At the Jan. 21 Whitehall-Coplay Communities That Care meeting, Denise Continenza, CTC coordinator and Penn State Extension educator, shared a shorter, interim report on the Pennsylvania Youth Survey data.

This report is only 19 pages long and details specific data points. The full report is expected to arrive in the spring. Students took the PAYS in the fall of 2020.

This interim report presented data regarding substance use, mental health and suicide risk, school climate and safety, abuse and food scarcity, COVID-19 impacts and remote learning readiness.

Coalition members were encouraged to look at their area of interest and compile some thoughts about what they saw. The members broke into groups for discussion. When the group reassembled, they talked about a couple of the topics.

The first subject addressed was school climate and safety. Chad Stefanyak, Whitehall High School counselor, said he would like a further breakdown of some of the data points to really see how best to help the students affected. One specific area he was interested in was the bullying section.

It was noted that, in general, the numbers regarding cyberbullying were lower than expected, especially at the high school level.

Tatiana Berrios, Whitehall-Coplay School District supervisor of educational equity, questioned what was meant by the term “school safety” and if students were answering in regards to the same things. Group members wondered if it referred to physical safety, emotional safety or something else entirely, such as proper COVID-19 cleaning procedures and protocols.

There was discussion about students utilizing one-on-one opportunities with their teachers. It was noted most modern students prefer communicating electronically, versus meeting face to face.

This led the conversation to the importance of human connections that many students may be missing. It was mentioned many students don’t seem to be learning healthy social interaction habits.

Continenza noted the COVID-19 pandemic made it clear to educators they need to help or teach the students more social and emotional skills.

These discussions segued into the next topic - mental health concerns and suicide risk.

“Kids are struggling,” said Sue Lettera, Lehigh County director of integrated services.

She mentioned the students reported higher numbers of depression, particularly in the high school, than from the 2019 PAYS. It was reported school therapists have full caseloads with waiting lists.

Coalition members said they want to fight the stigma surrounding mental health problems. It isn’t viewed as “cool” or “chic” to have a therapist, and that may prevent students from seeking the help they might need.

It was questioned if the students are aware of all the resources and programs available to them. WCSD has made an effort to offer a variety of resources to help the students, but the students may not know about their options.

The next CTC meeting, planned for Feb. 18, will feature continued discussions about the interim report data points.