Teachers struggle with mental health as COVID drags on
Jaden AmosToday's lead story is from Connie Schultz about teachers. This story is especially dear to me because my mom works at a middle school. Anyone who knows an education worker right now knows the stress they're under. I hope you enjoy the column as much as I did.
Teachers struggle with mental health as COVID drags on
By Connie Schultz
Not so long ago, we talked a lot about the heroes among us.
This was just last year, after COVID had driven so many of us into isolation and we were months away from a lifesaving vaccine. We readily acknowledged the courage of others: Medical workers who risked their lives as hospitals flooded with dying COVID patients. Grocery store employees who continued to stock shelves with food and goods delivered by truckers who drove through the night. Delivery workers who kept our pantries full and restaurants open.
And teachers. My goodness, the teachers. So many conversations about how we’d had no idea how hard they worked until parents tried to supervise their children’s remote learning while juggling the daily slog of home and jobs.
Never had I seen so many headlines and social media posts heralding teachers and bemoaning their low pay.
Today's Editorial Cartoon
Social media is a 'national experiment' on our kids' mental health
By David Mastio
Two decades ago, I got divorced, leaving two little children without an intact family. While the whole process was hard for me, it was harder on my kids.
The science backs that up. Kids of divorce have more trouble in school, display disruptive behavior and suffer depressed mood. My children certainly had their challenges. That's one reason I appreciate Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy's effort to call attention to our children's mental health crisis.
The mental health of children was bad before the coronavirus hit us. In a decade, suicide rates among young people had shot up more than 50%. After pandemic isolation, school closures and quarantines set in, mental health got worse and suicide became even more common, especially for teen girls.
Other columns to read today
- America's COVID test: Can we build a better future for our kids?
- Jim Jordan talked to Trump on Jan 6. What did they say?
- Our mental health is no joke. Have some manners.
- I was a 10-year-old with anorexia who craved control. It almost killed me.
Columns on qualified immunity
Here's a new section we're adding to the newsletter. Currently, we are doing a series examining the issue of qualified immunity. For more on the series read here.
- I refused to lie under oath for the state of Arizona. It cost me my job.
- My brother wanted to go to the bathroom. Police killed him instead.
- Qualified immunity: 8 myths about why police need it to protect the public
- Calls to reform qualified immunity are coming from left and right. I'm still skeptical.
This newsletter was compiled by Jaden Amos.