Open Letter English 2010 Assignment
Open Letter English 2010 Assignment
Open Letter English 2010 Assignment
Haley Barr
It is no secret that mental and social health play vital roles in one's development, both of
which are overlooked in the grand scheme of education. The lack of comfort and love for
teenagers could subject them to horrible depths of depression. The roles of leaders for the rising
generation could not be more vital. The rising teens' lack of in-school experiences from virtual
learning has come from the drastic changes of the COVID-19 pandemic. So why is it that some
teachers refuse to go to teach in person? The survival rate of COVID-19 is 99.997%, so why
must this small risk of dying from it take precedence over a young students’ well-being? If
students continue to lack social interaction with undue stress, their physical and mental health
will plummet.
Furthermore, anyone suffering from depression can usually experience large amounts of
sadness for weeks on end, bringing a negative impact on their daily lives. Even for adults,
managing depression is not an easy feat. “Symptoms of clinical depression impact everyday
functioning or personal responsibilities.” (Sullivan). This is a common struggle for anyone of all
ages to experience, so it is important to remember that coping with depression comes with social
interactions. Social interactions are limited for the safety of the virus spread, yet even with all the
proper precautions taken, teenagers are robbed of one of their major coping mechanisms. So
much of every day is spent in school for them, so those friends and social events throughout the
school day break up all the hours of sitting through lectures. With virtual learning, that social
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break from the mental stress of school can’t be treated. Therefore their coping mechanism of
mental stress from school and uncertainty lodge up within a student’s mind in high school and
middle school. Why mental health? Why do students in their later years need these interactions?
“Mental health is vital to physical health, wellbeing, relationships, functioning, and how we
feel.” (Sullivan) Mental health can change and inflict damage upon a teenager’s wellbeing, even
physically. Throughout the pandemic and online learning, students have suffered through this
process which has brought mental health struggles in addition to the normal battles that ⅕ of
students experience. As a teenager among many, we beg for that return to school, for teachers
who will return for the sake of our mental well being.
Likewise, school culture and the daily lives of teenagers were thrown off in flux during
the year 2020. “School culture is delicate; it requires nurturing even in less tumultuous times.”
(Simmons). Even without the pandemic, the culture teenagers live in is forced upon them since
they first attended Kindergarten, developing habits and sound routines for them all around. This
culture of schooling every day and interacting with others was so quickly robbed from our daily
lives that it put a strain on the very routine we’d been taught to follow all of our lives. The
refusal against students’ attendance in person to school when there is no threat is absolutely
beyond the scope of good reason. The very force of leadership and government that developed
school culture for youth now robs it from them. So why is that? Social interactions occur even
outside of school with the same effects and risk so why doesn’t school just allow in-person
school?
However, social distancing is not just a youth dilemma, social distancing is something
that the community as a whole deals with. Problems that require dialogue and communication
can’t be solved with little to no social interactions, which only causes more problems. “Being
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connected to others gives us a stake more than our interests and increases our motivation to work
together.” (Vivek). In general, being able to interact with others does morally benefit people. So
if solitude is all that’s practiced during the pandemic without any leniency or refusal to attend
school, how can these good morals be practiced? Does it suddenly give people the right to be so
aggressive and rude for the excuse of “being in a pandemic”? So what exactly should change
while being able to stay safe? Well the behavior of everyone around us. There needs to be more
kindness and social interactions more now than ever before. Social distancing should not mean
no social speaking in any way. Yet that is what the common thought is and it hurts the education
system and communities societies thrive in. The expectations of social distancing should be
encouraged not forceful. Being altogether to get through the struggles of the pandemic is truly
the way to keep up with the lack of stability in the average student’s daily routine.
Lastly, the effects of the mental health crisis youth suffer can be devastating but what
does that even mean? As previously stated ⅕ of students struggle with mental health, even
without the circumstances of the pandemic. It’s a normal process that can degrade a person to
depression and even suicide. “It’s not somebody else’s problem, but all of our problems.” (Ono).
This struggle that is regularly faced shouldn’t be something that youth goes through alone, it
should be something often addressed by their leaders, guardians, and comforters. It needs to be
constant and early so that teenagers never have to feel that they are alone with this struggle. “The
earlier you intervene, the more you can save an at-risk youth.” (Ono). This duty of saving the
mental health of the youth falls to the teachers, leaders, parents, and so many more influences.
There must be more interactions to find those who falter and stress. The influence of the
pandemic has greatly diminished the coping mechanisms for depression, thrown off the school
culture, divided people, and has devastated the well-being of the youth in middle to high school.
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Is the relative safety from a virus that has an extremely high survival rate more important than
the well-being of a generation? Especially when all the safety precautions are followed, the
answer is clearly no! As a growing youth, I leave this here as a voice for those who can’t speak
for themselves. I leave this for those who have suffered from a lack of social support and
interaction, missing out on all the memories that in-person school can bring.
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Works Cited
Murthy, Vivek. “Our Epidemic of Loneliness.” TIME Magazine, vol. 195, no. 12/13, Apr. 2020,
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=142419616&site=ehost-live.
Ono, S. (n.d.). Tackling the mental health crisis in our youth. Retrieved February 16, 2021, from
https://www.ted.com/talks/santa_ono_tackling_the_mental_health_crisis_in_our_youth
Simmons, Andrew. “A NEW ORDER: COVID-19 Is Impacting Students’ Emotional Health and
Social Lives—but English Class and a Classic Piece of Literature Can Help.” Literacy
Today (2411-7862), vol. 38, no. 1, July 2020, pp. 34–37. EBSCOhost,
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=144463199&site=ehost-live.
Sullivan, A. (n.d.). Managing mental health during the covid-19 pandemic - coping with
https://www.ebsco.com/blogs/health-notes/managing-mental-health-during-covid-19-pan
demic-coping-uncertainty