April 2021

The Blue and Gold
April 2021
Opinion
maldenblueandgold.com
7
How COVID-19 Has Affected Mental
Health for Students
Jhechel Espiritu
Reporter
We are all in a state of defense,
anxiety, depression, and anxiousness.
This pandemic has created a
massive change within the Malden
community and the world—people
are constantly fearing the thought
of losing their homes, families, and
themselves. Students, in particular,
are like birds isolated from the outside
world, trying to find ways to
change their routines and find the
motivation to get up in the morning
and get through the day.
Basma Braer, a Sophomore at
Malden High School, said that “for
[her] personally [she cannot] socialize
with outside families, [so she
has] to stay with the same types of
people, adding on to that actually
being with the same people all the
time can be really stressful.”
Parents have had a close eye
trying to keep their children safe,
which instills more pressure and
stress to students whose parents are
less lenient. The fear and thought of
obtaining such a virus scares people,
not just parents, but also the most
vulnerable individuals who are facing
underlying illnesses.
Schools have had a greater impact
this year than ever before since
students are transitioning from inperson
education to remote learning,
which is an enormous change.
Benjamin Butler, an adjustment
counselor at Malden High, stated
that “[he is] really worried about
students, teenagers in particular
because [he thinks] . . . a big part of
being a teenager is independence
. . . being on your own and being
out in the world [and] you guys
are just stuck in your rooms, stuck
Comic by Carolina Cuevas.
in your houses with your families.”
Caitlin Quinn, a guidance counselor
at Malden High School, added to
this thought, saying that “when
[she thinks] about MHS students in
general, they are missing out on all
the social aspects of school, which
is tough. [She thinks about] some
of the things that make [school enjoyable],
not only academically but
socially.”
The social aspect of school
really affects students and their
mental health. Meeting new friends,
teachers and people influence their
teenage years. Since students are
stuck at home with family and social
media instead of being out in
the world, they are being impacted
by different scenarios in their head
by what other people are doing. As
Butler again mentioned, “it sounds
to me like depression, you know,
it’s like ‘I get up. I get on the screen
for three hours and I have lunch and
do another two hours and then I go
to bed and do the same thing again
tomorrow.’”
Having to get up every day
in the morning, knowing that you
will do the same thing over and
over again can be very draining and
overwhelming for students. Depression
and anxiety are one of the major
mental illnesses that students are
facing in this day of age, especially
during these extremely exhausting,
confusing times.
Taryn Belowsky, a guidance
counselor in Brunelli House, offered
that “hopefully, [we have] all been
learning positive coping skills or
first trying to recognize, ‘hey I’m
not in a good mood what does that
mean? Do I need to . . . listen to my
favorite songs or do I need to exercise
more? Or maybe I need to fix
my routine for school? Or maybe I
need to set myself a schedule?’ So,
those are the types of things [she]
hope students and staff are taking
advantage of.”
Students have been responsible
for keeping their regime, however,
there are days that feel impossible to
get through, since teachers are less
hands-on. Some students have had
a hard time trying to finish assignments
while also taking little breaks
and making sure they are stable
mentally or physically.
On the other hand, there is
still positivity among the students
like Billy Zeng, a senior at Malden
High, who said, “[he thinks] that . . .
throughout the summer and even at
home . . . [he] had been able to kind
of connect [himself] in several different
online ventures.”
Though students are still in isolation,
the school provides extracurricular
activities such as clubs that
really helped to enhance socialism
and boredom.
Quinn stated that “another
thing [that she thinks] about [Malden
High] students is all the insecurities,
does the family have enough
money? To go by the home they
currently live in, there’s food insecurity,
especially since it’s getting
colder.” The importance of surviving
in the duration of this pandemic
has been extremely important for
many families. Students have had to
take part in and responsibilities for
themselves and their families.
Having to worry about the
thought of parents or loved ones being
hospitalized is one of the most
difficult situations a student has to
deal with, especially while also balancing
out school, their social life,
relationships and work. According
to Butler, “in one situation, the parent
was hospitalized for a long period
of time, and the student had to
find an initial job and so this student
is trying to manage school and also
work, so [it is] very, very challenging.”
Mentally and emotionally, situations
like this can be very draining,
especially for young adults who are
trying to figure life out. Whether that
be in high school, during college, or
even after university. Belowsky said
“[she thinks] globally, everyone is
affected by COVID-19 and [what
is] going on, and oftentimes we
struggle when we [cannot] control
something and so [she thinks] we
[do not] really have control over the
government, but we can make individual
choices,” which is why even
during a pandemic people should
keep a positive outlook in spite of
the situation.
Not only are students facing
COVID-19, but they are also dealing
with themselves. Educators in this
day in age have been very resilient
about giving out assignments, but
many of the students, such as Freshman
Matthew Paraliticci Castano,,
stated that “[he has] been frustrated
because [he] had anxiety previously.
So [he] just [gets] stressed out sometimes”
which causes him to lose
motivation.
Due to the amount of homework
some teachers have given students,
it has resulted in poor performance
in school for some students
because of the lack of motivation.
Sabrina Gutierrez, a Junior at Malden
High, mentioned that “[even]
though classes have been easy they
still are giving out a lot of homework
to do, but again, [it is] difficult
to complete with no motivation.”
Many students have also been
pretty distracted, especially since
Tiktok, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter,
and other social media platforms
have been a great excuse to sidetrack
themselves, which then leads to procrastination.
Teachers have also had
a difficult time engaging students to
learn through distance learning due
to the inability to see every student
participating on the other side of the
screen.
Some students can cope with
the present circumstances because
they have supportive parents. Although
it may not be applicable for
every student, having a support
system at home is extremely helpful.
Especially when the individual
is undergoing any mental disorders
such as depression, anxiety, bipolar
disorder, etc. Spending less time on
social media, their phones or other
devices may affect their encouragement,
achievements and work.
Taking little breaks even if you are
under pressure will help to reconcile
your enthusiasm.
For more information visit the
Malden High Social Workers’ Instagram
account,.