The Kids Are Not All Right: Concerns for Mental Health Mount as Schools Reopen
Students wait in a socially distanced line to enter Pasadena High School on April 20, 2021, during their first day of in-person learning since the pandemic closed schools over a year ago, in Pasadena, California.
Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News / SCNG
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Carla Rivera, a 12th grader at Fort Hamilton High School in Brooklyn, New York, is relieved to be back in school. “Being home was stressful,” she says. “I was watching my 10-year-old brother and trying to keep him on track with his school work. Then, when my mom got home from work at 4:00, I’d begin my assignments but they piled on top of each other and I felt like it was impossible to stay caught up.” Thankfully, Rivera says, she is now on target to graduate in June and plans to study zoological science in college beginning this fall.