Across the state, families have fled fires in the dark of night amid howling winds; thousands have huddled in evacuation centers, their cars packed with valuables. It smells like smoke, and ash drifts through the air. School days are canceled, routines disrupted and children are suffering mentally — even if they’re not physically at risk from a fire, mental health counselors and parents said.
School healthcare workers said the increase in destructive annual wildfires comes at a time when anxiety among young people is more prevalent than in the past.
In a nationwide 2018 Pew Research Center survey of teens ages 13 to 17, 70% of respondents said anxiety and depression were major problems “among people their age in the community where they live.” And more than 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 5 boys said they “feel tense or nervous about their days” every day or almost every day.
“It’s very debilitating to think ‘What’s next? What’s my safety plan? ... Are my parents going to come home safe?’” said Pia Escudero, head of student health and human services for Los Angeles Unified School District. “It’s not sustainable for us to be in this fight or flight stage for long periods of time.”
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