The Kids Aren’t Alright

The U.S. surgeon general Dr. Vivek H. Murthy has issued a 53-page report on a burgeoning mental-health crisis among American youth, exacerbated by the pandemic. Emergency-room visits for depression, anxiety, and other conditions have been rising for a long time. But emergency-room visits caused by suicide attempts by adolescent girls jumped 51 percent in 2021, according to the report.

While the report touched on increased mental-health issues before the pandemic, it does not shy away from looking at the effect of the pandemic and the public-health strictures on the lives of children in the...