There’s no doubt that COVID-19 has had a negative impact on everyone. Deaths of family members and friends, online school not allowing a proper environment for real learning and not being able to hang out with anyone has had an effect on the mental health of all of the people going through these continuously hard times.

   Recently, however, college students have had it worse than most. Avid TikTok users may have seen the increasing amount of college students crying because their scholarships are revoked and they can’t afford to stay at their school. This is just one example of how school does not prioritize mental health.

   Those who have had to switch to online school, whether permanently or temporarily, know the difficulty of keeping up with coursework and maintaining motivation to do work when everything feels optional. The proclaimed “Floating Rock Mindset,” the thought that we’re all just floating on a rock in space and nothing matters, is truly getting to people. 

   Since the start of the pandemic, there has been about a thirty percent rise, as determined by the CDC, in reports of mental health conditions per household. Everyone has been impacted but college students are trying to navigate being newly integrated into the real world, classes, being away from home for the first time and being separated from their friends all while trying to avoid disease. Anyone can empathize that this is especially difficult.

   In reference to the earlier mention of schools not being helpful or conscious of mental health issues, there are things that can be done to be more accommodating to students. Of course, there will be those who take advantage of this as an opportunity to slack off and do nothing but many students are genuinely struggling with keeping up the motivation to even attend their classes.   

   Punishments and reaching out to parents who, in some cases, make the situation much worse, is not the ideal approach to helping those dealing with mental health problems. A better approach would be personally reaching out to the student to inquire about them. If they haven’t been attending classes or turning in work, instead of immediately going to annoyance and anger, most students would agree that compassion and kindness are the way to go.

   Overall, everyone has been negatively impacted by the pandemic. The most we can do is be accommodating and kind to one another because you truly never know what someone else is going through. College students may have taken some of the worst of the blow, but that doesn’t make anyone’s problems insignificant.

 If you need help, reach out to:

National Suicide Hotline

1-800-273-8255

Substance Abuse Mental Health Awareness National Helpline

1-800-662-HELP (4357)

National Eating Disorders Helpline

1-800-931-2237

Newsome High School students can go to counselors, teachers, and the administrative staff