This isn't about COVID. It's about anxiety.

For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street.

This is the point.

According to the New York Times, some teens are having a hard time taking their pandemic masks off.

The mask has offered teens a way to hide some of their anxiety symptoms, writes Emily Somme,

and emotions from others.

And wearing it's also made many of them feel normal, like everybody else.

Look, there's no doubt the last two years have been tough on teenagers.

Anxiety and suicidal thinking are both high post-pandemic, as is social media use.

One psychologist talks about the imaginary audience many teens feel, the invisible jury of peers,

constantly scrutinizing their every decision.

Only, in the age of social media, the audience isn't imaginary. Masks, by contrast, represent relief. Give them anonymity.

But teens may feel the need to hide their faces in order to feel okay, but we were made for

face-to-face interaction. The lack of it, either from mask, isolation, or screens is no way forward.

We have to help students steward their technology and their anxiety in such a way that brings

life. If they're to know their ultimate value, they're going to need relationships that are

out of the spotlight. I'm John Stone Street.