Students wonder when they can return to school during Gov. Pritzker’s live-streamed town hall for youth

Xandra Torres, a 16-year-old student at Phoenix Military Academy on the Near West Side, said “life has been hard” since Illinois’ stay-at-home order began three weeks ago to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

Torres, a member of the Teen Health Council at MIKVA Challenge, a youth civic engagement organization, shared her concerns directly with Gov. J.B. Pritzker Saturday evening during a live-streamed town hall in which she asked youth-submitted questions of Pritzker and Dr. Colleen Cicchetti of Lurie Children’s Hospital.

Torres said she’s been trying to help out her family during the challenging time, while also continuing school through e-learning, but she hasn’t been able to take her ACT or SAT exams because of the coronavirus-related shutdowns.

“I feel stressed about my future, and it’s been hard to balance everything,” Torres said.

Pritzker told the 16-year-old it’s “going to take a while” before things return to normal, but he assured her that “it’s OK to feel sad.”

“I know your lives have been turned upside down,” Pritzker said. “You’re going to school online, your sports or activities are put on hold and you’re not able to see your friends. Your questions and concerns are really important to me.”

Chief among those concerns was in-person education, with 50 students asking when they could go back to their schools, Torres said.

“We don’t exactly know yet,” Pritzker said, noting that scientists, doctors and researchers need time to figure out a COVID-19 treatment or vaccine first and that he was relying on their advice going forward.

“I will not reopen the schools until I feel confident that reopening the schools is a healthy thing for you to do,” Pritzker said.

Young people also wanted to know how badly they’d get sick if they contracted COVID-19.

In response, Pritzker said people of all ages in the state had contracted the virus, but that its effects were most adverse for older adults.

That said, the governor pointed to the need for everyone to work together to prevent the spread of the virus.

“We all need to stay in this together, so it’s important that we stay home and follow the rules as much as possible,” Pritzker said.

Pritzker and Cicchetti encouraged those who see others not following the stay-at-home orders to speak up.

Cicchetti also addressed the challenging emotions young people may be facing during the pandemic, and said if those feelings get “overwhelming or scary,” children should reach out to a friend, parent or another trusted adult for help.

“The most important thing to know is your feelings are normal,” Cicchetti said. “What we can do if we have difficult emotions is figure out how to sort them out a bit.”

Earlier Saturday, Pritkzer announced a new mental health hotline for anyone in the state struggling with mental health issues during the pandemic.

Residents can reach a mental health professional anonymously by texting “TALK” or “HABLAR” to 552020. They will then be connected to a local community health center counselor who will provide support within 24 hours, Pritzker said.