A new survey by the New Brunswick Health Council paints an alarming picture of the mental health issues of kids in grades 6 to 12.
CEO Stephané Robichaud says a survey of 39,000 students from New Brunswick public schools shows an increase in the number of kids with symptoms of depression and anxiety.
“It’s about 48 per cent now and in the last survey it was 40 per cent,” stated Robichaud.
Robichaud says much of the increase has to do with sleep deprivation among kids.
“Just slightly below 40 per cent sleep at least eight hours a night, so that means a bit over 60 per cent of youth do not even get the required eight hours a night of sleep,” he said.
As for why children are not getting enough sleep, Robichaud says they are hearing technology is part of the problem.
“Kids with phones will often sleep with them under their pillow,” he said. “The older generation, our main communication mode was the landline phone, which someone at one point in the evening would say ‘please hang up the phone.’ Now, they are connected 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”
