Soft Scrambled Eggs with Bacon Jam for Mental Health Awareness

Kitchen Counter Civics: Caring for the Whole Student

Two Full Recipes at the bottom of this article.

Forty percent of high school students in the United States reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness in the past year. That number has held even as public awareness of youth mental health has grown into something approaching a national conversation. More teens are talking about it. More adults are using the language. The crisis still deepens.

The environment these kids are growing up in has never been more complicated, and the hazards are accelerating faster than any support system has been built to handle.

Social Media

Roughly half of teens now say social media has a mostly negative effect on people their age, up from 32% just three years ago. The research linking heavy platform use to depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation in adolescents has grown substantial enough that multiple countries are legislating restrictions on teen access.

A narrative review of studies published between 2016 and 2024 identified consistent patterns: psychological harm from addictive use, the documented fear of missing out, cybervictimization, and a contagion phenomenon around self-harm content that platforms have been slow to address. The U.S. Surgeon General has named social media a major threat to teen mental health. Teens who scroll more than three hours daily double their risk of depression or anxiety.

Cyberbullying

Lifetime cyberbullying victimization among young people rose from 33.6% to 58.2% between 2016 and 2025. Nearly a third of teens experienced it in the 30 days prior to being surveyed. Unlike traditional bullying, it doesn’t stop at the school door. It follows kids home, into their bedrooms, onto the screens they look at before sleep. Teens who are bullied online are roughly twice as likely to develop anxiety and depression.

The same platforms also serve as vectors for predatory adults. The former Surgeon General’s advisory documented that social media is used by adults seeking to exploit children, financially extort them through threats of intimate image distribution, and sell illicitly manufactured fentanyl. Nearly six in ten adolescent girls report being contacted by a stranger online in ways that made them uncomfortable.

Gun Violence Anxiety

School shooting drills are now a standard feature of American childhood. The United States has had nearly 60 times as many school shootings as comparable nations combined. This is not abstract for kids. Longitudinal research shows that ongoing worry about school gun violence is directly associated with rising rates of anxiety and panic disorder in adolescents. The worry itself — independent of direct exposure — is a clinical stressor. Kids are carrying it every day.

Climate Distress

A 2021 Lancet study of 10,000 young people ages 16 to 25 across 10 countries found that nearly 60% described themselves as very or extremely worried about climate change, and more than 45% said those feelings were already affecting their daily functioning. A 2025 study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences surveyed nearly 3,000 young Americans ages 16 to 24 and found that approximately 20% are afraid to have children, worrying about bringing a new generation into a destabilizing world. That number climbed above 30% among those who had personally experienced a severe weather event.

AI Chatbots

This is the one that should reframe the entire conversation about school counseling.

A JAMA Network Open study published in late 2025 found that 13.1% of U.S. youth, representing approximately 5.4 million individuals, used generative AI for mental health advice. Nearly two-thirds engaged at least monthly. The researchers identified why: AI is free, immediate, and feels private. It doesn’t require an appointment. It doesn’t have 408 other kids on its caseload. For youth who can’t access traditional counseling, it is filling the vacuum.

The problem is that it isn’t equipped to do that.

A Common Sense Media assessment conducted alongside Stanford Medicine’s Brainstorm Lab found that major AI platforms — ChatGPT, Gemini, Meta AI, and others — consistently fail to recognize and appropriately respond to the mental health conditions that affect young people. The American Psychological Association has stated plainly that engagement with AI chatbots for mental health purposes can have unintended effects and cause harm. A UCSF pediatrician studying adolescent digital media use described the situation as one in which kids are still “guinea pigs” — the technology is new, best practices for youth don’t exist yet, and adolescence is precisely the developmental period when brains are most shaped by their experiences.

Nearly a third of teens now report finding AI conversations as satisfying or more satisfying than human connection. Forty-two percent of adolescents using chatbots use them for companionship. One in five report using them for something they describe as a romantic relationship. Researchers who have looked at these numbers warn that some adolescents are struggling to distinguish between AI and genuine human presence — and that confusion is not benign.

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The counselor who isn’t in the building anymore

Schools are legally required to provide mental health support. The professional standard, set by the American School Counselor Association, is one counselor for every 250 students. The national average is one per 408. Fewer than half of all school districts in the country meet the recommended ratio. In under-resourced schools, it is often considerably worse. And right now, as federal funding for public education faces significant cuts, mental health and student support positions are among the first to be eliminated. Schools that once had a counselor are sharing one across multiple campuses.

This matters because a counselor isn’t just a resource. A counselor is a relationship. It is a trained adult who builds trust with a student over time, who remembers what was said in October when something different comes up in March, who notices the shift in posture or the change in tone before it becomes a crisis. That kind of attentiveness cannot be replicated by a platform. It cannot be automated. There is no app that does what a present, well-trained human being does for a kid who is struggling.

Cutting mental health resources from schools doesn’t make the problems go away. It guarantees that kids face them alone, or with a chatbot, or not at all. The 40% of high school students who reported persistent sadness last year didn’t become that statistic in a vacuum. They grew up in a world of accelerating digital hazards, climate anxiety, gun violence anxiety, and relentless social comparison, and they are being asked to navigate it with shrinking institutional support.

Well-funded public schools are the infrastructure through which we keep faith with kids. Mental health support is part of that infrastructure. It is not a program. It is not an add-on. It is the difference between a child who has a trusted adult in their corner and a child who is figuring it out alone.

The scrambled eggs analogy holds. You have to be there. No shortcut produces the same result.

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Resources that can help

Advocacy

• We Believe — Fighting for strong, well-funded public schools for every child

• American School Counselor Association — Research and advocacy on counselor ratios and school mental health

• Mental Health America — Policy and advocacy on mental health access

Research & Data

• U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory: Social Media and Youth Mental Health — The foundational federal assessment

• Common Sense Media: AI Chatbots and Teen Mental Health (2025) — The Stanford Medicine-partnered risk assessment

• Pew Research Center: Teens, Social Media, and Mental Health (2025) — Current survey data on teen attitudes

• JAMA Network Open: Generative AI for Mental Health Advice Among Youth (2025) — The 5.4 million figure and usage data

• Cyberbullying Research Center — Data and resources on cyberbullying trends

Support

• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline — Call or text 988, 24/7

• JED Foundation — Mental health and suicide prevention for teens and young adults

• Child Mind Institute — Evidence-based resources for parents and educators

• NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) — Education, advocacy, and support

• Sandy Hook Promise — School safety and mental health programs

Climate & Political Anxiety

• Climate Mental Health Network — Resources for young people experiencing climate distress

• Hopeful Futures Campaign — Advocating for school-based mental health support

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The Recipes

Serving suggestion: On whole grain toast and topped with chopped chives.

This is the most straightforwardly delicious breakfast I know how to make.

I serve mine over toasted 5-grain bread, often with smashed avocado (one avocado, a teaspoon of lime juice, salt, and pepper) topped with chopped chives, and cherry tomatoes or strawberries on the side. Make it your way.

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Bacon Jam

Ingredients

• 1 lb bacon, cut into ½-inch pieces

• 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped

• 3 cloves garlic, minced

• ⅓ cup apple cider vinegar

• ½ cup dark brown sugar, packed

• ⅓ cup maple syrup

• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper (or more to taste)

• 1 tsp black pepper

Instructions

Add the bacon to a 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Cook until crispy, about 20 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the cooked bacon to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Drain the remaining bacon fat from the pan, then add back 1 tablespoon into the pan.

Reduce the heat to medium-low, and add the onion to the pan. Sauté for about 4 minutes, then add the garlic and cook for a couple of minutes more, until fragrant.

Add the apple cider vinegar and cook, stirring frequently, until the liquid is reduced by half. Add the brown sugar, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper, stirring to incorporate. Return the cooked bacon to the pan. Continue stirring until a jam-like consistency is reached, another 5 minutes.

Turn off the heat and take note that the jam is very hot and sticky. Allow to cool for a couple of minutes, and be careful if serving immediately. Enjoy!

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Warm before serving.

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Soft Scrambled Eggs

Ingredients

• 3 eggs, whisked

• 2 tablespoons heavy cream

• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Over medium-low heat, pour the cream into a medium nonstick frying pan. Allow the cream to bubble up and just start to caramelize (about 2 minutes).

Pour eggs into the pan. Using a silicon spatula, stir the eggs constantly in a tight circular motion to keep the eggs creamy and prevent large curds from forming. When the eggs are almost cooked to your desired consistency, remove them from the heat and continue stirring until they are fully cooked.

Add salt and pepper to taste, if desired.

Serve immediately.

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The jam can be made days in advance. The eggs cannot. Both require you to be present.

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Kitchen Counter Civics is a series of The Dad Briefs pairing recipes with civic and political commentary. Be kind, and … you know.