Each generation is impacted by some public event. The Greatest Generation was shaped by the Depression and World War II. Baby Boomers had Viet Nam, civil strife, and the assassinations of the 1980s. How is the Covid-19 crisis impacting today’s young people?
I recently interviewed Dr. Tim Brackman and Mrs. Cindy Burreson. Dr. Brackman is principal of Lutheran High School North in St. Louis and Mrs. Burreson is the school’s Director of Counseling. The impact of the crisis upon students has been profound, much more than changed ways of teaching and learning. Mrs. Burreson said high school “is a time of great growth and development, personally and interpersonally, and a lot of that is social. And they don’t have that. So, students are sad for what they’re missing out. There’s an increase in depression and anxiety for students, for adults also but especially for students. There are definitely grave concerns.”
We can't expect transparency and honest conversation. Dr. Brackman explained that in normal times teachers watched a student day after day and picked up clues something is wrong. Even then it wasn’t easy to get a young person to open up about heavy issues on his or her heart. Now with students physically distanced by masks or virtual learning, it’s so much harder. For an adult but especially for a young person, not to deal with emotions, to try to bury them deep within, always has bad consequences.
We don’t know the long-term impact of the crisis upon this new generation. Dr. Brackman struck a hopeful note. Their students are 14, 16, 18-years-old, so this crisis is “a huge fraction of the life they have lived.” “Not all that will be bad; I think good, positive change will also come from some of what we’re experiencing.” That hopeful note in these terrible times springs from the love we have in Jesus Christ. Lutheran High School North’s theme this year is “Inseparable.” Nothing “will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39). In His love we move forward. Dr. Brachman cited Joshua 1:9, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
You can watch my interview with Dr. Brackman and Mrs. Burreson at concordiatheology.org. Click on Word & Work and see “Education Youth in the Age of Covid-19.” https://concordiatheology.org/2020/09/educating-youth-in-the-age-of-covid-19/
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