WALLINGFORD, Conn. — Next week, middle schools and high schools in Wallingford are scheduled to return to their hybrid learning model, which includes several days of in-school learning. And, the in-person component can't come soon enough for one high school student, who took to social media to create awareness about students' struggles.
Peter Borzillo, a Sheehan High School senior is tired, desperate, and frustrated. So, he took to Facebook last week, posting a plea.
"I am writing this because during this difficult time in all of our lives I feel I have really reached the end of my tether," he wrote.
The post spelling out what this pandemic has done to him and his peers.
"And, like the rest of my class, I am turning into a shell of the person I used to be," his post said.
He wrote that distance learning has exhausted him, with class time a fraction of what it used to be but the workload the same.
"It seems as if everyone would’ve assumed, we would’ve been we would’ve gotten used to the collapse of the world around us by now, but the truth is we are not," Borzillo told FOX61 Thursday.
He said it becomes harder and harder to remain isolated. His post talks about his legs hurt from sitting in the same position for hours every day and that headaches persist.
"My acne flares up with every new project and paper," the post continues. "My speech is constantly a staggering mess by the end of the week. I can feel myself unraveling."
Peter says he took to Facebook because that's where adults congregate most, on social media. And adults, he says, carry more influence than kids.
"We had a conversation between the administration and the school counselor about that post and the school counselor was reaching out to that particular student to offer any support if that student may need," said Sheehan High School Principal, Enzo Zocco.
"And, I’m definitely not alone in this," Borzillo said during a Zoom interview. "I mean I think every day that we have to sign on there’s kids in bed. There are kids who have never seen looked so worn down before. You know people have grown up with my whole life."
There are signs of potential trouble parents can look out for.
"Shifts in sleep, reversed wake-sleep cycles, not joining the family for a basic expectation, like let’s say for family dinner regularly, not getting chores done," said Dr. Yann Poncin, a psychiatrist, who specializes in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry for Yale Medicine.
Poncin suggests reaching out to your pediatrician or dialing 211 for emergency psychiatric assistance. The Yale Child Study Center is another great resource.