Four high school students talk about mental health

Many American teens are struggling with mental health problems, but they're also discovering themselves — and their resilience.

View this email online June 12, 2022 This week, four high school students talked to us about mental health. Plus, a look at the emerging Ivy-or-bust attitude towards college applications. Photo collage by LA Johnson/NPR Happy Sunday, At this point in the pandemic, American teens have spent a significant chunk of their formative years isolated from friends and in fractured learning environments. More than 2 in 5 teens have reported persistently feeling sad or hopeless, according to a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey of high school students. The prolonged isolation deeply affected many who were already struggling with trauma or mental health problems before the pandemic. But young people have also shown grace and resilience as they dealt with the challenges of COVID-19. NPR spoke to four high school students who marked the pandemic's second anniversary with a newfound sense of self and big dreams for the future. When the pandemic closed her school in March 2020, Ruby had already spent weeks trying to ignore her mom's warnings about COVID-19. Her mom is Chinese, and their relatives back in China had been updating her on the virus' spread since its early days. Ruby said when her spring break got extended, her mom told her: "Oh yeah, you won't be going back to school anytime soon." At first, remote learning heightened many anxieties Ruby already felt about her Minnetonka, Minn. high school. She transferred there in the fall of 2019 and struggled to feel like she fit in because many of her new classmates came from wealthier families. NPR isn't using Ruby's last name to protect her privacy. LA Johnson/NPR "It was just something I was worrying about constantly," she said. "I was afraid to even move in class. I was just, like, sitting there, and I did not move because I was so anxious about what they were thinking about me." When school went online, Ruby, then a freshman, was self-conscious about showing her house on camera. She had a hard time finding a quiet place to concentrate as her two siblings also switched to remote learning – she would often lose focus during Zoom class. During remote school, she says, "I didn't learn anything." Ruby wasn't the only one. In the first several months of the pandemic, two-thirds of U.S. students in grades nine through 12 told the CDC reported difficulty completing their schoolwork. One upside to remote school was that it put some distance between Ruby and a friendship that she describes as toxic. "She was the only person I really knew, so I kind of felt safe around her," Ruby explains. "But at the same time, I didn't really feel so safe because the people who she hung out with were not my people." Things changed for the better during Ruby's sophomore year when her school transitioned to hybrid learning, and she decided to leave that friendship. She started to nurture relationships with the three people who are now her best friends. "I left a toxic friendship, I explored myself more." she says. "I would say [the pandemic] has definitely made me a stronger person." Want to hear from more students like Ruby? Three more students shared their experiences with us. Click here to read more. — Anya Steinberg, NPR Ed Contributor  Now, let’s get into some news…  Overall, college enrollments are declining, but not for 'elite' schools. According to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, the number of undergraduate students enrolled in college declined by 9.4% during the pandemic — the most significant drop in more than half a century. Meanwhile, some of the most selective schools in the country saw a record number of applicants. What could explain these divergent trends? This week on Planet Money's The Indicator podcast looks into the emerging Ivy-or-bust attitude towards college applications and rethink the value of an "elite" education. Listen here. — The Indicator from Planet Money Newsletter continues after sponsor message A look at the March for Our Lives rallies happening across the country. Thousands of protesters from across the country are marching through Washington, D.C. today for the second March for Our Lives. The march comes in the wake of the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, last month that killed 19 children and two teachers. Demonstrators are calling on lawmakers to pass stricter gun safety legislation. Click here to see our photo essay. — Nicole Werbeck, Deputy Director of Visuals  A teacher who was at the Parkland shooting offers advice for the Uvalde survivors. Kim Krawczyk was teaching a math lesson for her freshman students on a Wednesday in 2018 when shots rang out in the building. The attack on Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., would leave 14 students and three staff members dead. While no shots were fired into her classroom that day, she and her students were traumatized, and she says school shootings like the one last week in Uvalde, Texas, resurface the experience for them. There wasn't much training available for dealing with trauma at the time of the Stoneman Douglas shooting, she says, but there will be a lot the staff and students of Robb Elementary will need help coping with. Read more here. — Morning Edition   And before you go, are you a Disney Adult? NPR's Aisha Harris is a Disney Adult, but not like those other Disney Adults out there – she's a cool Disney Adult. She writes this week about how the backlash against Disney Adults reveals a lot about the ever-morphing hierarchies of fandom within the cultural zeitgeist and what's considered cool to obsess over and what's not. Her essay first appeared in NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour newsletter. Sign up for the newsletter so you don't miss the next one, plus get weekly recommendations on what's making us happy. Read more here. See you next week. Listen to your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to hear live radio from WMFE (edit station). What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: npred@npr.org Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can sign up here. Looking for more great content? Check out all of our newsletter offerings — including Music, Politics, Code Switch and more! You received this message because you're subscribed to Education emails. This email was sent by National Public Radio, Inc., 1111 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 Unsubscribe  |  Privacy Policy