Hall 1

Gwenyth Hall

Lisa Cook

ENG 1201

14 December 202

2020 and Its Effect on Mental Health

The year 2020. Many thought we would have self-driving cars, quicker fast food

restaurants and robots to assist us in daily tasks. In 202 and currently, instead of self-

driving cars or robots we had a worldwide pandemic. Covid-19 took the world by

surprise and took kids out of in-person learning in most states and countries. While

there is still a majority of preliminary studies going on, the effects on students’ overall

are beginning to appear. Many students don’t receive all of the help they need to finish

their assignments. Distance learning was a new experience for most of the population

and many are still trying to figure it out but it can be argued that it is having a negative

impact on students’ mental health. Distance learning throughout 2020 caused increased

stress and anxiety among students of all ages due to lack of one-on-one instruction, not

enough teacher training, and lack of social engagement with peers.

One of the biggest challenges during the 2020 pandemic has been a lack of one-

on-one instruction from teachers to students. Many school districts had adopted a

hybrid model of learning, meaning there are students who were present in the building,

in-person in the classroom and students that had logged on from home, most commonly

on a Zoom call. Paul Yenne, a teacher in Colorado, taught both to students at home and

in the classroom. He used five devices each day to make the lessons accessible to all

of his students in both groups of kids. He, like so many others, was having trouble
 Hall 2

giving students the attention he felt they deserve, “What kind of wears on me the most

is just thinking, ‘I don’t know that I did the best for every kid’” (qtd. in Ali). One-on-one

interaction is something that most students thrive off of and losing the ability to have

that connection causes some kids to fall behind and increase their anxiety. A mother in

Chicago named Sameka Gates said her 11 year old daughter broke down in tears in the

middle of a Zoom call for school. “. . . limited physical and social interaction with friends

and a reading disability, remote learning had taken its toll. . .” (qtd. in Johnson).

For some online and distanced classes may be the dream but for others losing

the ability to talk face-to-face with peers has been a cause of stress. “. . . students, as

well as the general population, may be experiencing psychological effects from the

outbreak of Covid-19, such as anxiety, fear, and worry . . .” (Cao et al. 2020; Li et al.

2020; Wang et al. 2020). A study was done with Swiss college students through a

survey regarding their feelings about online learning. Many students in the survey report

feelings of increased anxiety surrounding being isolated from loved ones, “Some

students might be at higher risk of social isolation and the development of mental health

problems during the Covid-19 crisis. . .when they live by themselves, have less direct

contact to close family members and friends, receive less social support, and are less

well-integrated into a social network of students.” (Lischer, Suzanne, et al). Many

students are also worried about other things going on around them that they are no

longer able to get direct help and discussion from their teachers about. “(They’re)

worrying about their safety, worrying about their loved ones’ safety, worrying if they’re

going to be sick, wondering what was going to happen to them, to their schools,” said

Kate Phillippo, an associate professor at Loyola University Chicago’s School of

Education (qtd in Johnson). Many students utilize in-person time with teachers to

discuss personal issues happening at home, fears about school-work and home life,

and keep the teachers in the loop of their social gatherings.

As seen in the graph the red lines show reports from March-May of 2020. The report for depression is at

40.9%, well above the 35.7% from Fall 2019 and the report for anxiety is tied with Fall of 2019 at 31%.

(Redden)
 Hall 4

For younger kids especially, a lack of social interaction takes away a big part of their

learning. Lorri Lanier, a school counselor from Woodson South Elementary School in

Bronzeville said, “ . . . they (elementary level students) miss the social interaction in-

person learning facilitates.” (qtd in Johnson). Young kids learn the baseline for

interacting with peers and teachers in kindergarten through fifth grade and being online

to learn takes away their ability to read social cues, “Not having the social physical

engagement is difficult for them (elementary students) … because that may not always

take place when they leave the building.” (qtd in Johnson).

In addition to students losing out on social engagement with teachers and peers,

not all teachers were given adequate time to prepare and properly learn how to

effectively teach from a distance. Sophia Smith, teacher in Des Plaines, Illinois was not

given enough time to adjust to the hybrid teaching model, “ … said her elementary

school allowed little time for training and planning before teachers were thrust into the

dual mode.” (qtd in Ali). Many teachers are feeling, “ … high levels of stress and burnout

across the country…” (Ali) and some are even, “ … having panic attacks while juggling

both.” (Ali). In a lot of cases as well teachers are having issues with technology

malfunctioning, not to mention trying to get internet access to students who do not have

internet access at home. Teacher stress leads to teacher burnout which leads to

unmotivated and anxious students. A study done on Turkish college students showed

that, “the global health crisis of 2020 has clearly caused collateral health damage in as

much as it has also had adverse effects on mental health and on physical health in

more indirect ways.” (Cam, Hasan Huseyin, et al).

One could argue that distance learning is not all bad. For some, distance learning

may be the best way for them or their students to learn and get through school. A study

done following Iranian medical students recording the students stress, anxiety, and

depression tests results. “ … showed that medical students had significantly higher

scores for stress, anxiety, and depression compared with that of medical staff and

community populations.” (Bolatov, Aidos K., et al). All of the data for these reports were

done through a self survey sent out to the students to fill out themselves. Their findings

were, “During (online learning), depression occurs in 27.6% of students, while during

(traditional learning) depression manifested in 49.3% of students.” (Bolatov, Aidos K., et

al)

While the effects of distance learning on students’ mental health is reflected by

lack of one-on-one student and teacher interaction, lack of training for teachers, and not

enough social interaction for students.While 2020 may have been a great year for some

personally, it is hard to look past the overwhelming preliminary data on mental health

reports from schools about their students. Mental health for students and teachers alike

is incredibly important and being overlooked in many cases and the ones who are going

to suffer will be the students, who were unable to learn due to poor mental health for

them and their role models.

Bibliography

Ali, Safia Samee. “Educators Teaching Online and in Person at the Same Time Feel

Burned Out.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 18 Oct. 2020,

www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/educators-teaching-online-person-same-time-

feel-burned-out-n1243296.

Bolatov, Aidos K., et al. “Online-Learning Due to COVID-19 Improved Mental Health

Among Medical Students.” Medical Science Educator, Springer US, 18 Nov.

2020, link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40670-020-01165-y.

Cam, Hasan Huseyin, et al. “Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Mental Health and

Health-Related Quality of Life among University Students in Turkey.” Current

Psychology, 2021, doi:10.1007/s12144-021-01674-y.

Cao W, Fang Z, Hou G, Han M, Xu X, Dong J, Zheng J. The psychological impact of the

Covid-19 epidemic on college students in China. Psychiatry Research.

2020;287:112934. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2020.112934.

Fruehwirth, Jane C, et al. “The Covid-19 Pandemic and Mental Health of First-Year

College Students: Examining the Effect of Covid-19 Stressors Using Longitudinal

Data.” PLoS ONE, vol. 16, no. 3`, 5 Mar. 2021.

Johnson, Christen A. Https://Www.chicagotribune.com/Lifestyles/Parenting/Ct-Life-

Student-Wellness-Remote-Learning-Online-School-20201023-

g3tjimt5rjfp3hs2cntoc7jlsq-Story.html, 23 Oct. 2020.

Lischer, Suzanne, et al. “Remote Learning and Students’ Mental Health during the

Covid-19 Pandemic: A Mixed-Method Enquiry.” NCBI, 5 Jan. 2021.

Redden, Elizabeth. “The Impact of COVID-19 on College Student Well-Being.”

Pandemic Hurts Student Mental Health, 13 July 2020,

www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/07/13/survey-finds-higher-prevalence-

depression-among-students-and-difficulties-accessing.

Solomon, Samantha. “Distance Learning Poses a Challenge to Young Students' Mental

Health amid Coronavirus.” abc10.Com, 4 Sept. 2020,

www.abc10.com/article/news/local/distance-learning-students-mental-health/103-

dd25247b-4f9a-4a14-ba0f-4db3e1e91c4c.

Zhao, Lixin, et al. Investigation of the Physical Learning Environment of ... 2021,

www.igi-global.com/pdf.aspx?

tid=271280&ptid=253919&ctid=4&oa=true&isxn=9781799859253.