Elias Avalos felt like he was running in circles during his junior year of high school, losing motivation, and burning out. He juggled four AP classes and felt the pressure of being the child of Salvadoran immigrants.
“I’ve been dealing with feelings of burnout and unbelonging for a while,” the now 17-year-old senior says. “I think how I really ground myself when I feel like that is through skateboarding. It’s a hobby that dissociates from any work I have so that I can de-stress.”
He’s one of a growing number of Black and Latino boys who are left to manage their mental health on their own. In the 2026 Children Now report scorecard, 94% of the state’s youth ages 14-25 report mental health concerns in an average month, with stress and anxiety the most commonly reported concerns…