Mental illness in children existed before Covid-19. How many students are struggling with it during the pandemic? How did school privatization contribute to this phenomenon?
Before Covid-19
A 2018 survey conducted by the National Association of Elementary School Principals noted that their top concern is the rising numbers of students with emotional problems and mental health needs. This was not the case ten years ago. What changed?
Increasingly, a harsh school environment with unbridled high-stakes standardized testing, a pushdown to what’s expected of the youngest learners, an overemphasis on impersonal screens and addiction to social media, and a dramatic increase and focus on college expectations of middle and high school students have dominated how students live. While these factors don’t necessarily cause mental illness, they don’t help students who struggle with it.
According to Kauffman and Bader in The Scandalous Neglect of Children’s Mental Health, the school can be the first place a child’s mental illness is discovered. Unfortunately, out of the 5 percent of children who have a mental illness, only CONTINUE READING: How Has School Privatization Contributed to Mental Illness in Students Before and During Covid-19?