Introduction
With the United States school education system accumulating over 2 trillion dollars in funding and potentially 4.5% more by 2026 in funding, it is clear that our nation takes education seriously. In addition, the nearly 138000 schools/colleges across America employ 3.2 million teachers who devote their lives to help 54 million students. Education is regarded as of utmost importance in all families as they hope to provide their kids the opportunity to obtain a well-paying job. In most American minds, education is regarded as the medium to tap potential and is the supreme deciding factor of their children’s future. Till now, education seemed to have proceeded normally with a regular daily schedule for students: wake up in the morning, board your bus, learn in school, come back home, and do your homework. As a nation, our teachers and students have become so accustomed to this schedule. However, when the pandemic struck in March, this all changed. Countries, states, counties, schools, teachers, students all had to adapt to a new environment in a matter of days. COVID-19 suddenly changed everyone’s lives and specifically the education industry. Though we have seemingly adapted well, are we all in the optimal mental state? Are our students, and teachers psychologically sound?
Education before COVID
To truly understand the immense impact COVID has had on our student’s education and the education system as a whole, it is important that we examine how education was before. Physically, of course, there was a difference because students were able to see their teachers in person and communicate with them without a medium. This enabled many to ask questions and understand concepts in a normal-paced manner. However, under the current model, how well did students truly perform in their respective studies? According to data (provided by Brookings.edu) that compares the growth of students from fall 2019 and fall 2020 in math by grade level, students in fall 2019 from grades 3-8 averaged around 56% to 57% in their percentile increase. During the fall of 2020, however, students averaged around a 49% increase in percentile, a much smaller improvement compared to the year before. There are a variety of factors that ensure that school is the perfect place for learning: fewer distractions, upfront conversations, longer school hours, and a nurturing environment, just to name a few. By providing students the opportunity to work with others on problems and ask relevant questions, teachers will be able to decipher what to focus on in any class, specifically math, and this is why we are witnessing a clear discrepancy in the knowledge of the students. But you may be asking: why isn’t this discrepancy seen in other classes, such as literature, as well? Many theorize that, because of the lockdown and limited school time, students have turned to other activities, one of which may be reading. Since parents can help nurture children in topics that they themselves understand, some believe that parents are encouraging their kids to read and this has caused the maintenance of a sufficient understanding in English language class. After analyzing how in-person education is preferable to this new virtual environment, what effect has COVID had on education?
Impact of COVID on Education
According to a 2020 report by The Century Foundation, public schools in the United States are being underfunded by $150 billion annually, hurting predominantly low-income children. Undoubtedly, education inequality was a problem before COVID, but now, with the increased reliance on a stable internet connection, there is no question that this can pose problems for many impoverished students. The virtual environment, as a whole, has turned the education industry into a tailspin, confusing teachers and administrators on which path to take: hybrid or full-virtual. Toward the end of the 2020 school year, many parents and teachers didn’t believe that the number of hours of education provided per day was sufficient when compared to a normal school day. Personally, in the Hillsborough, NJ, school district, all schools were open on a half-day basis from March 2020 onwards. Could in-person schooling truly be replaced with a virtual environment, a shorter day, and maintain the same level of education? It was quite an impossible task for many schools, forcing them to adjust schedules, roles, and methods of teaching in a matter of days.
With no incentive to show their face, many students have opted to turn their cameras off and redirect their attention to other activities during a class. Classes have become a one-way street, decreasing the number of questions asked and any interaction between the teacher and students overall. In fact, my teachers have repeatedly complained about writing letters of recommendation for juniors and seniors whose faces they haven’t even seen before. Imagine this scenario: a person, who is hired to guide 100 students through college-level courses, is expected to succeed while not having adequate interactions! Unfortunately, every one of our teachers has been put under this pressure and this sudden shift has left parents, children, and educators under enormous stress.
Children with learning disabilities who were adequately supervised in school are now deprived of that much needed guidance and have had trouble adjusting. Students with ADD, ADHD, and other attention problems have struggled in sustaining a comparable level of participation. In addition to these groups who have been negatively afflicted, all students have been devoid of in-person contact for a prolonged period of time, which has led to a considerable detriment of their collective mental health.
Psychological Deterioration
The fundamental concern among scientists is that if depression develops during one’s childhood and is untreated, it can have lasting detrimental effects on their emotions. For example, according to a 2020 survey conducted by Texas A&M, out of the 195 college students surveyed, 71% experienced greater stress levels and anxiety. Near the end of 2020, in a study conducted by American Promise, out of 3,300 high school students, ⅓ reported that they were unhappy or depressed in recent months. It has become progressively clear that the extended lack of communication with peers, advisors, and counselors has had severe consequences for students in need of help.
In addition to students, teachers, too, have been overworked, fearful, and exhausted from this pandemic because of the reorganization of education as a whole. Now, 1 in 5 adults suffer from mental illness compared to one in ten adults pre-2020. This time period has had a grave mental impact on many of our educators; Emma Wohl, a middle school teacher from Washington state, states, “I spend all day staring at a screen and kind of generating enthusiasm into the void that Zoom is, and I end the day so tired, and so done, and so frustrated.” Sadly, many teachers have shared this attitude and in a study conducted in August 2020 by the NEA (National Education Association), “28% of educators said the pandemic made them more likely to leave teaching.”
The string that weaves all of these issues together has been the mere lack of resources to help these people. Of course, schools and colleges have considered the mental health repercussions of online schooling and have attempted to offer “buddy” or helpline services over Zoom. But, for those that are disadvantaged, where will they go to seek help? Who can they meet? Furthermore, many of these victims are simply not forthcoming to their psychiatrist or counselor.
However, trained psychologists, scientists, and innovators have been motivated to solve this problem using AI and technology.
How Will We Recover?
With the multitude of issues we have faced during quarantine, many have lost hope for the future of their careers and children’s education. However, over the next few years, the actions and initiatives we take will determine if that loss of hope is truly justified.
The optimal scenario is where a friendly figure close to the victim, such as a parent or friend, can talk to and check up with them daily. Many of the teens who are suffering from thoughts of suicide and mental stress need a caring guardian/friend that can provide them hope to get through their struggles. This can be through daily conversations with the person outlining their current feelings and hopes for the future.
However, such a solution is dependent on two things: One–does the victim know he/she is suffering from a psychological issue–and two–are they willing to talk to another person about their issues? On a national scale, funding for mental health institutions/initiatives has increased: The Consolidation Appropriations Act in December of 2020 provided “$4.25 billion in funding for mental health and substance use services,” urging insurance compliance with national mental health parity rules.
However, the gold here is in the new technology-oriented products that are being integrated into the mental health services sector. The CAA approved hundreds of millions of dollars solely dedicated to Telehealth and expanding coverage through remote care mediums for all people who have insurance. Though Telehealth does have a few shortcomings, one of which is the difference in pay a doctor may receive from having a call with a patient versus an in-person visit, through partnerships with several trained psychiatrists, psychologists, and brain experts, Telehealth has successfully helped guide millions through their physical and mental health issues.
Even so, how do people, who do not know they have a mental health issue, find help? Very few seek needed services through Telehealth. However, new med-oriented tech businesses have started to find solutions through the lens of AI. Specifically, tech companies Vocalis and Ellipsis believe one tool that could serve as a biomarker for symptoms of several illnesses is actually your voice. Voice analysis is an increasingly popular tool for care teams in the medical field. Just from a few minutes of recording over the phone, an algorithm can decipher whether a person has symptoms of depression, sleep apnea, asthma, etc. Through the implementation of this technology, you can not only monitor current patients of chronic diseases, but also passively observe seemingly healthy people, a vital function to help people who don't yet realize they are suffering from mental illness. Till today, the screening mechanisms (PHQ-9 or GAD-7) for anxiety and depression have failed because they are time-intensive and distortable by the patient. However, with the use of new voice analysis algorithms that have access to millions of previous recordings of certified mental health patients, there is suddenly a clear path to solving the epidemic and improving the mental health services sector.
Conclusion
Sadly, due to the four walls that have constricted us all for so long, tragic events have transpired in which normal citizens can no longer cope with the deaths of others and internal pain of the pandemic. With these new, upcoming, solutions in mind, there is hope that the frequency of mental breakout decreases and the massive mental health epidemic in our country will eventually be eradicated. Currently, this lack of interaction may prevent us from holding hands physically, but the actions we take apart can eventually conjoin us in a wholehearted manner.
Sources: Brookings, EPI, PSU, JMIR, Teach For America, Business Wire, NCES, EdWeek, KFF, NY Times, KHN, USA Today, TCF, NAMI
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