Some students ‘scarred by pandemic’

Head of Supreme Counselling, Shawn Clarke, is sounding the alarm that intervention is needed in schools as there is a high prevalence of mental health issues, one of the fallouts from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Clarke said that school, which was a “haven” to get away from abusive families and domestic violence, was suddenly closed to students, leaving them in negative environments.

“They knew that between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 3 p.m., Monday to Friday, ‘I can go to a place with persons who care for me, who will talk to me, persons who are there for me’. With COVID and being isolated, then a lot of these young people are at home and they were not able to escape the negative things that happened within the household,” he said during the launch of their Community Assistance Programme at Golden Rock, The Pine, St Michael, on Saturday.

Others saw their dreams dashed or deferred and this also took a toll on their mental health, Clarke said, and it was being manifested in displays of anger, depression or being “class clowns”, a way of masking embarrassment. (Nation News)