Clark County Youth Commission report: local teens name COVID effects, relationships, safe spaces and academic pressure as top concerns

# What the report covers Commission surveyed and discussed youth experiences before issuing a report that centers relationships and mental health. Thirty young members led the work, spending months researching the topic, meeting with local organizations and developing concrete recommendations for the Clark County Council.

# How the commission worked Members met with the Community Health Improvement Plan steering committee, the YWCA, Clark County Public Health and the Clark County Behavioral Health Unit. They combined research and local conversations to produce recommendations, then translated those ideas into two public graphic murals meant to make the findings accessible.

# Top concerns identified by youth

• Lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the social isolation of school shutdowns and remote learning.
• Difficulty building and maintaining healthy relationships with peers and adults.
• Lack of safe, welcoming places for young people to spend time.
• Academic pressure, which intersects with stress and mental health.

The report connects relationship skills to mental-health outcomes and recommends earlier, age-appropriate social and emotional learning so young people can better recognize unhealthy or abusive dynamics.

# Local data cited in the report

# Youth perspectives and priorities Hockinson High School senior Hunter Bledsoe said the commission gives youth a role in long-term local policy conversations. Camas High School junior Shaunak Deshpande emphasized the commission's diversity and how exposure to different viewpoints shaped his thinking. Henrietta Lacks High School sophomore Evan Decker highlighted the importance of teaching relationship skills earlier so students can distinguish healthy, unhealthy and abusive relationships.

Decker and other members pushed for social and emotional lessons beginning at younger grades, arguing that early instruction would better equip students to build supportive peer and community connections.

# Recommendations and next steps The report contains recommendations aimed at strengthening relationship education and linking it to youth mental-health services. The Youth Commission submitted its findings and murals to the Clark County Council for consideration. The commission's outreach to public-health and community organizations suggests follow-up could involve local partners aligning programs with the report's proposals.

# Why this matters locally Youth voices recorded in the report show continued concern about mental health and social connections even as several indicators improve. The commission's recommendations provide a menu of community-based actions — such as earlier social-emotional learning and more safe spaces — that local officials and service providers can consider when shaping youth services and school programming.