After Son Takes His Own Life, Father Warns Against Extended Pandemic Lockdowns

Dylan Buckner’s bedroom looks like a typical teenager’s room, filled with sports trophies and plastered with posters of football stars. Chris Buckner, Dylan’s father, points to photos and toys of cheetahs, saying Dylan liked the animals because of their speed. He gestures to a large model of a fish, a life-sized replica of the first one he caught with Dylan. Almost everything in the room has been left untouched since Dylan’s death three months ago—an attempt by his parents to preserve his memory. On Jan. 7, the 18-year-old took his own life due to depression exacerbated by the state’s pandemic lockdown measures. Dylan entered a hotel not far from his home and jumped to his death. His dad told The Epoch Times there is “no doubt in his mind” that the school closures and the state’s extended stay-at-home order aggravated and worsened Dylan’s mental health to the point of no return. Chris said his wife, Karen, now sometimes sleeps on Dylan’s bed, likely a way to cope with the grief of losing their son. He says he’s telling his son’s story in the hope that it will save a future life and to alert parents to their children’s mental health. COVID-19-related lockdowns enacted across the country and around the world have been linked to a rise in mental health issues particularly among youth, who have been robbed of in-person interactions, freedom to leave the home, and have been forced to attend online Zoom sessions for hours on end to continue their education. Medical and psychiatric experts are increasingly worried about the toll the pandemic has had on the next generation. Doctors have reported children—some as young as 8—intentionally running into traffic, overdosing on pills, and self-harming amid the pandemic. A health care executive told The Epoch Times in August last year that the mental health crisis is “now an epidemic within a pandemic.”