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Gen Stressed

by | Nov 21, 2024

RCPS Assistant Superintendent Carol Johnson, left, talks with the schools’ social worker, Erica Jennejahn, on Monday. After “explosive situations” at the elementary school, “we had to jump in right way. We were drinking from a fire hose,” Jennejahn said.
RCPS Assistant Superintendent Carol Johnson, left, talks with the schools’ social worker, Erica Jennejahn, on Monday. After “explosive situations” at the elementary school, “we had to jump in right way. We were drinking from a fire hose,” Jennejahn said.
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A series on the mental health struggles of today’s generation of teenagers, the urgent need for more support in schools and how families can get help.

PART 1

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RCPS Assistant Superintendent Carol Johnson, left, talks with the schools’ social worker, Erica Jennejahn. After “explosive situations” at the elementary school, “we had to jump in right way. We were drinking from a fire hose,” Jennejahn said.

Schools scramble to keep up as students’ anxiety, depression mount

The plan, Erica Jennejahn recalls, was to get ahead of things, to meet with small groups of students and talk about resolving conflicts and sharpening social skills. That was last summer.

Then school started.

Read the story

PART 2

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RCHS junior Carmen Pond in her mother Dani’s office. Dani Pond is the long-serving director of school counseling.

Teens’ worlds defined by ‘likes’: Social media linked to rising anxiety

If there’s any question about how teachers, school administrators and social workers feel about social media, here’s a sampling: “Social media is the bane of every school administrator’s existence,” said Carol Johnson, assistant superintendent, Rappahannock County Public Schools.

Read the story 

PART 3

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‘Everybody thinks their generation had it tough. This generation has a different challenge.’

Time was when teen dread and dark moods were largely viewed as unfortunate features of adolescence, conditions driven by insecurities and hormonal changes that in time would pass.

That time has passed.

Read the story

HELP FOR PARENTS & STUDENTS

Resources for parental control of devices, social media

As they’ve come under increasing fire for the harmful aspects of social media, tech companies have made more protective tools available to parents and caregivers.

Morgan’s Message: Don’t be afraid to reach out

You just never know what a classmate might be going through.

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Foothills Forum is an independent, community-supported nonprofit tackling the need for in-depth research and reporting on Rappahannock County issues.

The group has an agreement with Rappahannock Media, owner of the Rappahannock News, to present this series and other award-winning reporting projects. More at foothillsforum.org.

 

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By Randy Rieland

Read more articles by Randy Rieland
Randy Rieland was a newspaper reporter and magazine editor for more than 20 years, starting with stints at the Pittsburgh Press and Baltimore Sun, and moving on to become editor of Pittsburgh Magazine and a senior editor at Washingtonian magazine. He made the switch to digital media in 1995 as part of the team that launched Discovery.com, the website for the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and other Discovery Communications Networks. He ultimately was promoted to senior vice president of Discovery Channel Digital Media. After his return to print journalism, Randy has written for Smithsonian and Johns Hopkins Magazine. He is a longtime, regular contributor to Foothills Forum. His stories, appearing in the Rappahannock News, have won numerous Virginia Press Association awards for excellence. When he’s not reporting, Randy is a volunteer with the National Park Service at Arlington House, above Arlington National Cemetery. He and his wife, Carol Ryder, have owned a house off Tiger Valley Road since 2005. Reach Randy at [email protected]