Isolation

Virtual students like junior Emily Jacoby have struggled with not seeing their peers on a daily basis.

“Personally, I like being in an actual classroom and surrounded by people and just having that face-to-face interaction,” Jacoby said. “It’s not really a social connection, like a student to teacher connection. It’s student to screen.”

Sophomore Skylar Cahoone, who is fully virtual, said being away from other people increased her anxiety.

“Sometimes it feels like there’s no one to talk to and you’re kind of alone,” Cahoone said.

In-person students may also struggle with forming connections, according to Schwolert.

“Even though some kids are coming to in-person school, there’s still a sense of isolation with the Plexiglass and not being able to be closer than six feet from a friend at lunch,” Schwolert said.

The issue extends beyond campus as well. Local psychologist Dr. Laura Hart said that she has seen an increase in patients to the point where she has had to turn people down. Hart said that teens are especially vulnerable because they rely more heavily on their peers.

“I think it’s very painful, hugely painful,” Hart said. “It’s a time in our lives developmentally where our peers are maybe the most important influence.”

Hart said even students who have been talking to their close friends are likely to feel loneliness because of the small relationships they lost, such as acquaintances who smile and wave in the hallways between periods.

“Those more kind of higher importance type relationships are still hanging on there,” Hart said. “But the more casual ones have fallen to the side for a lot of people.”