Nearly 20% of high school students considered suicide during the past year and 9% actually attempted it, underscoring the dire state of adolescent mental health during the pandemic, according to newly released data from the Centers for Disease Control.
The data is based on a nationwide survey of high school students from January to June 2021. More than 44% of students said they experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness. Researchers cited numerous reasons, including school closures, isolation, family economic hardship and conflict, loss of loved ones to Covid and limited access to medical care because of insufficient insurance.
The study did note some bright spots. Students who had close ties, even virtually, to their peers or adults at school fared much better than those who didn’t. Students who felt connected to others at school had significantly lower rates of sadness and anxiety — 28% compared with 45% and were half as likely to have attempted suicide.
Researchers suggested that schools promote social-emotional learning programs, make discipline practices fairer among racial groups and improve teacher training in classroom management.
“Comprehensive strategies that improve connections with others at home, in the community, and at school might foster improved mental health among youths during and after the pandemic,” researchers wrote.
— Carolyn Jones
Cal State L.A. to launch bachelor’s program for women in prison
Cal State LA is preparing to launch a program for women incarcerated at the California Institution for Women to earn bachelor’s degrees in Chino this fall.
LAist reports that instruction will be in-person, for about 30 students, with priority for those who have already completed an associate degree through a program offered by Chaffey College, a community college in Rancho Cucamonga.
Students will take courses in liberal studies with faculty from several departments, including anthropology, English and the natural sciences.
California State University, Los Angeles has been offering a bachelor’s degree program at the men’s state prison in Lancaster for six years.
—EdSource
Sacramento City Unified boosts raise offer; strike enters eighth day
Sacramento City Unified teachers and staff are entering their eighth day on strike. The Sacramento Bee reports that the school district increased its offer to the teachers union Wednesday, proposing a 3% wage increase and a combination of one-time bonuses.
The unions called the offer insufficient. Teachers and staff are calling for a higher wage increase and no cuts to health care benefits.
Some parents have been camping out at district headquarters, calling for the school board to meet with teachers and reach an agreement. According to the Sacramento Bee, three mothers slept outside district headquarters on Wednesday night in an effort to pressure school officials to meet with union leadership and strike a deal on a new contract.
—EdSource
Women in academia cite gender bias in limiting professional advancement, poll finds
Close to 30% of women in higher education have “been passed over for a promotion or other opportunity for advancement at work because of their gender,” Inside Higher Ed reported Thursday.
The finding is based on a Gallup survey of 10,500 U.S. academics at two- and four-year institutions.
“In this most recent survey, female faculty and staff members were also less likely than their male counterparts to strongly agree they have the same opportunities for advancement at their institution as do other employees, at 23 percent of women versus 32 percent of men,” Inside Higher Ed reported.
—Thomas Peele
Chronic absenteeism rampant at LAUSD, newspaper reports
Nearly half of all students in the Los Angeles Unified School District have been chronically absent this school year, meaning they have missed at least 9% of classes, the L.A. Times reported Thursday.
“This more than twofold increase from pre-pandemic years reveals yet another hit to education with widespread learning disruptions even as campuses are open for in-person learning,” the Times reported.
The newspaper used the state Public Records Act to obtain attendance data from the district. The numbers show chronic absenteeism, already considered high at 19% pre-pandemic, soared to 46% so far in the 2021-22 school year.
Superintendent Alberto Carvalho told the Times that the problem is “one of the highest levels of concern. If the student is not in the classroom, the student is not going to learn.”
—EdSource
