8-Year-Olds in Despair

July 3, 2021

A roundup of new guidance and stories from NYT Parenting.

Golden Cosmos

The headlines about plummeting mental health among caregivers, young adults and teens during the pandemic have been hard to miss. But a quieter crisis has been brewing for years among young children in the United States, and exploded during this period of remote schooling, health worries and isolation: Children younger than 13 have been wilting mentally under the strain of Covid life.

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This week, Christina Caron looks at the spike in emergency-room admissions and inpatient treatment for kids showing signs of mental illness over the past several years — a trend that has only grown worse during Covid, according to hospital data and providers.

"It's almost like the pandemic threw gasoline on embers that were already glowing," said Heather C. Huszti, chief psychologist at Children's Hospital of Orange County in Orange, Calif. "We've never seen it this bad."

Doctors say addressing the increase in mental health emergencies among children is a matter of equipping families, health care providers and educators with regular screening tools and open lines of communication to recognize that a child is suffering before the situation becomes critical.

Also this week, despite their parents' objections, some teens are seeking out the Covid vaccine and getting the shot without parental consent, Jan Hoffman reports.

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As families venture out more this summer, Melinda Wenner Moyer has advice for managing social situations if you have a shy child.

If you're looking for some indoor entertainment with a frightening edge, Dave Itzkoff talks to Ilana Glazer, a creator and star of "Broad City," about her new film "False Positive," which explores the terror of the modern birth system.

Finally, temperatures are soaring across North America, creating dangerous conditions that could lead to heat-related illnesses, like stroke and heat exhaustion. Dani Blum has tips on how to keep your family cool and safe.

Thanks for reading!

— Melonyce McAfee, senior editor, NYT Parenting

THIS WEEK IN NYT PARENTING

Rachel Woolf for The New York Times

8-Year-Olds in Despair: The Mental Health Crisis Is Getting Younger

The number of children who need urgent mental health care has been on the rise for years, and spiked during the pandemic.

By Christina Caron

Getty Images

How to Support a Shy Kid

For timid children, more social situations can pose particular challenges.

By Melinda Wenner Moyer

Maranie Staab/Reuters

How to Stay Cool and Safe in a Heat Wave

As temperatures reach record highs, here's guidance on coping with extreme heat.

By Dani Blum

Hulu

'False Positive' and the Horror-Filled Truth About Fertility Treatments

The new Hulu movie is the rare Hollywood production that portrays the struggles to conceive as women actually experience them.

By Dina Gachman

Maria Alejandra Cardona for The New York Times

As Parents Forbid Covid Shots, Defiant Teenagers Seek Ways to Get Them

Most medical consent laws require parental permission for minors to get a vaccine. Now some places are easing restrictions for Covid shots while others are proposing new ones.

By Jan Hoffman

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Tiny Victories

Parenting can be a grind. Let's celebrate the tiny victories.

Mr. Rogers entertained my 2-and-a-half-year-old for 30 minutes while I made dinner, and then my son shared a bunch of facts about penguins he learned from the show. — Laura Kirby, Hamden, Conn.

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