MARCH 19, 2021, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE B1
Student mental
health struggles
skyrocketing
BY MATT RAWLINGS
Of the Keizertimes
One of the main concerns of Salem-
Keizer Public Schools (SKPS) since the
COVID-19 pandemic hit has been the men-
tal health and well-being of their students.
Working
alongside
Paraorama
Education — an east coast organization that
focuses on improving student outcomes by
helping schools and districts act on data
— the district collected student well-being
data from nearly 20,000 students in the
Salem-Keizer area, ranging from grades
3-12 — questions were based on students
well-being The district collected two sets
of responses in April/May and October/
November.
“I’ve seen student mental health range
LIFE
from troubling decompensation (a term
used by mental health professionals to
refer to episodes during which a person's
mental health disorder deteriorates), and
deep struggles with ongoing trauma and
suicidal ideation to high levels of engage-
ment, happiness, diminished anxiety and
relief from not having to navigate crowded
hallways, classrooms and complex social
relationships and, of course, everything in
between,” said SKPS school psychologist
Chris Moore.
Based on the data that was collected,
overall measures of self-reported student
well-being showed that, since last spring,
students are experiencing more challeng-
ing feelings (mad, lonely, sad, worried and
frustrated) and fewer positive feelings
(happy, safe and hopeful). Students did,
however, share that they were a little more
“excited” last fall than they were last spring.
At the elementary level, the most sig-
nificant drops in positive feelings were in
feeling happy and loved — secondary stu-
dents also experienced the most notable
plummet in feelings of happiness.
According to Moore, the most concern-
ing exacerbation of challenging feelings at
the elementary level were for students who
are feeling lonely and sad — one out of five
elementary students reported “frequently”
or “almost always” feeling lonely and one
out of seven elementary students said that
they “once in a while” or “almost never” felt
loved.
At the secondary level, one out every
three students reported feeling “frequently”
or “almost always” frustrated — one in
four felt lonely or worried “frequently” or
“always” and one in five reported that they
were happy or hopeful “once in a while” or
“almost never.”
“It’s important to note that these data
points simply suggest the presence of sit-
uational, social-emotional risk factors that
need to be addressed. None of these data
increased based on the isolated environ-
ment in which they are living and learning.
The experiential learning cycle involves a
stimulus experience and then the reaction
to that stimulus through observation, con-
ceptualization and then application to the
next experience.
Most of our Celts were able to get
back up last spring when the initial shock
of working from home hit and again
when this academic year started in the
Comprehensive Distance Learning (CDL)
environment. The tough part of measur-
ing mental health is that students that are
struggling at home during CDL do not
have an adult connection that is measuring
and monitoring their mental state.
The teachers and McNary, specifically
the advisory teachers that have each stu-
dent for four years, can form relationships
with each student and get them to counsel-
ors when needed. In this distance learning
environment, that has been more difficult
as a lot of communication and signs of
mental health issues are nonverbal. We are
working very hard to reach our students in
a different way than we ever have in previ-
ous years.
Curran: Some students have been
impacted more than others, but everyone
has been impacted in some way by the pan-
demic as well as other factors. In the begin-
ning it was new and scary with worry about
getting or giving someone the virus and
people dying.
As time went by I think most student’s
focus shifted away from fear of the virus to
dealing with the stresses of online school
and the lack of socialization. On top of that,
many families lost jobs and are just trying
to survive month to month. We also had
forest fires, a crazy presidential election,
and now an ice storm with power outages.
Eveleth: The range of effects this pan-
demic has had on student mental health is
as varied as the students themselves. Some
students have found great comfort in learn-
ing from home while others desperately
missed the people and structure at school.
I have had multiple parents reach out to say
that their child has not been “acting like
themselves” lately. Extra bad moods and
increased oppositional behavior have been
a reality for many families during this time.
Increased anxiety has been common for
kids as well as adults, and it often manifests
as irritability or anger in young children.
In your estimation, what has been the
hardest aspect kids have had to endure
over the last year?
Bobeda: Being alone. Social anxiety has
increased tremendously and many of the
students we are requesting to come to the
limited in person instruction are showing
signs of low self-esteem and insecurity.
At McNary, we strive to get every stu-
dent involved in at least one club, sport,
or activity every year and the students are
missing that connection. McNary was a
safe place for them to learn to grow socially
and many of them needed it as a platform
See STRUGGLES, B20
School
counselors
talk year
in isolation
BY MATT RAWLINGS
Of the Keizertimes
It has now been over a year since the
COVID-19 pandemic shut down Salem-
Keizer Public Schools. Elementary students
began in-person hybrid learning earlier
this month, while middle and high school
students are set to begin next month —
OSAA athletics also returned earlier this
month.
But even though a return to normalcy
looks to be on the horizon, the last year
has taken a psychological toll on many
students.
Keizertimes talked with three different
counselors in the area — Todd Bobeda
(McNary High School), Pat Curran
(Whiteaker Middle School) and Ashley
Eveleth (Forest Ridge Elementary) — to get
their perspective on what this last year has
been like for their students
How have you seen the mental health
of students impacted by the pandemic
over the last year?
Bobeda: Like every life transition, some
students have adjusted well and are now
able to learn in a remote environment.
School is not just about academics and the
social/emotional learning aspect of a typ-
ical day is just as important in the growth
of an adolescent as the actual content in
the classroom. We are finding that the
percentage of students that were already
struggling in school and with mental
health, particularly those with anxiety, have
See TALK, page 11