School Systems struggling to keep up with the rise in need for Mental Health Services

If you were to sit in on a public classroom in 2022, vs sitting in one in 2019, you would see a clear difference in the mood, energy, and overall flow of the day. The pandemic of 2020 still affects today’s environment in society. Teachers and admin across various states report that there has been a rise in classroom disturbances, fights, depression, and lack of focus. 

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the global prevalence of anxiety and depression increased by a whopping 25%. There was a 19% increase in teachers who started using alcohol, 37% of teachers who developed an anxiety disorder, and more than half of teachers said they were considering leaving the field or retiring. Then on the students’ side of things, More than one in three high school students experienced poor mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, 44.2% of students experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, almost 20% seriously considered suicide, and 9.0% attempted suicide 

Orange county public schools happen to be the ninth largest school district in the country and the fourth largest in the state of Florida. With the announcement that Florida School Districts won’t be giving excused absences due to COVID concerns, Wendy Dormal, president of the Orange County Classroom Teachers Association, said this worries many parents and teachers due to the current high number of cases.

Social distancing is practically non-existent due to there being so many students and staff. Parents’ only solution to this concern is to homeschool their children. Faculty and staff have expressed concerns about anxiety, depression, and trauma in students since the start of the pandemic, and those concerns have only grown over the years. 

A major issue that’s recurring across the nation, is that half of high school students are missing too many days to pass their courses. Some schools were closed for several weeks throughout the year due to the lack of teachers. And even during the weeks, there were enough teachers, the teachers and students were learning bad habits due to the extreme changes and lack of stability. This was a major effect on younger students who are still learning basic habits and information. It’s not just a child who’s losing ground in their reading and comprehension, but they’re losing the opportunity to learn how to function in a classroom with other kids.