Our attentions for school related anxiety before homeschooling increase by 415%

Our attentions for school related anxiety before homeschooling increase by 415%

Between January and July of this year we received 206 reports for course completion problems; last year there were 40. There were also 200% more requests for psychological aid for students.

Attentions offered to students for anxiety in relation with course completion situations in homeschooling increased by 415% during the first six months of 2021, in comparison with the same period last year, informed the Citizen Council for Safety and Justice in Mexico City.

Data from the organism reveal that these reports increased from 40 in 2020 to 206 this year.

In general, requests from students 7 to 17 years of age asking for psychological aid before different situations related with virtual classes registered a 200% increase, going from 216 to 649 from one year to another.

In 2020, the Council attended five reports from students who had problems taking online classes, having too much homework, lack of concentration and having trouble relating with teachers and classmates. Throughout 2021 these concerns added 105 reports.

“The sanitary contingency and long distance education have affected children’s and teenagers’ mental health while they tried to maintain their school performance, problems of connectivity for the development of their classes and being confronted with other types of violence at home, a situation that highlights the need to go back to in-person classes,” Salvador Guerrero Chiprés, president of the Citizen Council established.

The free psychological attention the organism offers 24/7 allowed us to help 27 underage children who had suicidal ideas due to school-related stress.

Other problems students manifested were bullying or cyber-bullying with 14%, lack of motivation to study 6% and feeling that their parents did not support them to do their homework with 4% of reports.

Around 61% were underage children from 12 to 15 years of age, mostly junior high school students, 38% were 16 and 17 years old and they were high school students, and the rest were 7 to 11.

This year, those who requested more of the Council’s services were women with 83%.

For their reports, children usually used WhatsApp to ask for help; 85% of the interactions were through this means.

During the process of voluntary return to on-site schooling, the Citizen Council for Safety and Justice in Mexico City offers free psychological aid 24/7 throughout the country, at the Safety Line and Trustworthy Chat 55 5533 5533.