Paying a price
Pandemic has caused academic stress for Anne Arundel students, complicated access to mental health care
While Anne Arundel County Public Schools was already focusing on student mental health, when schools closed on March 13, 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic complicated access to care and stigma around the issue.
Changing the way school works added to academic pressure, and factors like food insecurity were exacerbated by the shutdown and accompanying job losses, Director of Student and School Support Ryan Voegtlin said.
While many students have been negatively affected by the pandemic, about 25% of students reported no significant impact on their well-being in a survey for sixth-12th graders. The survey was solicited by the Student Member of the Board of Education Drake Smith.
“It’s interesting to see the differences in what kids are experiencing right now,” Voegtlin said.
Students were out of school buildings for nearly a year, and most are still in virtual learning. Some have thrived during the pandemic, while others have seen academic anxiety increase, along with pressure to take care of family members as others work or are sick.
The number of people younger than 18 reaching out to the county’s crisis warmline has increased in recent years, according to the County Mental Health Agency. Between July 2018 and June 2019 there were 720 youth calls reported, between July 2019 and June 2020 it was 1,481, and since July 2020 there have been 1,875 calls. The number for the county’s crisis warmline is 410-7685522.
In an interview with The Capital, members of the school system’s Teen Mental Health Advisory spoke about how the pandemic has affected them.
Chesapeake Science Point sophomore Maya Holloman starts virtual high school before her little brother, who has a learning disability. She helps him get his work done during the day. Many are struggling with balancing not just being a student, but also needing to parent younger siblings and earn money to supplement household income as people are out of work, she said.
Annapolis High School junior Angeles Juarez-Ruiz said she is home with her little brother, a kindergartner, all day and feels guilty when he acts out because he isn’t getting
enough attention from her. She likes to take him on walks and go to the playground, but it comes at the expense of finishing homework after school, and her grades. She said she also has two jobs.
“It’s like you’re constantly playing a catch-up game. It’s really frustrating,” she said.
The wellness survey found that students’ wellness is impacted by academic pressure, the pandemic and associated isolation. The results will be sent to a Mental Health Task Force created by the board in 2019, to be factored into its recommendations to the board, the first of which were released last October.
Academic stress was the top concern students reported in the wellness survey. Separation from family and added responsibility contributes, the students said. There is also the stress of constant change, said Ellie Hermann, a junior at Northeast High School.
“It’s not knowing how virtual learning is going to change the college application process,” she said.
Hermann has distributed dozens of “mental health kits” to students with links to resources, coloring books, fidget spinners and more as part of a project to earn a Girl Scout Gold Award.
The students said the stigma from guardians who are in denial about the existence of mental illness was a big obstacle to getting care before the pandemic. Then COVID knocked out the possibility of seeking help in person.
Meade High School junior Justin Peleska said some students live in households where guardians don’t “get” mental illness. He said he is worried for students who can’t get help in an actual school building and who won’t get help at home. That leaves them trapped.
“Students can’t go to their counselor and can’t go to their parents,” he said.
Students also continue to struggle with an issue that pre-dates COVID. System policy states staff who become aware of a person who “states, writes about, or communicates possible suicide threats” must notify student services, which will notify the student’s guardian. They want the same autonomy to talk openly with a counselor that adults have when seeking treatment.
“If you go to a counselor, you could lose control of a situation,” Crofton High School sophomore Camryn Chehreh said.
Juarez-Ruiz said the reporting policy leads to distrust, and fear that if a guardian finds out about you seeking help, they may punish you.
She said people of color and Latino students especially struggle with that stigma, and would rather deal with depression and anxiety in ways that are unhealthy than let their family find out. She has seen people use nicotine and alcohol to cope, she said.
“If you’re perceived as weak for a moment you feel like your whole world is ending. You go through cycles of needing to lose little bits of yourself and having to build yourself back up,” Juarez-Ruiz said.
Holloman said she thinks there is also a stigma around seeking mental health resources through school. Students are aware that counselors are spread thin.
“You know there are probably a lot of students coming to them. You get that mindset, ‘somebody has it worse than me so they deserve this resource,’” she said in a video meeting. “It’s OK to ask for help in school.”
The Board of Education had created a mental health task force, and made more school psychologists and counselors a priority in recent budget requests.
In its budget request submitted to County Executive Steuart Pittman last month, the Board of Education requested funding for an additional eight school psychologists, 10 school counselors and 6 ½ social worker positions. The board has asked that one counselor position go to Piney Orchard Elementary, where the counselor-to-student ratio is 793 to 1. They also prioritized five Title 1 schools with ratios above 500 to one, and four other elementary schools with ratios above 600 to 1.
In the last four school years, the system has added 36 counselors, 13.3 psychologist positions, three pupil personnel workers and 13 social workers.