The academic and mental crisis plaguing American children: 'It is maddening'

Child in classroom.
(Image credit: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)

American children are suffering mentally and academically — and perhaps more than you might already think, writes David Leonhardt for The New York Times.

For one thing, children "fell far behind in school during the first year of the pandemic and have not caught up," Leonhardt reports. In fact, math and reading levels among third through eighth graders were lower than normal this fall, with shortfalls most pronounced among Black and Hispanic students and students in high poverty-area schools.

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Brigid Kennedy

Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.