Supporting Student (and Family) Mental Health Needs Upon Reentry

The history books will recount how hard 2020 has been for everyone, but for many women and people of color it has been devastating. The December jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that 111% of the 140,000 net job losses for the month were women’s jobs. How can this be that women lost more than 100% of net jobs, you may ask? The BLS reports that women actually lost 156,000 jobs and this was offset by 16,000 jobs gained by men, resulting in the 140,000 net job loss figure.

Tech leaders are calling for a Marshall Plan for Moms noting that "[w]hen schools closed, [moms] became teachers, nannies, tech support, cooks. Everything. All while working full time jobs. Too many of us have had to leave our jobs completely.” For many single moms or dads, leaving the workforce simply isn’t an option. This juggling act for working families creates incredible strain, and contributes to an epidemic of anxiety and depression in our community.

But it isn’t just moms that are impacted. People of color, low income, single parents, special needs families and others have seen their lives turned upside down by the pandemic. We have a tale of two economies where many in the knowledge economy are able to transition to remote work and business continues as usual, perhaps with a few extra interruptions from our remote learners. Meanwhile, front line workers, essential workers and others who cannot work remotely find themselves challenged to balance the need to make a living with supporting the educational and emotional needs of their families.

During it all, the internet has been both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, the internet has enabled work, learning, shopping, telehealth, and much of our society to continue for many during this pandemic. Imagine this past year without it. However, the ability to slip into cyberspace has also compounded the mental health impacts of physical social distancing with additional forms of social isolation that can occur within our social media echo chambers.

This is the context for many families and from which we need to bring students back to full in-person education. Families and students are suffering with new levels of anxiety and depression. As we plan our return, we need to be mindful of the needs of all our students and that many more may need more support upon reentry than we are currently prepared for. This will make emphasizing social emotional learning and building resilience an even greater priority.