With school closings enter a second month, and 95% of the nation’s youth reporting the cancellation of in-person classes, a recent survey shows many students are reporting little contact with teachers. Ilana Lowery is a Director with Elena Common Sense Media, which conducted the study.
“We polled over 800 teenagers nationally and you know the biggest takeaway is that teens are really anxious,” Lowery said. “They’re anxious about their health, their family’s health, finances, the fact that they’re lonely. In fact, sadly, 60% of the ones that we surveyed are worried that they or someone in their family may get the virus and that it may affect their family’s ability to earn a living.”
Lowery says a digital divide is also posing almost unsurmountable hurdles for many students.
“One of the other big takeaways is that nine out of 10 Latino teenagers said they’re most anxious about the impact on their families being able to make a living. Nine out of 10!”
Much of the unease comes from students missing milestones like graduations or uncertainly when it comes to applying for college.
“These are things that they’re not going to get back and that’s causing a lot of anxiety.”
But Lowery says there is help available for families seeking guidance.
“We have a lot of resources, including a new portal called Wide Open School and on that site there are very specific resources that parents can use and families can use to help navigate through some of these issues that we are talking about.”
Wideopenschool.org provides information on an extensive range of topics impacting students and their families.
