Healing from the pandemic, amidst the pandemic
February 6, 2022
Last year, the world went through a pandemic together, and because of that, student mental health was a priority to the school. While returning to school with masks feels like the new ‘normal,’ there is still unrecognized emotion that students feel after lockdown.
Cawthorne said COVID-19 affected METCO students differently than other Brookline students because living in Boston during the pandemic was a different experience.
“Some of our kids are coming here where there are very few cases but then they’re going back to communities where they’ve been hit hard. Particularly communities of color, which is primarily what METCO is, have been hit harder,” Cawthorne said.
Gallion said another challenge students face is dealing with the lasting effects of the pandemic on their mental health.
“Everybody’s life went on hold. We lost out on so many things like building friendships, seeing your family members and having opportunities like school trips. I think that being on the internet, being at home all the time, being exposed to so much of the news and feeling as though the world is ending is not great on people’s mental health in general,” Gallion said.
Cawthorne said not being able to mourn lost ones during the pandemic has been difficult for families.
“It hasn’t always been COVID-19 related either. I have a family who lost their great grandmother and couldn’t go to the funeral because of COVID-19. So they’re carrying that trauma of not being able to grieve and put to rest the matriarch of their family,” Cawthorne said.
At the beginning of the lockdown, some students from METCO could not see their parents face to face for fear of COVID-19 spreading.
“They would go to work then come home and race to the bathroom to strip down and shower. So kids might be isolated with their dad and only FaceTime with mom. All of those things have been happening and it’s taking a toll,” Cawthorne said. “I’m not so sure how much those things are recognized. I’m not so sure how much those things are actually acknowledged.”
