BERLIN (dpa-AFX) – The Federal Student Conference (BSK) and the German Economic Institute (IW) have warned of the long-term consequences of psychological problems among students. “We are in a deep crisis. We are not doing well and if we don’t get out of it, it will have extreme economic and social consequences,” said BSK General Secretary Quentin Gärtner at a press conference in Berlin.
10-point plan for more resilience
In a 10-point plan, the BSK calls, among other things, for more school social workers and school psychologists, the promotion of media literacy in all teaching subjects and the teaching of key skills such as self-regulation and stress management in and outside of class. According to their information, more than 20 other organizations, associations and health insurance companies have joined a current BSK campaign on the topic. “We want to get involved, we’re keen, but we’re left alone far too often,” said Gärtner.
IW: Don’t leave anyone lying
IW boss Carsten Hüther referred to various studies according to which more than a fifth of children and young people are affected by psychological problems and more than a third of students suffer from loneliness. The situation improved somewhat after the corona pandemic, but no longer reached the level of the 2010s.
“How mental health develops in childhood and adolescence can have very far-reaching economic consequences in the long term,” says a current IW paper. “If young people experience such severe limitations in this area that they cannot be active in the labor market when they grow up, they not only do not contribute to the added value of the German economy later, but are usually also highly dependent on state support services.”
Hüther spoke about the already low birth rate and the resulting declining potential of the workforce. Nobody should be left behind./jr/DP/mis