Have you ever felt alone in a room full of people? What about going out with friends and never feeling so isolated? Have you ever been sitting in a classroom and felt like you were swimming in feelings of seclusion and depression? Many teenagers report growing emotions of social isolation and loneliness.
Scientists and researchers have shown that incoming adults are becoming less social and more lonely over the years. In the past decade, teenagers have spent significantly less time going out and being around friends. This type of social isolation is not only negatively impacting mental health, it is also impacting a plethora of adjacent issues. Isolated students tend to have higher substance abuse, lower self-esteem, suicidal tendencies and a decrease in uninterrupted sleep.
In a survey, 92 Solon Students answered questions on whether they believe SHS has a high rate of loneliness. When asked on a scale of 1-10 how lonely they feel with 10 being extremely lonely and one being not lonely at all, the highest percentage of answers was 18%. Those students reported their loneliness a two. 6% of students rated their loneliness an eight and 2% said a 10.
Student Facilitator Jodie Lurie said she believes students are increasingly feeling lonely for many different reasons.
“We can feel lonely because we are socially isolated, we don’t have friends, and some people feel really lonely even sitting with a group of friends,” Lurie said. “So, really understanding sort of what it is can help me decide what the next steps are? You know certainly a student and adult, whoever, has to be willing to feel better, [and] want to feel better. So what is going on, you know, are they struggling to meet friends, if they are, we could talk about social skills.”
Loneliness is something most, if not all, people have gone through at some point in their life. Going to a school like Solon High School, students are set up to make new connections and lasting relationships that help prepare them for adulthood. With teachers who go out of their way to make sure their students know each other and get along, and classes that will teach communication, public speaking and health. Unfortunately, students claim there is a lot of pressure to do better and get decent grades while participating in extracurricular activities. Sometimes, though, these extracurriculars can eventually feel like another class or competition pitting them against those who are supposed to be on the same team as them.
Football and baseball coach and science teacher Joseph Bubonics said sometimes his players struggle with isolation to improve their strengths until they’re content.
“I think they tend to be hard on themselves, which can affect their relationships with others,” Bubonics said. “That’s what’s magnified when they’re not performing to their standards, so I think that can lead to them being more isolated and if they’re not happy with their performance.”
African American Culture Club Co-President (AACC) Kamron Pratt said isolation and loneliness doesn’t just stem from anxiousness and stress, but also from prejudice.
“[As a mixed man] I feel like not knowing where to belong, especially [when] trying to find your group of people,” Pratt said. “Like people say that I’m too whitewashed to be a black male and too black to be white. I never feel excluded in Solon because I’m a very well-known person and the majority of the school likes me. Since being co for AACC, this club creates an atmosphere for all ethnic races, and we’re a diverse group of people, and that should be the representation of Solon High School.”
Since COVID-19, phone activity has been at an all-time high. Scientists believe that after COVID-19, social practices became stunted, and it became difficult to re-achieve the social contact of previous years. As a way to escape from potential loneliness, teenagers turned to one of the only things that they had: social media. While at the time it may have seemed to help social activity, once the world started to shift back to normal the social isolation began to increase as the years went on.
Recently in Ohio, Governor DeWine signed a bill where all Ohio school districts must create an official policy to keep phone usage at bay during school hours. The banning of phones came as a shock to many students, and the opinion on the ban was mixed. Many students were left shocked at how quickly everyone was able to create new friendships and strengthen bonds. At the same time, others are not particularly enjoying the policy, potentially seeing their phone as an escape from their day.
In the same survey on loneliness in high school, students also recorded if the new phone policy helped them reach out of their comfort zones to increase social interactions. Many students replied saying their phones have helped them feel connected and more able to feel social when having the option. In their survey responses, they said as long as they manage their screen time, they are still able to make vital relationships. However, some noted that the new cell phone policy has made them welcome to the feeling of meeting new people. Part of the reason why students may feel lonely is from getting “false ideas” of relationships from social media and students not putting themselves out there.
“I think it’s a little bit of both,” an anonymous survey responder said. “I feel left behind in school which makes me turn to my phone. It’s a coping mechanism because I can find resources on the internet that cater to my situation. It also tends to distract me from things I don’t want to think of like academics.”
Bubonics also said that day-to-day interactions with other students were different when he was a student at SHS.
“I think even more than when I was in high school, the social media has taken over a lot of the conversation that happens,” Bubonics said. “And I think, you know, the more face-to-face interaction, which happens at team events and extracurricular activities, where you meet after school and it’s not involved with communication over social media or over a phone. I think it’s a great way to maintain friendships and have positive relationships.”
Many students have developed different ways to help cope with mental health struggles. Some anonymously wrote that the best ways for them to feel less lonely are to talk to the people around them for comfort and distract themselves with such things as movies, video games or being active.
“I usually will look around the classroom and see other people who are either staring off or looking sad,” an anonymous survey responder said. “So I feel as though what I’m feeling is normal, even though it shouldn’t be. Classrooms obviously aren’t supposed to be social playgrounds, but being able to develop speaking skills and understanding emotions is to me far more important than anything you could learn in a core class.”
