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Will you answer the call?
Brittany Ulman
Board Member
Empowering Darke County Youth
Back to school.
A well-known phrase often dreaded by students and welcomed by parents.
Regardless of our individual reactions, this time of year is familiar
to most. Or at least it used to be.
In the days of COVID-19, there’s nothing well-known or familiar about “back to school.”
Today, there are masks, face shields, gloves, social distancing
guidelines, temperature checks, virtual and in-person classes,
staggered schedules and the list goes on. However you feel about these
precautions’ effectiveness, one has to wonder how these circumstances
are affecting our students’ mental health.
Just the other day I watched a news program where a foreign government
official was visiting a school in his country. He was sitting amongst a
group of young grade school students, encouraging them to avoid sharing
and hugging each other.
Let that sink in. We’re telling children to not share and to avoid hugging their friends.
Even though this instance took place in another country, it’s more than
likely that similar warnings are being taught in schools around the
world, including the U.S.
So where does that lead us? In a dangerous catch 22.
On the one hand, we want to protect our children’s physical health (as
well as that of families and school personnel), so we install safety
measures such as mandatory masks and virtual learning. But on the other
hand, we want to ensure we’re not depriving an already vulnerable
population of the love they so desperately need.
According to the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family
Statistics, 31% of children in the US in 2018 were living with one or
no parents, with 22% of those being from single-mother households. The
poverty rate amongst children ages 0-17 also remains relatively high;
in 2017, 17.5% of children were found to be living in poverty. Add in
the staggering statistics on adolescent depression--13% of kids ages
12-17 having at least one major depressive episode in 2017--and suicide
rates--rising from 0.9% in 2007 to 2.5% in 2017 for ages 10-14 and from
6.7% to 11.8% for ages 15-19 in that same timeframe--it’s no wonder
many of our kids felt neglected, worthless and afraid. And that was
before the virus.
Now as we stand in the middle of a complex, global pandemic, we once
again find ourselves asking, “What can we do for our kids?”
The answers are not simple nor are they easy to find, but we as a
nation are blessed to have dedicated, compassionate people fighting for
our students.
Who are these people?
They’re parents, grandparents, teachers, principals, bus drivers and
school nurses serving on the frontlines. They’re community members and
college students volunteering as tutors. They’re church congregations
and local business owners providing prayers and support. They’re
retirees working at the local food pantry and state representatives
fighting for our rights. They’re our neighbors doing whatever they can
to protect our children.
We might not know all the answers, but we can recall the lessons of our
childhood. Lessons that call us to come together and encourage one
another. Lessons that promise us there is a reason for everything and
our trials make us stronger. Lessons that show us we will never truly
be alone.
Now we are the adults, and it is up to pass these same lessons onto our
children. We must show our kids how to put on the attributes of
compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. We must remind
them how much we love, cherish and care for them. We must act in a way
that proves to our kids that we will not leave them.
This is no minor task. It will be difficult, it will take time, and
there will be times we will fail. But we can press on, together. No
matter how old you are, where you live or what you do for a living, we
all have been called to care for our children and train them up in the
way they should go. Will you answer the call?
Curtin, S.C., & Heron, Dr. M (2019, October). Death Rates Due to Suicide and Homicide
Among Persons Aged 10–24: United States, 2000–2017. NCHS Data Brief, 352, 1-3.
Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics (2019). America’s Children: Key
National Indicators of Well-Being, 2019.
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