The Year 12 class of 2021 is facing a double whammy of stress. The impact of COVID-19 has been demotivating and demoralising for many students. However, the current cohort of final-year students are not just dealing with a lockdown. They are dealing with the cumulative stress of multiple lockdowns. This is different and potentially more concerning. These students went through all the adversity and challenges of 2020 and now they are back here again.
With each lockdown, the experience has become harder and harder, placing significant pressures on their mental and physical health. Their emotional reserves are likely to be severely depleted.
What to do? More than ever, it is crucial for educators, parents and medical practitioners to be sensitive and alert to students’ emotional wellbeing.
Read the full opinion piece by Rachael Murrihy, UTS Kidman Centre on the SMH: Locked down, demoralised, demotivated: why this HSC cohort has done it especially tough - and what we can do to help