswered communication is an essential signal for disengagement. Late arrival to video calls or late submission of work can be an indicator of disconnection. A change in behavior--in academic work, or presence on camera, for example--isn’t likely to be incidental.
3. Take action. In the classroom, when a student is struggling, their performance usually sinks steadily. Online, we’ve observed that the trend line looks more like a sudden drop. The same is true for community engagement:  it’s much easier to withdraw quickly online than it is in person. On campus, giving a student time to work through challenges independently (but under a watchful eye) is usually a good idea. When you’re in distance or hybrid instruction, however, it’s important to reach out more quickly to provide a stronger safety net.

Most frequently, trauma is a discrete event. It has an end:  the fire is put out, the car comes to a stop against the guardrails. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, just keeps going, exposing us to chronic stress and anxiety. There are very real consequences for this chronic stress, and there are also resources for individual support. As a community, schools and educators can help to protect our students by providing warmth and structure. Together, we can help our students build the resilience and connection they need to weather the storm.

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Looking for a dive deeper on more ways to support student mental health this school year? Join us for an upcoming webinar and online course:

• The statistics on student mental health are starting to become alarming. While many kids are doing "okay" this year, many others are not. How can school leaders develop systems to discern who needs intervention? Join our Academic Leaders Webinar on October 21 at noon ET. In this webinar, Liz Katz will share effective strategies for online student support. Register here​
• Steady in the Storm: Protecting Student Mental Health in Hybrid Learning Environments with Dr. Lisa Damour and Liz Katz will help you protect student mental health this school year & help you refine your school-based mental health practices for years to come. Course dates: October 26 - November 1, 2020.

Register for 'Steady in the Storm'