Remote learning has taken a major toll on students and even teachers leaving us with no motivation for anything because the days feel long and dreadful. The days feel like a never ending cycle that leave us with feelings of doubt and feelings of frustration. Many students have expressed that they simply do not have the “energy” for it anymore and it is honestly really upsetting that we all are undergoing a similar struggle. Whether dealing with anxiety or depression we are dealing with such negative emotions that feel inevitable.

Local source https://www.wbez.org/stories/ recently published an article posing the question, “Is Remote learning causing a Mental Health crisis among Teen and Children?” It goes into depth on student Paige Gagerman who openly explains her struggles with her mental state and how it has drastically impacted. She states, “I think that all the hope and all the life has been drained out of me and my peers, and really the teachers, too. I think that is very apparent in my grades, in my commitment to my classes.” Which is a statement that many of us could agree with and how this has really affected the lives of millions.  How this pandemic has led to so much more destruction in our well-being than ever before. When this began we had no idea what was going to happen or what would be our new tomorrow.

This is it; people day by day are becoming more overwhelmed by the long zoom hours and never-ending Google Classroom alerts. It is all just exhausting and it has really shown the attitudes of many but most significantly academic performance.  This has truly played a role in our status in certain classes that we now feel detached from and just uninterested.  This has caused a Mental Health crisis to arise from learning from home. One study states, “From April to October of 2020, emergency room visits related to mental health increased 31 percent in children ages 12 to 17 from the same period in 2019, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).” (source: https://www.parents.com/)

After hearing about this it just opened my eyes to how this issue needs to be addressed more often and reforms need to be made.  Like providing students with counseling or daily check ins because it makes a difference. Someone could be having the possible worst day ever and just by you asking them how their day is or how they are feeling could make their day better. It could make someone forget why they were upset to begin with. There are too many people who aren’t getting the help and support they need, we are all in this together. We should be a helping hand to those in need and not push them aside. Their personal issues may be deeply rooted that we do not understand and they may not receive that attention from home.

So what I’m saying is that we need to be those mentors to help and uplift those. We as a nation worldwide are going through this every single day and it’s really hard but we need to acknowledge it more often.  Normalize sending a friend a mental health check-in and see how their day went or how they are feeling. It may seem like a minimal gesture but for someone it can mean a great big deal.