Social workers at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted a one-time, online Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey (ABES), during January–June 2021 to assess behaviors and experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic among high school students. An unexpected element of the survey's findings was that the pandemic had severe negative effects on adolescents’ mental health.

Unexpected Findings

• More than one in three high school students (37.4%) experienced poor mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Compared with 2019 before the pandemic, the proportion of mental health–related emergency department visits in 2020 increased approximately 31% among youths aged 12–17 years.
• In addition, 44.2% of students experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, almost 20% seriously considered suicide, and 9.0% attempted suicide during the 12 months before the survey.
• The prevalence of poor mental health and thoughts of suicide was high across students of all sex, sexual identity, and racial and ethnic groups.

You Are Not Alone

However, the survey also revealed a surprising antidote to these persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness, accompanied by suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Students reported that these feelings were less prevalent among those who felt close to persons at school and were virtually connected with others during the pandemic.

• Compared with those who did not, students who felt close to persons at school had a lower prevalence of poor mental health during the pandemic (28.4% versus 45.2%) and during the past 30 days (23.5% versus 37.8%), of persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness (35.4% versus 52.9%), of having seriously considered attempting suicide (14.0% versus 25.6%), and of having attempted suicide (5.8% versus 11.9%).
• Similarly, students who were virtually connected to others during the pandemic had a lower prevalence of poor mental health during the pandemic (35.5% versus 42.0%) and during the past 30 days (28.7% versus 36.8%), of persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness (41.9% versus 51.7%), of having seriously considered attempting suicide (18.4 versus 24.9%), and of having attempted suicide (8.0% versus 12.2%) compared with those who were not virtually connected to others during the pandemic.

Learning to Fish

The social work community was admittedly surprised and embarrassed by the obvious nature of the antidote to students' feelings of hopelessness and isolation. Education social workers began to rethink their passive methods of student support and decided to design a more proactive approach for reaching out to students who were struggling.

"It's just like fishing," an education social worker recently told us. "The amateur fisherman baits his hook and waits patiently for a fish to take the bait. The professional throws out his net and drags the fish in from far and wide. That's the difference. After reading the survey conclusions, education social workers now know that we need to become professional fishermen. No more waiting around for the isolated students to come to us. We are devising ways to reach out to them."

Below the Noise Level

Before COVID-19, education social workers had a presence on campus and if students even knew they were there, they thought the social worker was there to help them get into college, find them a place to sleep if they lost their home, or help them navigate the system if they fell afoul of the police. Obvious disasters like starvation or rehab bound drug addiction were the crisis types they might dump in the social worker's lap. The deeply eroded mental health of the student body in general was not blatantly obvious or dramatic enough to catch the social workers attention or motivate the suffering students to seek their help. The findings of the survey were a wakeup call.

Reaching Out

• Rather than simply being available to help, education social workers have begun to reach out to students through informative email. They inform the entire student body that the social worker is there to support each student in whatever form they may need and invites students to visit and become acquainted. This is the first form of throwing out the net rather than baiting the hook.
• Education social workers are publishing and distributing more informational literature about the services they can and will provide all students.
• They analyze data on attendance to identify students at risk and reach out to them individually to offer support wherever needed.

The Education Social Worker

• Most education social workers have an MSW or an advanced education degree.
• They are professionally connected to a large network of support agencies designed to support students struggling with sexual assault, adjudication, homelessness, drug addiction, depression, and other mental health issues.
• And they have learned to fish.