New Survey Reveals Teens' Anxieties, How They're Staying Connected, and Their Struggles with Distance Learning Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic

It's a hard time for everyone right now, including teens.  Look at the survey results below.  More time with parents seems to be a good outcome, but social media for close to half of teens isn't sufficient.  Lots of loneliness reported, too, particularly among girls.  This means that we all need to be extra conscientious and compassionate of their needs in the current moment.

-Angela Valenzuela

New Survey Reveals Teens' Anxieties, How They're Staying Connected, and Their Struggles with Distance Learning Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic

Common Sense spearheads "Connect All Students" campaign to help families get online during this time

SAN FRANCISCO, April 8, 2020—The spread of the coronavirus has upended life for American teenagers, with 95% reporting the cancellation of in-person classes at their schools. Eight out of 10 teens say they're following news about the coronavirus pandemic closely, and more than 60% are worried that they or someone in their family will be exposed to the virus and that it will have an effect on their family's ability to earn a living, according to a new poll by Common Sense and SurveyMonkey.

The survey also found that teenagers of color, in particular, are more likely to say they're worried about exposure to the virus and the potential economic effects on their families, with Hispanic/Latino teenagers worried most about the impact on their families' abilities to make a living.

School has been disrupted for the majority of students, and many teens don't have regular communication with their teachers. Almost one in four teens say they're connecting with their teachers less than once a week, and 41% haven't attended an online or virtual class since in-person school was canceled. And with 12 million students nationwide living in homes without a broadband connection, the closure of schools has even more serious implications, amplifying existing inequities.

Most teens (83%) are texting to stay in touch, but phone calls are making a surprise comeback as the second most popular means of contact. Social media and video chats are also common; less so are reaching out to a friend or family member they haven't talked to in a while and providing emotional support online to others. About four in 10 teens (42%) feel "more lonely than usual" right now—a number that is higher among girls than boys (49% vs. 36%)—with nearly the same number of teens saying they feel "about as lonely as usual."

"Teenagers are taking the coronavirus threat seriously, with most worried about the impact on their families and exceedingly few eschewing social distancing," says Jon Cohen, chief research officer at SurveyMonkey. "Though most teens are keeping in touch with friends and teachers using technology, more than four in 10 say they feel more lonely and less connected than usual—a concerning indicator for parents and teachers to monitor as the situation continues to unfold."

In response to the pandemic, Common Sense has launched a number of resources to
support families and educators who are transitioning to remote learning as a result of

the coronavirus pandemic. Last week the organization partnered with leading media

and technology companies to launch Wide Open School, and it today announced a new

effort to close the digital divide and make sure every family has equal access to broadband.

#ConnectAllStudents will tap into Common Sense Education's powerful network of more

than 600,000 educators in all 50 states, to gather teacher and student experiences of the

digital divide on https://www.commonsensemedia.org/connect-all-students. The campaign 

calls on Congress to fund devices and broadband service so all students can connect to

distance learning this school year.

"With the majority of kids now learning from home instead of school and, as this poll indicates, struggling to keep connections with teachers, the nation is confronting a huge equity challenge, and it's more critical than ever that students have access to technology for learning and safety no matter where they live," said Jim Steyer, CEO of Common Sense. "That's why Common Sense is calling on Congress to connect all students by providing emergency funds to close the digital divide once and for all. Let's not leave any student behind during this already difficult time."

This latest survey is part of a Common Sense partnership with SurveyMonkey to examine media and technology trends affecting kids and their parents and to share actionable data and insights with families.

Selected key findings

1. Teens are worried about how the coronavirus will affect their families. Sixty-one percent are worried they or someone in their family will be exposed to the virus, and 63% are worried about the effect it will have on their family's ability to make a living or earn money. Hispanic/Latino teenagers are especially worried about the financial effect: Nearly nine in 10 Hispanic/Latino teens (87%) say they're worried about the impact on their family's ability to make a living.
2. The coronavirus pandemic is making many teens feel lonely. About four in 10 teens (42%) feel "more lonely than usual" right now—nearly the same number as those who say they feel "about as lonely as usual" (43%). Girls are more likely than boys to say they feel more lonely than usual (49% vs. 36%).
3. Texting and social media are providing social outlets for teens. Sixty-five percent of teens report talking to friends or family via texting or social media more often than they usually do, with many (37%) saying they've reached out to a friend or family member they haven't talked to in a while.
4. But texting and social media with friends may not be enough. About half of teens (48%) say they feel less connected than usual with their friends right now.
5. The pandemic is bringing many families together. Forty percent of teens say they feel more connected than usual with their families.
6. Teens are connecting to others through a variety of means—even phone calls! A majority (59%) of teens say they're connecting with family or friends who are outside their homes at least once a day. The top ways to stay connected to people they can no longer see in person are texting (83%), phone calls (72%), social media (66%), and video chats (66%).
7. The spread of the coronavirus has upended school for teens, with 95% of 13- to 17-year-olds in the U.S. reporting the cancellation of in-person classes at their schools. Slightly more than half of teens who no longer attend school in person say they're worried about not being able to keep up with their schoolwork (56%) and their extracurricular activities (55%) while in-person school activities are canceled. Black and Hispanic/Latino teens are significantly more likely than White teens to be worried about keeping up with schoolwork. Girls are more likely than boys to say they're worried about keeping up with both schoolwork and extracurriculars.

Methodology: This SurveyMonkey Audience survey was conducted March 24 to April 1, 2020, among 849 teenagers age 13 to 17 in the United States. Respondents for this survey were selected from more than 2 million people who take surveys on the SurveyMonkey platform each day. The modeled error estimate for the full sample is plus or minus 4.0 percentage points. Data has been weighted for age and sex using the Census Bureau's American Community Survey to reflect the demographic composition of the United States age 13 to 17. Find the full survey results and more information about Common Sense research here.

About Common Sense

Common Sense is the nation's leading nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of kids and families by providing the trustworthy information, education, and independent voice they need to thrive in the 21st century. Learn more atcommonsense.org.

Psychologist and author Madeline Levine refers to schools as students' number one stressor in life.  We really do need to look at what our system is doing to young people rather than primarily enhancing their capacities to "develop skills" and adjust.  The system itself is sorely in need of change.

-Angela Valenzuela

Dr. Madeline Levine Talks Back to School Stress In Teens

By Madeline Levine

Understanding Stress In School Students

These days, teenagers are under way more academic stress than we (parents) ever experienced in our day. But is it helping our teenagers develop the skills they’ll really need to be successful in college and beyond? Not really, says Dr. Madeline Levine, a psychologist and New York Times bestselling author of Teach Your Children Well. Recently, Your Teen caught up with Levine to hear more.

Q: For many teenagers, “back to school” means “back to stress.” Why?

Levine: Historically, it was family or peer problems that stressed teens. Now, school is the number one stressor. We buy into the mythology that success in life begins with prepping yourself to be attractive to a narrow group of colleges.

Q: What’s the result?

Levine: We now treat school as a day-by-day crisis, as if each and every moment decides the future. Many teenagers won’t even take a class they think they’ll get a B in. But that’s not the way the world works. Every talk I give, I do the same thing. I draw a straight line and ask, “How many people in the audience have followed a straight trajectory to success?” It’s always between one and ten percent – that small group of people who stay on track the whole time, like what they do, make money, and are successful. But 90-99 percent of us don’t do it that way.

Q: Even if we (parents) get that, it’s hard not to turn around and pressure our teenagers.

Levine: Parental anxiety has been ratcheted up by our culture. This is new to the last 15 years or so. Is it human nature to want your teenager to be a successful person? Yes, but we correlate this with metrics – grades, scores, salaries, etc. There are other equally important measures of success.

Q: The pressure also comes from teenagers themselves.

Levine: Yes. When I started talking about this, it was all coming from the parents. That trend is starting to change. Ten years ago when a parent said, “It’s not me,” I didn’t believe them. Now, I do. The next conversation must be directed at our teenagers. They are not getting the message that putting so much pressure on themselves is a bad thing.

Q: What’s one way we can help?

Levine: Teenagers are at school all day long. So, make home a haven. Don’t have the first question be, “How much homework do you have?” or “How did you do on your test?” Your teenagers have an entire other life and set of developmental tasks, like figuring out what they want to do, who their friends are, or what kind of person they are. That’s not to say you don’t say, “It’s time to do your homework,” but avoid the constant drumbeat of “How are you doing?” when that really means, “How are you doing in terms of your grades?”

Q: What’s the goal, really?

Levine: You want a teenager who is engaged in learning. I’ve talked to enough CEOs—who, by the way, are disproportionately learning disabled and did not go to Ivy League schools—and got where they are because of their profound interest in something. So, help your teenager find something they love doing. And, broaden the scope of what that means. It’s not just engineering or science and technology. You want to constantly be falling on the side of the learning, not the performance or outcome. I don’t really care what grades teenagers get. If your teenager loves what he’s doing, that’s a good thing. At the end of the school year, should your teenager be tired? Of course. But you want enthusiasm and optimism about school as opposed to exhaustion and disengagement.

All of this sounds important.  Based on my own experiences with my own children, family, and friends of family, I can only imagine what the unintended consequences are of technology for children.

Here is another word of caution: Constantly Staring At Your Phone Is Bad For The Spine, Says Study

-Angela

A New Kind of Social Anxiety in the Classroom

Kids who constantly use phones and computers tend to be more nervous in face-to-face conversations. What can teachers do to help?

Alexandra Ossola Jan 14 2015, 12:00 PM ET

Giuseppe Milo/Flickr

Stress about a meeting that is still a week away, handwringing before talking to the cashier in the grocery line, worrying about seeing an acquaintance on the street—for people with social anxiety disorder, even the simplest task can prove challenging. The symptoms of social anxiety often set in around adolescence, when people place a new emphasis on social interactions and their place in their peer groups. But some academics fear that greater access to technology could exacerbate social anxiety among teens, particularly as smartphones, tablets, and computers become omnipresent in and out of the classroom. And even though teachers are increasingly exploiting the devices as learning tools, they also play an integral role in stemming the tide of social anxiety.

“If we are glued to technology 24/7, it’s going to have an effect on social skills—it’s just natural,” said Tamyra Pierce, a journalism professor at California State University, Fresno. The clear link between technology and social behavior makes it all the more important that teachers who embrace these devices need to keep students’ social skills in mind.

Continue reading here.