U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra got an earful Monday from a Portland Public Schools eighth grader about the mental health struggles of her peers who are anxiously navigating the post-pandemic landscape.
Social media has taken a toll on her generation, Jaiyana Jones told Becerra, Gov. Tina Kotek and other dignitaries during a roundtable at Faubion School in the Concordia neighborhood of Northeast Portland. So did the extended school building closures during the pandemic that kept most Oregon students out of school buildings and learning online for more than a year.
