Students need March break more than ever

Mental health hiatus will be well-deserved, writes Dr. Gail Beck.

As the news emerged that March break could be cancelled, the dejection of the youth I see in my practice was evident in the small part of their faces visible over their face masks.

One girl told me: “People think the time we spent in online learning was an extended holiday. They should try it.”

“I'm glad to be back at school,” another youth said, “but I'm exhausted, and I want to have one week where there is no school work hanging over me.”

Many people feel that young people have had too much time away from their classrooms, and while this is true, they have not had any more than the usual break away from their studies. In fact, it has been more difficult for them to learn online because of how different this is from what they are used to.

School has been disrupted for children and youth around the world, and evidence shows that their mental health is compromised because of it. Children and youth are social creatures who need to spend time with their peers to grow and develop and be happy. Our world needs them to learn from each other to collaborate and solve problems, and this is more difficult when routines are disrupted by events such as pandemics. With their world turned upside down, each additional change to their routines is just another stressor for youth to manage.

So, even though it may not seem logical, given the time youth have been physically apart from each other and their classrooms and teachers, they also need whatever routines can be preserved to be continued. March break is one of those routines.

The main argument from some people for cancelling March break is how much school students have “missed.” In fact, much of that “missed” time was not “missed” but changed. Online learning was a harder way to accomplish a familiar task.

Think of the times when you've gotten into a rental car. Do you remember the difference between driving the car you were used to and this unfamiliar vehicle? It was more difficult and it required more concentration. That change is equivalent to what kids have been doing for almost a year. They've been trying to learn in an entirely different environment. It has been tiring.

Those of us who work in mental health are already seeing the effect the changes in their lives are having on the emotional health of children and youth.

They are sad about their world and they are anxious about their future.

Those of us who work with youth can also see how heroic they have been. We have seen children in kindergarten wear masks dutifully on their school buses and in school corridors. A fifth-grader can show you how to properly wash your hands as well as any health professional.

Every adolescent knows the symptoms of COVID-19 better than many adults because each morning when they have gone to class in person, they have answered screening questionnaires about the infection. They have been reminded many times a day to stay safe, to stay home if they're unwell, and to follow guidelines to prevent infection.

Being in school is their job and they have conducted themselves admirably. For all of their efforts, they deserve to have the break they have been expecting.

Children and youth are not the only ones needing their March break. These students are supported in the task of learning by an army, from parents to teachers to custodians. The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board website states that the board has 9,000 full- and parttime staff. They are also tired from working in changed circumstances and need their March Break.

A good learning environment depends upon students and those who support them being in good health.

Scheduled time off is essential for good health and must be honoured.

Dr. Gail Beck is a child psychiatrist and clinical director of youth mental health at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre.