DELHI TOWNSHIP, Ohio — One local woman is hoping to help young children address stressors and improve confidence as a new report warns Ohio girls are facing a mental health crisis.
The Center for Community Solutions compiled data on more than 160 indicators from 13 official sources to profile the state of girls across all of Ohio’s counties.
It found that nearly a third, 32%, of Ohio’s high school girls had seriously considered suicide in the past 12 months. The report also found that 28% of Ohio’s high school girls reported being bullied electronically during the last year, as did 39% of Ohio’s middle school girls.
Psychologist Dr. Stuart Bassman said many kids and teenagers withdrew during the pandemic and turned to social media.
“Their bridge to the rest of the world was social media,” he said. “Unfortunately, this is a bridge where there is so much freedom, so little monitoring.”
Bassman said parents should first recognize the problem. Then, he urged parents to ask open-ended questions.
“The child needs to know that they have a resource,” he said.
Smaller children aren’t immune from mental health concerns.
Candace Rhoill, a preschool director, told us she started noticing preschool students having a hard time with their emotions after the start of the pandemic.
“Your foundational years were spent kind of being isolated,” she said. “That played a huge role in the socialization of kids.”
Rhoill started The Little Yogi one year ago, offering weekly yoga classes where kids can learn about their emotions and practice breathing exercises in a way that’s developmentally appropriate for them.
“Our yoga class does not look like an adult yoga class at all,” she said. “And that's okay.”
Rhoill said parents have told her they’ve seen their kids utilize the exercises from class at home.
“I hear a lot of times when their sister got upset, they told them, ‘Remember what we learned in yoga class. Let's do dragon breath,’” she said. “We've redirected them without actually having to talk about what we’re redirecting.”
You can read the full Status of Girls report here.
