It’s been a year since the word “COVID” became part of our national vocabulary. Lives have been lost, families have struggled to survive, and our collective mental health has suffered in unimaginable ways. We have all felt grief, uncertainty, and stress — and our nation’s youth are no exception.
Even before COVID-19 changed life as we know it, young people in the U.S. were experiencing sharp increases in mental health conditions. Between 2009 and 2017, rates of depression increased by more than 60% among kids ages 14-17, and, over a similar time period, the rate of suicide among those ages 10-14 nearly tripled.
As a former public school teacher and a mother of five kids, I know how hard it can be to figure out what to do when staying home with your kids while you’re social distancing. Many parents are now responsible not just for taking care of but also for educating their children while schools are … Continued