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.

According to estimates, one in every six American women has been a victim of sexual violence at least once in their life. Another report suggests that there are over 27 million victims of human trafficking across the world. These victims of various crimes have had their lives turned upside down due as a result to a single event.

However, with the assistance of social service agencies that provide victims with legal, psychological, or financial assistance, these victims of crime have a chance at life. Because of the persistent efforts of victim service organizations that assist law enforcement, perpetrators of these heinous crimes are captured, and their victims are able to reintegrate into society after a traumatic experience.

To know more about the importance of victim services and their crucial role in all communities across the globe, here’s a blog.

Educators, who are some of the likeliest professionals to report child abuse, are encountering youth who have faced abuse in isolation throughout the pandemic. During 2020, the proportion of mental health-related emergency department (ED) visits among adolescents aged 12-17 years increased 31% compared to 2019. Suspected suicide attempt ED visits were 50.6% higher among girls aged 12-17 (CDC, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 6/18/21). These stats indicate an increase in child abuse as children were confined to the home during the pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted our nationwide educational system. Closures rattled public confidence in local schools. Familiar routines were shattered. Interest in home schooling and other alternatives exploded. All of this loosened the status quo's grip on school norms, parental expectations, and the public imagination. Until March 2020, American schooling looked much like it had in 1920. Students set out from their homes to school in the early morning, sat in front of a teacher in primary school or a series of teachers in secondary school, sporadically used the latest technologies, and then headed home. Dress codes, popular pedagogies, the number of adults in the building, and the technology may have changed, but what students and teachers did each day did not.

Since the 1900s, U.S. public schools have employed a growing number of school resource officers (SROs) – sworn law enforcement officials. In 1975, only 1% of schools reported having police officers on site, but by 2018, approximately 58% of schools had at least one sworn law enforcement official present during the school week. Since 1998, the federal government has invested over $1 billion to explicitly increase police presence in schools, and over $14 billion to advance community policing, which can include SROs.

In a recent study, 81% of teenagers between the ages of thirteen and seventeen reported experiencing more severe stress. Schools are working harder than ever to support their students by integrating social-emotional learning (SEL) into curricula, expanding the availability of mental health services, and enabling teachers to identify the signs of a student's emotional distress and collaborate with social workers or counselors to promptly resolve particular cases.

Let's take a look at how you can support the students' complete social and mental well-being. 

Bullying is a pervasive problem in schools across the United States. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, about one-third of students aged 12-18 reported being bullied during the school year. The most common type of bullying is verbal abuse, including name-calling, teasing, and making fun of someone. Other types of bullying include physical abuse, cyberbullying, and social exclusion.

For young people, suicide is the third most common cause  of death. Suicide can be avoided, though. Young people who are thinking about suicide usually show indicators of despair. Knowing about these symptoms can help friends, family, and educators act promptly and get the aid they require. Numerous social care providers are making an effort to deal with teen mental health difficulties and raise awareness that could be the difference between life and death. Let's shine some light on the subject and determine how we can work together to prevent teen suicide.

Homelessness is not one of the first things that comes to mind when people think of America. However, the National Alliance to End Homelessness estimates that over 500,000 people are currently homeless in the United States. One of the most significant factors contributing to homelessness is a lack of affordable housing. Individuals, families, and especially children attempting to obtain an education may suffer as a result of this.

According to the latest student loan debt statistics, there are 45 million student loan borrowers who collectively owe $1.7 trillion of student loans.

"As is so often the case, what began as a creative solution to a social inequity became corrupted by greed and mismanagement," a professor of the history of social work told us. "Sallie Mae was the main facilitator when Congress created the student-loan program back in the 1970s during the Johnson administration. It was a profit-driven enterprise that essentially funneled money from taxpayers to colleges and universities. Congress envisioned it as a partnership between the government and banks to broaden the American dream of a college education for children of modest means."