Students’ stress, grief a concern
County school system may not be capturing gravity of situation
CORONAVIRUS IN MARYLANDBy Naomi Harris School and county officials worry data that shows decreases in reports indicative of student mental health aren’t fully capturing grief and stress students are feeling during the school closures for coronavirus concerns and what that will mean when schools reopen.
Right now, the mental health of Anne Arundel County students is wide ranging depending on household situations, Director of Student Resources Ryan Voegtlin said.
In the beginning of school closures, the system worked to address immediate needs such as food insecurity and internet access with distribution sites for meals and Chromebooks.
“Now, we will probably see the mental health come up as we get in deeper and the uncertainty is still there. We still don’t know what the rest of the year looks like, we don’t know about summer or the fall.”
Similar to a classroom setting, the school system transitioned in-person mental health resources to online for students.
Voegtlin said social and emotional lessons all students can access have moved onto Google Classrooms and staff members rely on telehealth.
He noted that the school system has seen a decrease of reports of suicidal statements or behaviors. From March10 to May 5, 2019, the system counted approximately 600 reports. Between that time period this year, the school system has seen approximately 100 reports.
“I can’t attribute that to a decrease in what children are feeling,” Voegtlin said.
Instead, students may turn to others who are near rather than who they would talk toin school.
But he said anxiety could increase as schools remain closed and students experience different types of grief.
“Kids are going through a grieving process of what they experienced as the normal is not the norm anymore. The longer we go through this and that grieving process gets a little longer, I would predict an anxiety of coming back to school and an increase.”
For school counselors, the face-to-face interactions and small group meetings with children have shifted. Tracey Spain, a school counselor at Hilltop Elementary, said now she uses Google Classroom for
Right now, the mental health of Anne Arundel County students is wide ranging depending on household situations, Director of Student Resources Ryan Voegtlin said.
In the beginning of school closures, the system worked to address immediate needs such as food insecurity and internet access with distribution sites for meals and Chromebooks.
“Now, we will probably see the mental health come up as we get in deeper and the uncertainty is still there. We still don’t know what the rest of the year looks like, we don’t know about summer or the fall.”
Similar to a classroom setting, the school system transitioned in-person mental health resources to online for students.
Voegtlin said social and emotional lessons all students can access have moved onto Google Classrooms and staff members rely on telehealth.
He noted that the school system has seen a decrease of reports of suicidal statements or behaviors. From March10 to May 5, 2019, the system counted approximately 600 reports. Between that time period this year, the school system has seen approximately 100 reports.
“I can’t attribute that to a decrease in what children are feeling,” Voegtlin said.
Instead, students may turn to others who are near rather than who they would talk toin school.
But he said anxiety could increase as schools remain closed and students experience different types of grief.
“Kids are going through a grieving process of what they experienced as the normal is not the norm anymore. The longer we go through this and that grieving process gets a little longer, I would predict an anxiety of coming back to school and an increase.”
For school counselors, the face-to-face interactions and small group meetings with children have shifted. Tracey Spain, a school counselor at Hilltop Elementary, said now she uses Google Classroom for
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