Coronavirus tragic toll on mental health of young people

When we think about how hard our young people work to succeed, this report from Brunswick, Maine is a brutal reminder about how difficult it is on youth, when they feel isolated and loose site of hope, in spite of their budding talents. We must treat mental health exactly like any medical disease.

BRUNSWICK, Maine, published in the Lewiston Sun Journal - Death of a Brunswick teen who took his life a sign of pandemic’s toll on young people. By Rachel Ohm

NAMI Maine has launched a peer support text line for people who are 14 to 20 years old. The program is staffed by people under 23 years old. If you want to talk to another young person about how you’re feeling, text 207-515-8398.

The Midcoast community is mourning the loss of a high school football player whose parents have cited the coronavirus pandemic as a factor affecting their son's mental health.

This tragedy is a somber reminder about the toll the coronavirus pandemic is taking on the mental health of young people in Maine and elsewhere.

Spencer Smith was a 16-year-old sophomore at Brunswick High School who loved football, his friends and family, and worked two jobs, his father, Jay Smith, told WMTW News over the weekend. Smith killed himself Friday, after struggling with the isolation and time away from friends and sports, his father said.

“The social distance ain’t working for the kids,” Jay Smith told the TV station. “The kids are having it hard.”

Jay Smith could not be reached for comment Monday, and Angela Smith, Spencer Smith’s mother, did not respond to a Facebook message.

Superintendent Phillip Potenziano informed the community of Spencer Smith’s death in a letter on Friday. He said the family had requested that the school not share information about the cause of death, but acknowledged “there have been rumors that this was a suicide death.”

“I want to take this opportunity to remind our community that suicide, when it does occur, is a very complicated act,” he wrote. “No one single thing causes it. But in many cases, a mental health condition is part of it, and these conditions are treatable. It’s really important if you or your child is not feeling well in any way to reach out for help. Suicide should not be an option.”

The Midcoast Youth Center, a coalition formed in the wake of a youth suicide in 2016, also issued a letter to the community about Smith’s death. “His loss has been felt throughout the greater Bath/Brunswick community. We are devastated, confused and angry,” the letter read.

“The times we find ourselves in are some of the hardest any of us have ever had to face. The pandemic continues to rear its ugly head, physical distancing has led to social isolation, and we lack clear leadership to safely navigate our lives. Our children and schools are under incredible stress, each trying their best to make sense of these circumstances. There are no easy answers.”

Pandemic Toll on Young People

Across the country, the mental health of young people has suffered during the pandemic as they’ve spent more time away from friends and teachers, had fewer opportunities to socialize and have been forced to respond to disruptions in routine. Compared to 2019, the number of mental health-related emergency room visits through October this year for children ages 5 to 11 and children ages 12 to 17 increased about 24 and 31 percent, respectively, according to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

“We know the isolation and the stresses of this pandemic are impacting people’s mental health significantly,” said Greg Marley, a licensed clinical social worker and director of suicide prevention for the Maine chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. “We’ve seen significantly higher rates of anxiety and depression. It’s been really harsh on people who are trying to address disordered eating, and it’s always, always hard on people, no matter what their age, if they’re involved in relationships where there is interpersonal violence.”

And while the pandemic has impacted everyone’s mental health, Marley said it can be harder for young people to process disruptive or uncomfortable events because of the way their brains work, while adults are better at seeing the big picture and looking past immediate obstacles.

Suicide rates among adolescents, pre-adolescents and young people were increasing well before the pandemic. According to an October 2019 report from the CDC, the suicide rate among people ages 10 to 24 was stable from 2000 to 2007, but increased more than 50 percent from 2007 to 2017, to 10.6 deaths per 100,000 people. Marley said social media is one factor that has been cited as contributing to the rise in suicide rates among young people.

The pandemic, he said, has had varying impacts on young people. For some, it means the adults in their lives have a closer eye on them and are more in tune with how they’re doing. For shy or introverted students, the pandemic and move to remote learning may actually be helping them. But for others, the social isolation and inability to participate in sports or gather in groups can be devastating.

“If you’re really goal-driven around sports or group events, whether that be chorus, drama, cheerleading or any kind of sporting team, and you’re cut off from that during this period of time, that’s going to be hard on you,” Marley said. “I hear that over and over again, particularly from youth that are really sports-oriented and their families.”

Nikki Correa, an assistant professor in counselor education at the University of Southern Maine and a former school counselor in Las Vegas, has been studying the pandemic’s impact on students and teachers and is expecting to soon publish a study that surveyed close to 160 school staff, the majority of whom are in Maine.

Correa likened the pandemic to other mass tragedies or crises such as school shootings or terrorist attacks, but on a larger scale. Her research, conducted in the late spring early in the pandemic, found that school staff perceived students were showing a variety of difficulties related to COVID, including being unhappy, depressed, losing their tempers and showing hyperactivity. Teachers and school staff themselves also reported feeling moderately to severely anxious and depressed.“After doing this and seeing the results, I can only imagine what it’s like now,” Correa said. “I can only imagine it’s gotten worse.”

A Quiet Leader
Smith was on the Brunswick High football team and had spent all summer training for the season, WMTW reported. When he found out there wouldn’t be a normal football season and it would instead be flag football, he figured that as a lineman he wouldn’t be playing.

“As soon as he found out it wasn’t going to be a regular football season, looking back, we noticed he stopped working out. He stopped riding his bike as much to the point he didn’t even work out anymore. Instead of working out, he took naps,” Jay Smith told the television station.

He said remote learning was also a challenge for his son and that this his grades started to slip this fall. “Thinking back the last few months, we realize we missed catching the signs that things were getting worse for him,” Smith said.

In Facebook posts over the weekend, Angela Smith highlighted her son’s recent struggles. “This remote learning is crap,” she wrote in one post. “I just lost a son because he couldn’t be with his friends. He was trapped in the house. He felt like he lost his friends and had a hard time with his school work. He felt he had no future. He hated what society was becoming. So he took the easy way out. Parents please take everything your kids are saying seriously. Give them a huge hug and don’t let go.”

John Schroeder, a senior on the Brunswick football team, remembered meeting Smith when he was an eighth-grader and had started working out with the team. He was quiet, but a hard worker who wasn’t intimidated by the upperclassmen.

“He was like a quiet leader,” said Schroeder, 17. “He wouldn’t tell you what to do or anything but he would lead by example. We could see his love for football and how he wouldn’t complain about anything. He just had the right mindset.”

Schroeder said the news of Smith’s death was a big shock and that the team is trying to come together and find healthy ways to cope. Players have met in small groups with their coaches, who told them that if they need anything they shouldn’t hesitate to reach out.

“I think a lot of students would agree with me that now a lot of school work is based on self-motivation and having everything in your control and when you’re not in the classroom, having your teachers encourage you to do all these things,” Schroeder said. “It can be difficult to put yourself in that hard-working mode and not seeing your friends all the time, that can also hurt a lot of people’s mental health. You feel a lot more alone than you did before.”

A call to the high school principal’s office Monday was referred to Potenziano, the superintendent, who said in an email he is grieving alongside the Smith family and the greater Brunswick community.

“There will be a time to review and strengthen what we have in place for students, but right now it is the time to support this family, our students and staff,” Potenziano said. “As superintendent, I know that the pandemic has been a stressor for everyone – students, staff and parents. Students’ academic life and new family life patterns, work life and social life have been completely disrupted. Our entire state and nation are reeling from feelings of isolation.”

The school district is collaborating with local and state mental health professionals. The high school’s crisis response team is also present in-person and virtually to provide information and support to students and staff, he said.

HOW TO ACCESS RESOURCES

There are a number of resources available for teens and young people in Maine who are struggling with mental health. In April, NAMI launched the Teen Text Support Line, a peer-operated text support line that provides young people a safe place to connect with others. The text line is available from 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. each day and can be reached at 207-515-8398 (TEXT). It is not a crisis line and those in crisis should contact the Maine Crisis Line via phone or text at 888-568-1112.

For schools, Correa, the USM professor, said it can be difficult during hybrid learning to keep tabs on students who might only be in-person two days per week. “I know schools are trying to do everything they can like reaching out to students and families, but it’s been extremely difficult to stay connected because the majority of the week students are home, and it’s hard to stay connected with them,” she said. “You can set up a meeting on Zoom or Google Meets, but sometimes a student just doesn’t show up.”

Marley, at the Maine office of NAMI, said staff shouldn’t hesitate to utilize school resource officers to check on students and parents who aren’t responding to communication. Family members, faith leaders and doctors are other resources young people can turn to. For parents, Marley said now is the time to check in on their children.

“The biggest thing I would like to leave parents with is that invitation to use this time to step in. Get outside and take a walk and throw snowballs. It’s during those fun, relaxing activities that conversation happens,” he said.

Maine vaccine ballot vote"No On One" - letters to the editor

Maine Nurses for Vaccines - two letters to the editor published in The Times Record

https://www.pressherald.com/2020/02/10/letters-nurses-come-out-against-question-1/

Very proud to be one of the two wrriters who published these letters, to support the No On One campaign, to support Maine's vaccine compliance law.

One of theses two letters was written by me and Nancy Tucker wrote the other - two nurses "Maine Nurses For Vaccines", published in The Times Record newspaper, now merged with the Portland Press Herald.

Vote no to support kids’ health

While the world’s news media reports several times a day about the status of the deadly epidemic caused by the coronavirus, it is incredulous to me that, at the same time, Maine voters are faced with a ballot question about whether or not children should be protected from communicable diseases by receiving vaccines. No doubt, at some future date, a vaccine will be available to stop the spread of coronavirus, just like vaccines can prevent the spread of influenza, measles, mumps, chickenpox, whooping cough and polio.

Nevertheless, the wrong-minded supporters who want Mainers to vote “yes” on Question 1, are intending to call back Maine’s immunization compliance law. Moreover, these anti-vaxxers are irresponsibly spreading misinformation about the ballot question for the purpose of confusing the public. Rather than inform the public about the purpose of vaccines, the proponents of the anti-vaccine movement are circulating misleading campaign signs about “big pharma.” Voters must understand that Question One is not about “big pharma.” Instead, the issue is about life-saving vaccines. In fact, vaccines build immunity to communicable diseases. Moreover, Maine’s vaccine law will protect medical exemptions for kids and adults who have suppressed immune systems and it expands the number of health providers who can order the qualified exemptions.

The purpose of Maine’s vaccine compliance law is to protect our kids health and reduce the risk of communicable diseases for everybody. As a nurse and a mother, I trust the advice of our physicians and pediatric nurse practitioners who are supporting the “Vote No on Question 1,” on March 3, to support our kids’ health.

From Juliana L’Heureux,  Topsham, Maine

Letter to the editor - Freedom to infect shouldn’t be on the table

I believe using Big Pharma as an excuse to undo the vaccination law passed in 2019, is ridiculous. Wouldn’t the drug companies make more money off of sick people, rather than vaccinations? As an RN, I took care of children who died from measles and chickenpox back in the ’70s. We should not take for granted that we do not get certain diseases because of vaccinations. It is a responsibility We all have to protect all people, especially children, elderly and those with compromised immune systems. My daughter went through toxic chemotherapy for bone cancer as a child. My fear was her getting near someone who was ill with anything, let alone chickenpox etc. Please remember why no one has polio anymore. The freedom to infect someone else should not be on the table. Vote no on Question One, please!

From Nancy Tucker, Brunswick Maine

New Mainers community publish a newspaper - terrific articles!

This interesting newspaper was distributed when I attended an event sponsored by l'Alliance Francaise in Portland Maine, during a reception in the historic Customs House, on Fore Street in the city's Old Port.

Women united around the world gala photograph, published in AMJAMBOAfrica.com

Here is the website for this newspaper: https://www.amjamboafrica.com/

But, two of the articles are of interest because of their optimism so I am blogging them in Maine Writer here. One is a report about how a group of the asylum seekers in Portland were relocated into Brunswick and the second is an affirmative reflections poem, composed by an immigrant student who attends school in Casco.

First, is a report written by Kathreen Harrison, published on Thursday, August 15, 2019 about Brunswick Landing, in Maine. This location is the former Navy housing, when the Brunswick Naval Air Station was an active military base. When the base, unfortunately, closed, the newly renovated housing became open for rentals to former military personnel and civilians. Today, seven families have moved into the housing. They are asylum seekers from Africa. Here is the report:

Volunteers assisting the relocated asylum seekers to move into apartments at Brunswick Landing

BRUNSWICK- Seven asylum seekers and their families moved from the Portland Expo, into Brunswick Landing, on Thursday, August 15. They were joining several other families who had moved in during July. The families were greeted by volunteers from The Emergency Action Network (TEAN), the Midcoast New Mainers Support Group, and by Mr. Nsiona Nguizani, who is the president of the Angolan Community of Maine and Brunswick's first cultural broker. His forth day on the job was on the Thursday, when the new residents were welcomed.

Mr. Nguizani started his day with a coordinating meeting at the Expo Building where the new residents had been living until new homes could be found for them. By mid-morning, he was in Brunswick, welcoming the first of the wave of families that continued to arrive throughout the day. He already knew the families, having helped them during their stay at the Expo. He helped them to unload their belongings and orient them to the new units, all while speaking in Portuguese, French or Lingala, as he is fluent in all three languages, as well as in English.

Huge efforts were put forth by volunteers in Brunswick, said Mr. Nguizani. "You will see 50 people in and out of here by the end of Thursday, all making sure the apartments aren't totally empty," he said. Both TEAN and the Midcoast New Mainers Support Group have extensive networks and it seemed that no sooner had a need been identified and shared, it was fulfilled.

Stacks of mattresses, tables, lamps and bags, and bins of cooking equipment filed the grassy green in front of the apartment complex by early afternoon. Carol Kalajainen, from the steering committee of Midcoast New Mainers Support Group, helped to distribute these goods, making sure each family received an equal share.

Two families requested a trip to the food pantry to get ingredients for cooking, so Mr. Nguizani arranged for a volunteer driver to do that. The children stayed behind, playing in small trees, running across the grass, enjoying the fresh air. Becaue, the parents already knew him, they felt comfortable leaving the children with Mr. Nguizani and the volunteers so they could concentrate on stocking up.

By the end of Thursday, all the families had arrived, including the sister with a two-month old baby who, just the previous day, had been wondering where she would be moving. Two African women already living near Brunswick Landing arrived on foot and exchanged hugs with the children playing outside. The women were among the first asylum-seeking families from the Expo to be housed outside of Greater Portland. Their smiles showed their pleasure in seeing their community grow.

Mr. Nguizani's plans for the first few days include setting up individual orientations to the apartments, getting the adults and children started with English classes, filling out paperwork and scheduling appointments with each family.

“This is unprecedented. The challenge is big. But I like challenges, and what I’m doing is working on developing a model that can be replicated elsewhere. You have to start by looking at the needs of the people, and work outwards from there,” said Mr. Nguizani.

Susan Pate, a resident of Brunswick Landing, came out with a big smile on her face to meet her new neighbors. “I am so proud of Maine to see all this support in the midst of the terrible things we constantly hear about in the national news. To get more diversity in Brunswick, and be part of a community that is welcoming, feels great. I’m excited!” she said.

By four o’clock on Thursday the move out of the Expo was complete, and a dozen Maine towns and cities had joined Greater Portland in welcoming new residents. Asylum seekers have made their way to Maine for years – and continue to arrive – but this summer’s wave was bigger than usual. Maine has earned national attention for the welcome it has extended this summer toward the newcomers. If Brunswick’s greeting over the past month is any indication, there is every reason to believe their response will be replicated in other towns and cities as the newcomers move into residential neighborhoods, start school, and become part of their new communities.

And this reflective poem by a Casco Bay High School student with the initials JN. She moved to the US in 1016, from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. She speaks French and English. She is also in the process of redefining the idea of home, as she is trying to make a connection between what was home then and what is home now.

Hi! I'm Jossy!

Not a short form of Josephine,

Neither is ti spelled Josie or Josi.

Wait, why should I care about?

My name is very special to me, I admit.

Its meaning is very present in my mind,

A reminder of where I am from.

A light to illuminate my path whenever I feel blind.

What does it mean?

Born in the capital of the Congo,

I was raised between the capital city,

and the south of the country.

My Mom is from a different ethnicity than my Dad.

IT's not just two different ethnicities,

It's two ethnicities that dislike each other.

Growing up, My maternal grandmother often criticized

My Dad's ethnicity though she never explicitly called on my Dad.

I'm from the struggle of different identities.

Of different ways of living.

Of hundred years of history full of dislike and opposition.

I am from two different people that love each other.

I'm not the typical kid from Africa with a non-sounding African name.

Nor am I a rejection of my cultural identity.

What does my name mean again?

My Dad's name is Joseph.

My mom's name is Sulamite.

If you haven't guessed.

My name is the combinaion of the two first letters of both of my parent's names.

My name is the crisscross of my mom's native Lingala and Dad's western Luba.

My name is a combingatin of bioled Safu and the time-consuming Kasava leaves.

I am the love that unites two people for the better.

I mean love.  

Sanctuaries in academia

It's impossible to think about just how low Donald Trump can go in his desecration of American democracy. Now, academia is bracing for mass deportations of foriegn students, a policy contrary to our history as an immigrant nation. Deportations of students is pushing out another sanctuary bottom.  Sadly, the Trumpzi cult population is enjoying the evil that comes from destroying families and students with cruel words and policies. 

These are scary days for immigrants and to those who may be feeling the impact, please accept my sincere apologies.  Perhaps, after Inauguration Day, I'll be one of the blogging journalists who will be sent packing along with the rest of you. I'm ready.

Even the Brunswick gem Bowdoin College, home of the Civil War Hero Joshua Chamberlain and where Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote her immortal classic, "Uncle Tom's Cabin", is preparing to protect students in the event of Trumpzi cult deportation policies.

Petition seeks 'sanctuary' status for Bowdoin College- in Brunswick, Maine a report in The Forecaster

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals - those in colleges and universities need protection

BRUNSWICK — Following at least 100 colleges and universities across the country, a group of Bowdoin College students are circulating an online petition that would make the college a “sanctuary campus” and protect students at risk of deportation.

The action comes at the same week that Portland announced it would cooperate with federal officials if President-elect Donald Trump follows through with his pledge to immediately deport undocumented immigrants, according to the Bangor Daily News.

“We call on Bowdoin College to stand with other colleges and universities and investigate how to make Bowdoin a sanctuary campus that will protect our current and future students from intimidation, unfair investigation, and deportation,” the petition states.

As of noon on Monday, the petition had received 841 signatures from students, alumni, faculty, board members, and parents. It is addressed to college President Clayton Rose and four other top-ranking Bowdoin officials and deans.

Trump campaigned on the promise to repeal President Obama’s executive orders that provide protections to undocumented immigrants, including Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a measure that protects undocumented immigrant minors who arrived in the U.S. before age 16.

The letter states that “DACA-mented and undocumented peers are able to remain on campus and focus on their education instead of their fears of being forced to abandon their education and separate from their families.”

DACA provides protections to more than 700,000 students, according to the petition.

The petition enumerates an eight-point list of protections that would establish a sanctuary campus, which includes keeping students’ immigration status confidential, and the college’s refusal to share information or cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.

The list is similar to characteristics of so-called “sanctuary cities” around the country, an unofficial term to describe cities that provide safe havens to undocumented immigrants, primarily by refraining to prosecute violations of federal immigration laws.

In the days following Trump’s victory, mayors in cities such as New York, Boston, and Los Angeles have reaffirmed their commitment to remaining places of sanctuary. 

But last week, the Bangor Daily News reported that spokeswoman Jessica Grondin said Portland is not a sanctuary city, and would comply with federal immigration officials.

A 2014 report by the Pew Research Center estimated there are fewer than 5,000 unauthorized immigrants living in Maine.

The student petition suggests the college has the ability to act independently of neighboring cities and municipalities.

“U.S. Customs Enforcement officers are not able to enter college campuses without authorization. Bowdoin has the power to protect undocumented community members and students from law enforcement,” it states, citing an ICE policy that exempts “sensitive locations” like colleges and places of worship from enforcement actions.

However, the policy stipulates that “enforcement actions may occur at sensitive locations in limited circumstances, but will generally be avoided. ICE or CBP officers and agents may conduct an enforcement action at a sensitive location with prior approval from an appropriate supervisory official, or if the enforcement action involves exigent circumstances.”

Leah Alper, a Bowdoin senior, said the petition is modeled on similar petitions that are circulating on campuses around the country, but that the group has tailored the language to apply specifically to Bowdoin.

While she and a small group of students are coordinating the petition drive, Alper said “the organization that has been the real catalyst for this is Cosecha,” an action-network centered on promoting rights for undocumented immigrants, started by students with undocumented parents.

College spokesman Doug Cook said Friday that the college is aware of the petition, and will carefully review it and prepare an appropriate response once it is formally presented to leadership.

Cook could not comment on whether the college knows of specific students who might be threatened by Trump’s immigration plans, but wrote in an email that “I will emphasize that Bowdoin will continue to support all of our students.”

“Bowdoin will not be swayed from its values,” he added, quoting an email sent by Rose on Nov. 10 in response to the presidential election.

“(Bowdoin must) always reject hate; demand mutual respect, vicinity, and inclusion; encourage freedom of inquiry and expression; inspire a deep commitment to the common good; and ensure unwavering concern and support for one another,” Rose wrote.

Trump has yet to explicitly say he would repeal DACA, although he renewed his pledge to immediately deport undocumented immigrants during an interview with “60 Minutes” on Nov. 13, with a priority of targeting those with criminal records.

Maine Writer comment: These radical anti-immigrant policies are reminiscent of pre-World War II Germany, when Nationalism swept the nation at the expense of the Jewish population. One of the emigres who made his exodus during Alolf Hitler's purge of Jews was Albert Einstein.