What's Up With Kids These Days?

The Academic, Social and Psychological Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic

By Jordan Mayfield, LSCSW, LCAC

It’s hard to speak with a therapist, parent or anyone who works with children in recent years without hearing about behavioral challenges they are facing. I became both a parent and therapist in the age of technology, so I do not have a frame of reference of what it was like to be either of these without immediate and constant access to internet, cell phones and social media. Even so, the impact of these technologies on children’s behavioral and emotional issues cannot be overstated. However, in conversations with other parents and colleagues, there seems to be a consensus that since the COVID-19 pandemic, children’s behavioral and emotional issues have sky-rocketed which cannot be fully explained away by the sole impact of technology.

As a therapist to teachers, other therapists, parents, and other childcare professionals a regular theme of distress is the emotional and behavioral dysregulation of children they are working with and/or parenting. According to the American Psychological Association in a 2020 survey “71% of parents said the pandemic had taken a toll on their child’s mental health, and 69% said the pandemic was the worst thing to happen to their child” (APA).

Many teachers (and parents) are reporting that a significant amount of class time is used to regulate children’s moods and behaviors which leaves little time for the educational material and learning. The National Institute of Mental Health found that adolescent brains “showed thinning of the cortex, which helps execute mental processes like planning self-control, and reduced volume in the hippocampus and amygdala, which are involved in accessing memories and regulating responses to fear and stress” post-pandemic (NIMH). This same research shows that the brains of adolescents appear to have aged and now more closely resemble the brains of older adults who have experienced trauma and/or childhood adversity (NIMH).

Frontiers in Psychology research found that preadolescent children during the year of 2020 have struggled the most significantly with mental health and behavioral outcomes since the beginning of the pandemic. In females this has presented more often as symptoms of depression and anxiety, and in males in externalizing and aggressive behavior (Frontiers). According to the National Library of Medicine school-aged children were impacted by the pandemic in many ways. The seriousness of the impact is likely attributed to school-aged children who were in a vulnerable developmental stage during the onset of the pandemic. In addition, “home isolation, restricted physical activities, limited social interaction and financial recession” were also contributing factors (NLM). Currently these changes have an unpredictable impact on children’s future life trajectory.

Despite witnessing and experiencing the above reality so acutely, society at large tends to view the teacher and school’s role as “business as usual,” and this just cannot be the case. School-aged students missed out on approximately two years of academic, social, and psychological development. They are behind in all three of these areas. As a result, expectations and interventions must accommodate this truth. The Department of Education’s research into this topic has found that 2020 preschool aged children have since shown regression in previously learned behaviors. However, children five and under during the onset of the pandemic have proved to be the most resilient of the age groups and have the highest rate of mental health improvement since 2020 (Department of Education). Elementary aged children have shown increases in aggression and agitation while adolescents during that time have shown an increase in difficulty concentrating, excessive school absenteeism and poorer school performance (Department of Education). Data also show that 80% of youth with mental health symptoms rely on school-based interventions and supports to help meet those needs. Schools have always been in the front lines of children’s mental health struggles and the COVID-19 pandemic has made the reliance on these services significantly more necessary.

Lack of funding and burnout have reduced the K-12 professionals’ population at the time when children need it most. A result of this is allowing children with significant behavioral and emotional needs to stay in the general population during outbursts which disrupt all students’ learning experience. There are simply not enough bodies to accommodate more appropriate environments or interventions for all students. A focus on restorative discipline has resulted in children whose mental health is already teetering on the edge to witness screaming, yelling, hitting, throwing objects, etc. on a recurring and regular basis. At a time in which kids are at a two-year deficit in preparing for graduation, little time and energy can be adequately spent on academic growth. A far more significant amount of time is used to redirect, regulate, deescalate, and reprimand students who are also two years behind socially and emotionally.

The Department of Education notes the importance of financial support to be focused on increasing mental health support services in schools post pandemic, which can include partnerships with local mental health agencies. They also encourage providing training to staff regarding interventions to help with students' mental health needs. And just as important, the research shows that supporting staff to help reduce burnout is key in ultimately helping students (Department of Education). Acceptance that this generation of children is different than previous generations is vital in supporting and providing appropriate resources to help them academically, socially, and emotionally. This will have implications for the remainder of their lifetimes from college admissions to entering the workforce, and we must accept it to begin appropriately helping them to build resilience.