As the world marks five years since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, its profound effects on the mental health and education of young people remain stark. Amelie, a 24-year-old university student from France, reflects on how the pandemic triggered a dramatic shift in her life, exacerbating long-buried emotional challenges.
“When Covid hit, I was forced to confront everything I had been repressing, and it led to an overwhelming depression,” Amelie, who was 19 years old at the time, shared with AFP. Despite ongoing treatment, she still struggles with the psychological scars left by the pandemic. For privacy reasons, Amelie declined to share her last name, fearing it could affect her future career opportunities.
Her story is far from unique. A growing body of research highlights how the pandemic’s isolation, particularly for young people at a crucial stage in their social development, took a significant toll on mental health. According to France’s public health agency, one in five 18-24-year-olds experienced depression in 2021. In the United States, 37% of high school students reported struggling with their mental well-being in the same period, as per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
A study published in The Lancet Psychiatry further underscores the persistent challenges. Analyzing over 700,000 Finnish adolescents, researchers found an increase in generalized anxiety, depression, and social anxiety symptoms during the pandemic, with elevated levels continuing into 2023.
Generational Educational Setbacks
The effects of the pandemic are also reverberating through the education system. Children who were just beginning their school journey when lockdowns began are still grappling with learning delays and emotional development issues. A 2023 study reviewed 40 studies across 15 countries, published in Nature Human Behaviour, revealing that many children have not fully recovered from the educational disruptions caused by the pandemic.
“It’s a real generational problem,” said Bastian Betthauser, the study’s lead author. The implications of these delays will likely be felt for years to come, as young people are expected to make up for lost learning in an already strained system.
The effects are especially pronounced in the UK, where school attendance has seen a significant decline. Ofsted, the country’s education agency, reported that in the 2023/2024 academic year, the Covid-era shift in attitudes towards attendance had contributed to a more casual approach to school participation.
Simon Kidwell, principal of Hartford Manor Primary School in Cheshire, noted that while academic recovery had been relatively swift, mental health challenges have intensified. “We’ve seen a huge spike in children needing to access mental health services,” Kidwell told AFP. Furthermore, there has been a marked increase in the number of children requiring special educational support, particularly in addressing behavioral issues.
Challenges for Children with Special Needs
The pandemic also appears to have had varying effects on children with special educational needs. For some young students, particularly those with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the period of remote learning and lockdown created unique challenges.
Selina Warlow, a psychologist working with children affected by these conditions, explained that many autistic children thrived during lockdown. “The school environment can be overwhelming – loud and busy. Being in a classroom with 30 other children is really difficult for them,” Warlow said. However, for others, the loss of the structured school routine proved detrimental, she added.
Many children missed out on critical early interventions during the pandemic, which, according to Warlow, can have long-lasting consequences. “Intervening in those very early years can make a huge difference in a child’s development.”
As the shadow of Covid continues to loom over a generation, the psychological and educational scars remain, posing a long-term challenge for both young people and the systems that support them.
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