Interview of students about the pandemic by Sarah McEwan, Tolworth girls school

When asked, the students of Tolworth girls school were happy to share their own opinions on the matter.

If you could describe the past year and a half in 3 words, what would it be?

One student summed up the years as ‘surreal, stressful and revealing’. Many would agree with that conclusion. Others mentioned feel ‘abandoned’ and stressed, with the situation feeling ‘novel’ and ‘perpetual’.

How do you think your school dealt with the pandemic?

Out of the students I interviewed, many had acute criticisms of their school. One outlined that ‘I didn’t really learn anything (at the beginning of the pandemic)’ and another backed this up with ‘I don’t think any schools were prepared for the pandemic’. One student explained what the situation was back in March 2020: ‘at the beginning no-one really took it seriously because it was an epidemic mainly in Asia at the time. Once it started to spread to us and schools were shut, there was no back-up plan for education because we’d never needed one- for example we were self-learning lessons for the first month or so before they transferred to microsoft teams as an alternative’. Students felt lost and weren’t sure how to react, however some schools rose to the challenge resulting in very positive feedback. With the students interviewed having been in year 10 at the time (Now year 12), they were worried how the online learning would affect their exam results but ‘overall, I (student) am really happy with the online learning and I feel it really helped me pass my GCSEs with the highest grades I could achieve’ and, in addition, ‘I think my school dealt with the pandemic much better than others could have.’

Some commented on the transition from lockdown back to school, saying it was ‘a jarring experience’ since many were so used to being at home. They continued by supplying that ‘the school has mostly handled running the school and keeping us safe very honourably.’

Do you think mental health has gotten worse after the lockdown? If so, Why?

When asked this question, one student claimed they ‘One hundred percent’ agreed with this ‘because lockdown was a hard experience for everyone. You could only see the people you lived with everyday. This makes it particularly hard for school children as they are used to seeing their friends everyday and going from that to video calls, if that, is really difficult.’ The comments on mental health struggles were suggesting that there was a low bar, a interviewee saying ‘In a way, I don’t think many people have realised that their mental health has declined- with such a mass flow of deterioration, it’s hard to pick out differences because no-one has been unaffected.’ It is clearly shown that students are struggling with their mental health. When asked to explain their own struggles, one of the respondents detailed their own struggles. 

‘I suffered quite a bit with burnout however, I also enjoyed the isolation quite a bit as it enabled me to think through issues and ideas that I wouldn’t usually get the time to and it enabled me to escape social situations in which I may panic slightly. I actively avoided going outside in public areas as it caused extreme panic. After lockdown, the separation between work and home became more distinguished which helped in terms of burnout.’

A further query led to one adding ‘being around friends gave me a greater support network’.

How do you think schools could better support their students and their mental health?

This question had a very mixed response. Some said that there should be more awareness around mental health, yet one remarked that ‘Mental health is quite a finicky topic and while raising awareness to the students is always a good step, we need more than that, but there had never been anything in place before that was more than that. So I believe we need something new, although I do not know what that would be- we need something to change, and quickly.’

For students who already know of mental health, it still seems like a foreign topic. For many, after they finished the interview they would apologise for ‘waffling’ or ‘going off topic’. Suggesting that talking about their own struggles was not the objective of the interview. This was worrying because it seemed as though they were wary to acknowledge their struggles, even in a confidential setting and with a friend. There is the possibility they would not have voiced these struggles had they not been asked first.

Even though younger year groups were not interviewed, the older ones still made sure they were mentioned. ‘Especially the younger years have been hard hit because they underwent the transition from lower to upper school and were immediately isolated’ and they may not have the accessibility to understand their own mental health struggles.

It was repeated that ‘the students themselves don’t realise their mental health is declining, for example mental health awareness in the lower years who don’t quite grasp the concept yet wouldn’t know where to even start looking for help.’

Schools clearly need to be more forthcoming with their students, even if students knew where they could go, they ‘think form tutors should regularly remind students that they are there to talk if needed’. Since nobody can force someone else to talk, but if they are there and very open to students approaching them then it is more likely to happen.

In conclusion, I believe that schools have been working tirelessly throughout the pandemic to deliver education to students without it being impeded too much. However, there is still much to do in terms of reaching the mental health needs of those students in a post pandemic world.