Although her grades didn’t suffer during the pandemic, Shekinah Glory Peter Mba, like many students, knew she wasn’t feeling well.
She endured episodes of depression. “It was bad, honestly,” said Peter Mba, a junior at East Orange High School. “This is probably the worst year ever. I realized all throughout my life, I was using school as an escape. Having that taken away from me has not been easy to cope.”
Then there was the constant drumbeat of disturbing news. For Peter Mba, the murder of 33-year-old Sarah Everard by an officer of the London Metropolitan Police was an emotional blow.
She’s far from alone in struggling with mental health during the grueling yearlong coronavirus pandemic. Students nationwide experienced higher rates of depression and anxiety while in isolation from their teachers and peers. In a survey by the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health, 46% of parents polled saw new or worsening mental health conditions for their teens since the start of the pandemic. Parents of teenage girls noted a higher increase in anxiety (36%) than those with teenage boys (19%).
NJ Education:Remote learning is helping some Black students affirm their identities, excel in school
In addition, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that young adults faced worse mental health outcomes and increased substance use during the pandemic.
When schools reopen in September, educators will be left to deal with the fallout among students. Some aren’t waiting; they are rolling out programs to address the issue now.
Peter Mba‘s solution was to take matters into her own hands. She hosted a six-week mental health program in February and March, where students from East Orange High School and Future Ready Prep would share personal stories, including their home situations, in the presence of a therapist.
“It was a safe space for everyone to talk about things that they are going through,” she said. “We had some real conversations and having a professional in the midst to give us coping mechanics to deal with that.”
NJ education:NJ schools plan to help students with significant learning loss after COVID. Here’s how
New screening programs
Maura Collinsgru, a health care program director at New Jersey Citizen Action, and her colleagues were hard at work trying to get more mental health services into schools even before the pandemic. A key goal was to implement a universal screening tool to identify kids at risk.
“The pandemic has just heightened that,” Collinsgru said.
The crisis gave the New Jersey Citizen Action a push to work with legislators to put screening programs in place that would identify students with mental health issues and those at risk of substance abuse.
Sen. Joseph Vitale of Middlesex County introduced a bill, which is now sponsored by Assemblywomen Carol Murphy and Valerie Huttle, that would require universal screening in high school. Assemblyman Herb Conaway has a bill that would require depression screenings, which is being rolled out to school as a pilot.
“That was directly related to the number of increased suicides, depression and anxiety being reported through our schools,” said Collinsgru.
Under Vitale’s bill, depression screening would be customized to identify substance abuse and anxiety as well. Called Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral , it also provides intervention.
Collingsgru said she’d like to see SBIR in every school district by 2022.
“It would cost literally 1 to 2% of what we spend on school security,” she said. “Introducing SBIR is just one part of a much bigger change that I believe is beginning to happen across all school systems. The pandemic just heightened all of that. So many kids have had so many issues as we lived through an unprecedented year.”
NJ Education:‘Students feel disconnected’ and it’s not senioritis. COVID ruined Class of 2021’s big year
The Rev. Sammy Arroyo of Salvation and Social Justice, a faith-based public policy non-profit, said a system like SBIR that identifies problems and helps students address them in their own school community is much more effective than punitive zero-tolerance policies. Often, students who are caught using drugs are expelled under these policies, instead of receiving help.
Sometimes mental health presents itself as “behavior problems,” and students end up expelled instead of getting the support they need.
“Zero tolerance policies aggravate the problems that it trying to eradicate,” said Arroyo.
Bordentown Regional High School took part in a pilot SBIR program for freshmen this year. It surveyed about half the freshman class about substance abuse and mental health.
Nell Geiger, a student assistance counselor, and other counselors have extensive conversations with students whose responses are flagged. That could lead to a referral for treatment.
“Certainly, the pandemic took its toll on the kids,” said Geiger. “Kids that normally wouldn’t have been affected were affected with heightened anxiety and depression. Kids who are normally involved in some sort of afterschool activities were all shut down so they didn’t have that outlet.”
If the SBIR pilot hadn’t been in place, Geiger believes the school counselors may not have been able to identify those who were newly affected by mental health issues.
“A lot of these teens were struggling in silence,” said Geiger.
Give the success of the pilot, Geiger is hoping the program is expanded in fall.
Mental health ‘the biggest issue’
Just before the pandemic, the Northern Valley Regional High School district had introduced two wellness coordinators to work alongside student assistance coordinators.
“The timing lined up with the catastrophic event,” said Superintendent James Santana.
The coordinators connected with students to see how they were feeling, with results helping to shape the district’s learning plan, Santana said. The district also used a program called Gaggle, which monitors the language students use in school and identifies risks.
“If a student is using [certain] words and you add all those words up, it could add up to a red flag that says ‘this kid is in danger,'” said Santana.
As data was collected, it began to show how deeply disconnected students were feeling while working remotely. Last fall, staff began to increase the activities students could take part in where they could at least see each other on a screen, Santana said.
“Student mental health is the biggest issue in high school and administrative space,” said Santana. “It’s not kids smoking in the bathroom or fights, it’s student mental health. … If a student is not feeling well and [isn’t] available for learning, they are not going to learn.”
The pandemic only added to already problematic student stress. “There is no downtime for them,” Santana said. “They are connected from the minute they open their eyes to the minute they close them.”
At Westbrook Middle School in Paramus, social and emotional learning check-ins have become routine, with teachers checking every morning to see how their students are coping, said Principal Deirdre Spollen-LaRaia.
“We really make sure that they are OK,” said Spollen-LaRaia. “Getting them to talk about their feelings throughout the pandemic and what they are experiencing.”
Mindfulness has been a big focus, with students participating in mediation and yoga sessions. Spollen-LaRaia said the venture has shown positive results.
“We definitely felt we needed to shift our focus from grades and academics to really focus on supporting student mental health,” she said.
It’s been so successful, in fact, that daily check-ins, yoga and breathing exercise will continue beyond the pandemic.
“We have gotten so much positive feedback from our kids,” said Spollen-LaRaia. “We have notice that it’s lessened their anxiety.”
Stephanie Noda is a local reporter for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
Email: noda@northjersey.com
Twitter: @snoda11