Education Week - July 13, 2022 - 5

Which of the following do you think should be included
in any school safety law? Select all that apply.
WHAT THE
Enact " red flag laws " that allow
judges to suspend a person's access
to guns if they are deemed a threat
Close loopholes in background
check laws for firearms purchases
Raise the minimum age to
purchase an " assault-style "
weapon like an AR-15 to age 21
Fund additional mental
health resources
Make the sale of
firearms more strict
Improve or harden
building security
Require emergency
drills and training
Mandate emergency
response planning
Fund new or additional
school resource officers
Require social-emotional
learning programs
Ban possession of handguns, except
by police and authorized persons
Arm school staff
Other 10
18
27
62
56
55
50
50
48
76%
75
73
72
RESEARCH SAYS
COVID Linked to Dramatic Increase in Children's
Risk of Mental Health Problems
By Sarah D. Sparks
For much of the pandemic,
children have been seen as getting
off comparatively easier than adults
if they get infected with coronavirus.
But a nationwide analysis suggests
contracting COVID-19 can nearly triple
children's risk of new mental health
problems.
The findings, published last week in
the journal Psychiatric Services, come
as educators are already scrambling to
cope with widespread rises in mental
health problems and school behavior
issues among young people. However,
these results are among the first to point
to mental health problems related to
COVID itself, as opposed to school and
family disruptions, social isolation, and
economic instability caused by the pandemic.
Researchers led by Mir Ali, a health economist
When it comes to measures that schools can directly
control, what has a major impact on making schools
safe? Select all that apply (top 10 responses).
Requiring external doors to be kept
locked while school is in session
Counselors, school psychologists, or
other mental health professionals
Security cameras
Evacuation, lockdown training
Training/PD for teachers on school
safety policies and practices
Monitored or reinforced school
doors or other physical barriers
Monitoring of students' use of school
computer networks or social media
Strategies to improve students' sense
of belonging in the school community
Social-emotional learning programs
or strategies in the classroom
Anti-bullying programs
76%
71
70
64
64
62
60
60
57
56
Risks increase with age
Moreover, the older the child, the more having
COVID-19 increased their mental health risks.
Compared to children under 5 who tested positive
for the virus, infected children ages 6-11 had a
fivefold higher risk and adolescents ages 12-17 had
a sevenfold increase in risk of new and recurring
mental health diagnoses.
" The high rate of new onset of mental health
conditions among youths with no recent mental
health history suggests the need for emotional
and behavioral health supports, such as screening,
assessment, and treatment, " Mir and his colleagues
concluded.
While depression and anxiety disorders were
highest among the adolescents who tested
at the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, analyzed health claims data from more
than 3.3 million children 17 and younger in all 50
states and Washington, D.C., who had received a
COVID-19 test. These data were part of U.S. Open
Source Claims, a " multipayer, preadjudicated
health insurance claims database. "
None of the children or adolescents had been
diagnosed with a mental health disorder or had
needed mental health services in the year before
they were tested for the coronavirus. But more
than 7 percent of those who tested positive for
COVID-19 had a new mental health diagnosis,
on average within 30 days. By contrast, only 3.4
percent of children whose tests were negative
had new mental health issues. Those who did
experience problems experienced them an average
of four months later.
After adjusting for other factors like genetics,
researchers found contracting COVID-19 nearly
tripled children's risk of mental health problems.
More than a third of the affected children
subsequently were diagnosed with attentiondeficit
hyperactivity disorder; 2 in 5 had an anxiety
disorder, and another 1 in 5 had a trauma or stress
disorder.
positive for the coronavirus, ADHD affected
nearly 57 percent of infected children ages 6-11
and more than a third of adolescents.
The study comes as child vaccinations against
the virus that causes COVID-19 have largely
stalled and school outbreaks have ticked up. As
of this week, less than 30 percent of elementaryage
children and less than 60 percent of middle
and high school adolescents have been fully
vaccinated-far below the immunity cushion
needed to prevent outbreaks.
" I still hear in my clinic, parents are like, oh
no, I'm not gonna get the vaccine. Kids don't get
sick with COVID, " said Dr. Tina Tan, a professor
of pediatric infection diseases at Ann & Robert
H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago and the
Northwestern University Feinberg School of
Medicine, who was not part of the study. " But
that's not true; kids do get sick. ... And as we are
learning more, we are now seeing kids that are
having different long-term effects after having
COVID. "
While prior research has found so-called " long
COVID " can have cognitive effects on adults, Mir
noted that the current study did not look at what
could be driving COVID-related mental health
problems in children infected with the virus. It's
not clear, for example, whether the virus itself
causes neurological problems, or if children
develop stress and trauma from being diagnosed
with an illness known to be dangerous or fatal.
The study also did not distinguish between
children who had more severe or less severe
cases of the illness. Mir cautioned that because
the study was based on health insurance data, it
may underestimate the mental health effects of
the pandemic for children who don't have health
insurance.
" Prolonged loneliness and social isolation
have been associated with future mental health
problems up to nine years later, which suggests
that children and adolescents would be at risk
for mental health conditions long after the social
restrictions for the pandemic have ended, " Mir
and his colleagues noted in a separate briefing on
the study.
From remote learning for young children to playground infection risks, schooling under the pandemic is raising a lot of questions
for teachers and education leaders. This new research column aims to help readers understand what the research says-and doesn't
say-about our new context for learning. If you have a question, please send it to ssparks@educationweek.org.
SOURCE: EdWeek Research Center survey of teachers,
principals, and district administrators, June 2022
EDUCATION WEEK | July 13, 2022 | www.edweek.org | 5
Vanessa Solis/Education Week and fedrelena/iStock

http://www.edweek.org

Education Week - July 13, 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Education Week - July 13, 2022