The Kids Aren’t Alright

A report from the surgeon general spells out how the mental health of children has suffered during COVID.

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Students wearing protective masks arrive for classes on the first day of school in Miami-Dade County at Barbara Goleman Senior High School in Miami, Fla., August 23, 2021.

Marco Bello/Reuters

The U.S. surgeon general Dr. Vivek H. Murthy has issued a 53-page report on a burgeoning mental-health crisis among American youth, exacerbated by the pandemic. Emergency-room visits for depression, anxiety, and other conditions have been rising for a long time. But emergency-room visits caused by suicide attempts by adolescent girls jumped 51 percent in 2021, according to the report.

While the report touched on increased mental-health issues before the pandemic, it does not shy away from looking at the effect of the pandemic and the public-health strictures on the lives of children in the crisis. Here is the key paragraph:

Michael Brendan Dougherty

About the Author

Michael Brendan Dougherty

Michael Brendan Dougherty is a senior writer at National Review Online.

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