When I concluded teaching two wonderful undergraduate seminars just a few weeks ago, many of my students were not in a good place. Virtual teaching during a global pandemic led to some spectacular teaching moments and opportunities to examine the nation and its diversity as students lived through intense political history in many unique places. But the remote environment that afforded such moments also left many of my students burnt out and struggling by the end of the term. Three physically interrupted virtual semesters during the COVID-19 pandemic produced incredible amounts of stress and feelings of isolation. Our students should be lauded for trying, and in many cases, succeeding, to make distance education work and work well.
As the nation reopens and in-person socialization begins once again, I want to share some good news with a warning: the health of those in Gen Z – my students whose ages range from 18 through 24 – is drastically improving. However, colleges and universities must be aware that our Gen Z students are in far worse shape than the many Gen Xers, Baby Boomers, and Silent generation professors that teach them. As one student in Inside Higher Education’s Student Voice Survey sadly observed, “No one actively reaches out and makes sure students are doing OK, and no one takes action to address the root causes of the issues. No matter how anxious or depressed you are, that paper’s still due on Friday.” My own students would come to me with stories that work often became more intense in many classes because it was assumed by professors that there was more time to read, research and write with little recognition of the difficulties that the pandemic was creating.
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