Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
When the coronavirus pandemic first closed schools last year, one Chicago mother watched as her son then a freshman at a public school on the North Side became hyper focused on Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s daily briefings, spurring disappointment every time he announced a delay in reopening schools.
As Chicago Public Schools remained closed for the rest of the year and did not reopen in the fall, the mother said her son’s anxiety and depression manifested more severely as he became too angry to function.
He remains “emotionally miserable,” said the woman, who asked not to be named. “He’s in therapy, he’s taking medication. This has never been true before.”
9:10 p.m. Student mental health struggles intensify as high schools remain closed year into pandemic
Sara Cawley, 16, a junior at Walter Payton College Preparatory High School, created a Google classroom for the school’s Positive Mental Health Association, a club she founded to allow students to talk about mental health.
Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times
When the coronavirus pandemic first closed schools last year, one Chicago mother watched as her son then a freshman at a public school on the North Side became hyper-focused on Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s daily briefings, spurring disappointment every time he announced a delay in reopening schools.