Colorado Springs-area children, teens suffer mentally from pandemic pressures
March 21, 2021
By: Jakob Rodgers & Debbie Kelley
As Lexi Rowland’s schoolwork piled up and her friends down the block seemed like a plane trip away, a serious funk descended on the Discovery Canyon Campus High School senior.
Loneliness reached in, grabbed on and refused to let go — even as she realized fellow students were complaining of the same malaise.
“My mental health had definitely tanked throughout this pandemic,” said 18-year-old Rowland, who will graduate in May. “School is so overwhelming, and we don’t even get to see our friends anymore. I just feel stuck.”