The Israeli National Council for the Child released a report Tuesday outlining the drastic increase in mental illness in children since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Anxiety, depression, eating disorders and even suicide attempts have all gone up in the last three years. This tragic statistic is largely linked to school closures and a lack of social interaction for children, especially for those who don’t have a strong family connection.

The report also believes there is a connection between social media use in minors and the spike in mental health conditions. While this is a known phenomenon, the report believes that the isolation associated with the COVID pandemic induced increased social media usage and heightened the perceived contrast between the social media user’s life and the lives of social media influencers.

Please pray for the children and teens affected so dramatically by the two plus years in isolation. Please pray for wisdom for parents, educators and leaders to meet these children where they are and help them to recover, psychologically and academically. Lastly, please pray that policy writers and influencers would learn from this awful (and preventable!) situation how to better prioritize the wellbeing of children in the future.