Teenagers Are Struggling, and It's Not Just Lockdown

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“According to psychologists who study adolescent resilience, one of the biggest threats to the well-being of today’s teenagers is not social isolation but something else — the pressure to achieve, which has intensified over the past year.”

The achievement culture in which our young people grow up was lifted slightly during the pandemic, and some studies show that improved their mental health. But it was short lived, and the pressure is back on. Parents play a mitigating role here. This NY Times article, as supported in studies by Dr. Suniya Luthar and Dr. Denise Pope, suggests that parents adjust the benchmarks they use to measure their child’s success in support of their mental health.

Dr. Suniya Luthar is a leading researcher and expert on youth resilience, and has worked in Pelham for a few years as part of the High Achieving Schools Survey administered to our youth.