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SC schools in uncharted territory when it comes to mental health, experts say

State
Aug 20, 2020

Aug. 20--As schools begin to reopen, both children and educators will face mental health challenges like never before, experts said.

The experts, who spoke during The State's live Learning Curve forum on Thursday, touched on a range of topics such as safety, inequality and the long-term effects of the pandemic on education.

"As a pediatrician we're seeing things we've never seen before," said Columbia pediatrician Debbie Greenhouse, who was one of the panelists. "I've never seen this many kids dealing with depression and anxiety."

"What we are trying to do is create a new normal for students who are learning virtually," Greenhouse said.

Though students are likely to have learning gaps when they return, the first thing teachers need to do when students show up -- or log in -- to classes, is to make sure they are mentally healthy, said Christi Lewis, a panelist who teaches orchestra at W.G. Sanders Middle and Keenan High in Columbia.

"I have to make sure they're okay first," Lewis said.

"Although this is my 26th year teaching it feels like my first," Lewis said.

Richland 1 Superintendent Craig Witherspoon agreed, saying teachers will need to build relationships with students and parents, and that starts with acknowledging some may be struggling or uncomfortable.

"The first order of business is going to be some activities that validates students' feelings," Witherspoon said.

In some cases, coronavirus is creating new problems, but in others, it is exposing deeply-rooted issues in society that were "buried at the bottom of the ocean," said Chester County Superintendent Antwon Sutton.

It's not just students who are experiencing mental health difficulties. Teachers, some of whom are in a high-risk coronavirus category, are facing increased stress over fears of getting sick, having to teach in new ways or even losing a faculty member or student to the coronavirus, said Jazmyne McCrae, a co-founder of civil rights group EmpowerSC and a graduate student at the University of South Carolina studying to be a teacher.

"Not only students need these support systems, our teachers do too," McCrae said. "We also need to take care of ourselves and each other."

That stress is compounded by the inevitability that schools are most likely going to see cases of COVID 19.

"We're never going to completely eliminate this virus from school completely in the same way we can't eliminate the seasonal flu," said Patrick Kelly, a Blythewood High School teacher and director of governmental affairs for Palmetto State Teachers Association.

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(c)2020 The State (Columbia, S.C.)

Visit The State (Columbia, S.C.) at www.thestate.com

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