There are many stories about the damaging effects of school closures on our children during the COVID-19 blockade. There is significant concern about the long-term impact on learning, dropping grades and millions of children who have just missed their digital classrooms and did not return when schools reopened.
In addition, we saw several reports on the increase in mental health problems, mainly based on feedback from parents. There have also been local reports of increased suicide among adolescents. Schools in Clark County, Nevada, were opened after 18 students in the district committed suicide. The news says that since the beginning of school closings, 30 children have killed themselves in Cook County, Illinois. A lawsuit against a school district in San Francisco sees significant increases in children who require mental health services:
UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital saw a 66 percent increase in the number of suicidal children in the emergency room and a 75 percent increase in young people who needed hospitalization for mental health services, the suit said, citing pediatricians, child psychiatrists and emergency room doctors.
Last month, the UCSF Children’s Emergency Department in Mission Bay reported a record high number of suicide children seen and treated, according to the court case that did not provide detailed numbers of cases and visits to hospitals. He also cited doctors citing an increase in anxiety, depression and eating disorders among children, consistent with national data.
Now, there is a report that examines medical claims for mental health treatment across the country. An analysis by FAIR Health, the largest repository of data on private medical complaints in the United States, studied the use of services for mental health diagnoses year after year. The results should concern us at the national level. It is not clear how the development of maladaptive coping mechanisms or the fact of suffering from a mental health disorder in childhood will affect someone later in life. From the study for children aged 13 to 18:
- In March and April 2020, the mental health claim lines as a percentage of all medical claim lines approximately doubled compared to the same months last year.
- The pattern of increased mental health claim lines continued until November 2020, albeit to a lesser extent.
- Intentional self-harm claims lines as a percentage of all medical claim lines increased by 90.71% in March 2020 compared to March 2019.
- The increase was even more significant in the comparison of April 2020 with April 2019 by 99.83%.
- Overdose claim lines increased 94.91 percent as a percentage of all medical claim lines in March 2020 and 119.31 percent in April 2020 in the same months of 2019.
- In April 2020, claims queues for generalized anxiety disorder increased 93.6 percent as a percentage of all medical claim lines in April 2019
- Major depressive disorder order lines increased by 83.9% and adjustment disorder order lines increased by 89.7%.
- The top three mental health problems from January to November 2020 were, in order from most to least common, major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder and adaptation disorders.
- Eating disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder also became more common between March and November 2020.
- Visits to the emergency room for mental health problems increased 8.3% year on year from March to November 2020. They peaked in September, with an increase of 22.8%.
For children aged 6 to 12, obsessive-compulsive disorder and tic disorders from spring through November 2020 showed increases compared to 2019. In some months, these increases reach 30%, with tic disorders increasing over time. until November. These vocal, motor, and Tourette-like symptoms usually need to persist for a period of months to a year before diagnosis. The claims of attention deficit and related disorders have decreased, indicating that teachers and school professionals used to identify symptoms when they interfered with a child’s behavior or learning.
College-aged students aged 19 to 22 reflected many of the trends in the 13 to 18 age group. However, there were also marked increases in emergency room visits for schizophrenia, bipolar and panic disorders, indicating a severe exacerbation of diagnosed illnesses or new diagnoses. For teenagers and young adults, the percentage of girls suffering from mental health problems has increased from a normal of about two-thirds of all diagnoses to a maximum of 73%. This gender difference was especially evident in the 13 to 18 age group for claims of intentional self-mutilation. In August 2020, girls were responsible for 84% of cases. These claims can result in successful suicide, along with overdoses.
Some of these claims represent children that their parents will never see again. At some point, soon, we will know what that number is. Anecdotal data indicates that it will be much more than the 208 children under 18 who died of COVID-19, according to the CDC. Many of the losses to COVID-19 occurred tragically in children who were very ill. Most of the suicides reported in the news occur with a healthy, well-functioning child who is generally talented for sports or academic studies. The loss of any child is an indescribable tragedy. Losing a child by suicide leaves specific scars on parents and siblings.
As some states reopened and schools began to teach face-to-face classes, researchers noted that complaints began to decline slowly until November 2020, the last month analyzed. They go so far as to credit the reopening for the decline. These trends across all age groups must clearly demonstrate that schools need to be opened now. Instead, our new education secretary, Miguel Cardona, and his team are concerned with equity participation programs and the development of “safe” school reopening plans.
Cardona is calling for a national summit, and his priority seems to be to appease teachers’ unions with performative absurdities. He also insists that more money is needed, noting the $ 130 billion for schools in Biden’s stimulus proposal. In February, the Responsible Budget Committee reported that state and local governments and teachers had not spent nearly $ 145 billion on the previous package. At least 55% of them are open to face-to-face and hybrid learning.
Stop normalizing the ridiculous demands of the teachers’ unions and the execrable AFT president, Randi Weingarten. They would be back in the classroom today if they were concerned about the health, safety and learning of our children. Real teachers across the country and in the world are and have been for months. Work one must reduce the power and influence of these unions through any necessary legal means.