TV host who pushed school closures laments child mental health crisis
The View co-host Sunny Hostin Tuesday bemoaned the mental health crisis facing children because of school closures, a year after advocating for those closures.
“I’m conflicted over this pandemic, which people say it’s totally over,” Hostin told her co-hosts during Tuesday’s episode. “But there are like 1,000 people dying from it still every day.”
“I’m a little nervous because teens are in a lot of trouble,” she added. “There’s a mental health crisis. I’ve seen it in my children.”
“They’re in trouble now because they don’t know how to speak to each other and they were, you know, out of school and they were homebound,” Hostin continued.
In January 2022 Hostin spread false information about the pandemic’s impact on children and said that while school closures are harmful to children, it was “the right thing”.
“Our teachers are underpaid, they’re overworked, they have a right to be safe in their work environment,” Hostin said. “A thousand kids have died from COVID. My understanding is that at least 7.8 million children have caught COVID since the pandemic started. Thousands of children have been orphaned because of COVID.”
“The notion that, you know, teachers should just suck it up and go to work, I think it’s ridiculous,” she added. “Yes, I totally understand that remote learning is very difficult for our children. . .What if our teachers get sick and then bring it home to someone that they’re living with, their parents perhaps. . .I think they’re doing the right thing.”
In just the seven months after the pandemic began, psychiatric emergency visits rose 24% for 5–11-year-olds and 31% for children 12–17. Emergency visits by girls 12–17 for suspected suicide attempts rose 50%.
In October 2021 the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) and Children’s Hospital Association declared a national emergency in children’s mental health.
A study from the UK’s National Health Services last year found that one in four teenagers 17–19 are likely to suffer from a mental disorder after lockdowns sparked a surge in cases. The number has skyrocketed from 17.4% per year to 25.7%.
According to The Telegraph, the study also found that one in five children between 11–16 is likely to have a mental disorder, split between 18% of boys and 22% of girls.
As far as Hostin's claim about 1,000 people dying per day, Fox News contributer Dr. Nicole Saphier says it's way off the mark.
“Where is the misinformation police when it comes to The View spreading false data?” Saphier tweeted. “The CDC tracker shows an average of 250 daily deaths now, a number which is known to be inflated 20–40% by overcounting deaths attributed to COVID.”
