According to the New York Times, the test results published on Thursday “clearly show the devastating effects” of the pandemic on US schoolchildren: For the first time since the introduction of the nationwide standardized tests in the 1970s, performance in mathematics deteriorated significantly Reading scores fell at the highest rate in more than 30 years.
While the declines affected almost all income brackets, they were significantly worse for the lowest-performing students. The results of children from the lowest-income families fell four times as much as those from wealthy families.
Prolonged school closures in poorer areas
One reason for this is that US schools in poorer residential areas, especially in large cities, were closed for longer and therefore had to rely on distance learning for longer. This also explains the particular drop in performance in black and Hispanic communities.
The US government has announced a huge $122 billion education investment package for schools, but it is unclear whether this will make up for the education deficits of the past two years. There is also a shortage of teachers in some regions of the USA.
Germany: More depression in girls
An analysis of billing data from around 782,000 children and young people up to the age of 17 who are insured with the German health insurance company DAK-Gesundheit shows similarly dramatic effects on another level. For example, the number of 15- to 17-year-old girls treated for depression increased by 18 percent compared to the pre-coronavirus year 2018, the health insurance company said. According to the information, it was even 23 percent among ten to 14-year-olds.
As the number of teenage girls newly diagnosed with depression increased, so did prescription medication. According to DAK information, the proportion of 15- to 17-year-old girls with antidepressant treatment increased by 65 percent in 2021 compared to 2019. In the case of drug treatment for eating disorders and anxiety disorders, the numbers in 2021 are also up by 75 and 19 percent, respectively gone upstairs.
Boys increasingly overweight
In boys, on the other hand, the rate of new cases of depression fell by 17 percent among ten to 14 year olds and by 15 percent among 15 to 17 year olds. A similar picture emerges for eating disorders and anxiety disorders: while the number of treatments increased significantly among girls, they fell among boys. However, the number of children who are severely overweight increased among them.
In the five to nine-year-old age group, obesity figures rose by a total of 14 percent in 2021, but boys were more affected. Among the 15 to 17-year-old boys there was even 15 percent more obesity, among girls in this age group six percent more. Both depression in girls and obesity in boys showed that children from lower-income households were more affected.
Dramatic figures also in Austria
In Austria, meanwhile, Barbara Haid, President of the Federal Association for Psychotherapy (ÖBVP), warned on Wednesday that children and young people should “act instead of wait” when it comes to the mental health of children and young people. Every second young person in Austria now suffers from depressive symptoms. Suicidal thoughts, anxiety symptoms, sleep disorders and problematic consumer behavior have increased sharply.
In the spring survey, 47 percent of all young people surveyed stated that they needed professional support, with a particularly sharp deterioration in families with a low socioeconomic status, with a migration background and those living in cramped living conditions.
Too few low-threshold offers
Only 181 school psychologists are available for around 1.1 million schoolchildren. Together with the Austrian League for Child and Adolescent Health (Children’s League) and the Austrian Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (ÖGKJP), Haid expressed concern regarding the mental health of young people in Austria. Prompt intervention is often crucial, the long waiting lists or waiting times for checkouts would further exacerbate the problem.
Far too few low-threshold offers on the spot in the school are among the major challenges for psychosocial care at the beginning of the new school year. Even if face-to-face teaching often brings advantages for disadvantaged children, many problems are already foreseeable. A common demand is to expand the psychosocial care for students, parents and also the teaching staff and to ensure it in the long term.
