Even the social media generation is a little sick of screens. And school counselors say it鈥檚 starting to show, as more teens and children grapple with prolonged bouts of increased stress, anxiety and depression.
School social workers and researchers say rates of depression among students are still higher than normal with remote schooling dragging on into the winter.
鈥淭hey're tired of looking at a screen all day; that does become exhausting,鈥� said Christine Woodward, a social worker with the University City School District. 鈥淭his generation of kids loves screens in general. But it's not as fun when we spend all day long on Zoom calls, one after another after another.鈥�
Depression rates are lower than during the early weeks of the pandemic when schools abruptly closed and coursework shifted from the blackboard to the laptop, according to research from Washington University. But as most middle and high school students still do their schooling primarily from home, away from friends, teachers and counselors, motivation for academics is hard to come by, school counselors said.
鈥淭his year, I feel like kids have been in this constant state of concern since March because over the summer we didn't know what was going to happen鈥� with the start of the new school year, said Chris Ventimiglia, a counselor at Oakville High School in the Mehlville School District.
鈥淚 feel like this is a moment in time where kids have not had that chance to take a breath,鈥� he said.
At the start of the school year, about a quarter of high school students screened by Chris Rozek, an education professor at Washington University, showed signs of major depression. That鈥檚 double the historical average 鈥� 11% 鈥� and as the pandemic lasted into the winter, rates are increasing again, he said.
At the peak of the spring lockdown, nearly half of teenagers 鈥� 44% 鈥� screened by Rozek showed signs of major depression. Nearly 85% of Rozek鈥檚 students were lonely, and academic motivation 鈥減lummeted鈥� to just a quarter of teens wanting to do schoolwork.
鈥淥verall that presents this picture of a really big social and emotional problem,鈥� Rozek said.
And since the school year began, younger students are bummed about not being able to sit with all of their friends at lunch (due to class cohorts), U City鈥檚 Woodward said, while older students are struggling to stay motivated for Zoom class lectures and to switch to homework at the end of the school day (along with missing their friends).
鈥淭hey regress every time they miss three months of school just for summer break. So can you imagine how they're regressing from missing, you know, the past six months, nine months' worth of school,鈥� Woodward said. 鈥淪o it's a major concern that we have, and it's no one's fault.鈥�
As schools , it鈥檚 unlikely high schoolers will see a desk or their lockers, or more of their friends, before Christmas.
Woodward is doing as many home visits as she can to U City鈥檚 700 or so high school students. She and her colleagues have passed out kits with stress balls and other activities, such as journals and coloring books, to help students cope. And she encourages them to get as much exercise and fresh air as possible during the day.
Ventimiglia tells his students to practice 鈥渁 little bit of gratitude and some perspective鈥� every day, such as being glad we have the technology to continue learning remotely and video chat with friends and family.
鈥淚 think it's kind of natural to constantly think about everything that's wrong and negative,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut it takes some conscious effort to practice gratitude and remind yourself of what is good about right now.鈥�
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