College and COVID: The Calamity of a Crisis Kelsey Dickerson

In our podcast, we advocate for more mental health resources to be added on campus not only for students, but faculty and parents.  The mental health of these three groups is deeply interwoven.  Since the beginning of the pandemic, mental health and wellbeing have been on a steep decline in all of these groups. When universities add more, or improve upon existing mental health resources, this will change for the better.    In our podcast, we argue that more mental health resources need to be added on campus in order to improve the overall success of students, faculty, and families.  We’re making this argument because lives, mental health, and the future wellbeing of millions are at stake.  Mental health resources can include anything from counseling to teacher training, as discussed in an article by Marty Becker.  These resources are currently available at some universities, but are not functioning as they should be, as a study from Penn State University shows that the mental health of college students has continued to worsen as the pandemic has progressed.  With the isolation came weight gain for many Americans, but college students suffered greatly with body image throughout the pandemic according to “The Quarantine 15” by Pamela Keel.  A study conducted by GovTech shows that along with students, teachers and faculty are in desperate need of mental health resources as well. Adding mental health resources to college campuses can positively impact students, their grades, and their overall future success.  Our podcast hopes to serve as a step in the right direction to solving the mental health crisis among college students.

Becker, Marty Swanbrow. “Educators Are Key in Protecting Student Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Brookings, Brookings, 24 Feb. 2021, www.brookings.edu/blog/brown-center-chalkboard/2021/02/24/educators-are-key-in-protecting-student-mental-health-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/.

Ccmh. (n.d.). Part 1 of 5: Covid-19's impact on college Student mental health. Retrieved April 25, 2021, from https://ccmh.psu.edu/index.php?option=com_dailyplanetblog&view=entry&year=2021&month=02&day=01&id=9%3Apart-1-of-5-covid-19-s-impact-on-college-student-mental-health

Keel, Pamela. Gaining “ The quarantine 15:” perceived versus observed week changes in college students in the wake of COVID-19. https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com.ezproxy.uky.edu/doi/full/10.1002/eat.23375

“Teachers Need Mental Health Support During COVID-19.” GovTech, GovTech, 21 Apr. 2021,www.govtech.com/education/k-12/teachers-need-mental-health-support-during-covid-19.html.

Parents are an important stakeholder in the lives of their children.  From the parental point of view, the negative impact on students’ mental health is something that has a further impact on grades and overall well being.  The majority of parents want to see their children succeed not only as students, but as people too.  The pandemic has inhibited, in some cases, either of those things from happening.  Not all parents are equipped with the proper tools to aid their children as their mental health spirals further and further into a bottomless pit, as shown by the American Education Research Association.  With parents having to take on the new role of educator as well as all other parental duties, the pandemic has also had an impact on their mental health.  While parents have seen a decline in mental health with their children, the issues facing children cannot be addressed until those of their parents are, according to Deborah Weisbrot, director of Psychiatry at Stony Brook University.  Especially in the situation of COVID, parents are able to use emotional appeals to relate to their children and what they are experiencing.  Parents, as stakeholders in their children's mental health as students, claim that the mental health of their children is quite important to them.  Parental mental health, too, feeds off of that of their children, according to a study conducted by Menting Wu, et. al.  Parents hold a large stake in this issue, as mental health has come to the forefront of the media in general.

AERANews, director. Distance Learning and Parental Mental Health During COVID-19. YouTube, YouTube, 15 Dec. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=7khjJ-RPrxo.

Weisbrot, Deborah M, and Ryst, Erika. "Debate: Student Mental Health Matters – the Heightened Need for School‐based Mental Health in the Era of COVID‐19." Child and Adolescent Mental Health 25.4 (2020): 258-59. Web.

Wu, Mengting et al. “Mental health status of students’ parents during COVID-19 pandemic and its influence factors.” General Psychiatry vol. 33,4 e100250. 21 Jul. 2020, doi:10.1136/gpsych-2020-100250

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Piacquadio, Andrea. “Pexels.” Penn State News, Penn State University, 18 May 2020, news.psu.edu/story/620290/2020/05/18/research/covid-19-pandemic-affects-all-college-students-probably-not-equally.