Human Interaction Affects Emotional, Mental States of Students

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Kensye Gault, Staff Writer

The current global pandemic has changed everyone’s way of life. Despite the changes that have taken place, life has still had to continue. Students have been struggling during this time. A major struggle for teenagers is mental health, and the current circumstances have been difficult. A small group of teenagers were interviewed to see how COVID-19, their differing circumstances, and social interactions have affected their mental and emotional health. 75% of virtual students said that they felt as if school interactions positively affected their mental and emotional health and that they saw a decrease in their mental and emotional health since being at home. 67% of in-person students saw a significant change in their mental and emotional health since the pandemic hit. The main cause of these changes lies in the frequency and quality of their social interactions. Virtual students are not receiving as much contact with their peers as in-person students and are struggling more because of it. As of now, there is no way to know how to improve the health of students, but discussion and acknowledgement is the first to step to betterment.