The effects of COVID-19 on Teens

COVID-19 is a greater issue than anyone could’ve ever anticipated. Something that us students thought would be a fun two-week break ended up turning into a never-ending global disaster. Graduations six feet apart, no more prom, and no more classes with friends were a very tough pill to swallow for us, especially for 2020 Seniors who unfortunately missed out on many memorable high school Senior experiences. COVID-19, social distancing, and the “new normal” is an absolutely crazy experience that is rougher on teens than many people know. Being stuck inside the house and not seeing people that we are surrounded with from 8-3 every weekday is a crazy change and is affecting us more than we had ever anticipated.
Many teens are experiencing great losses due to the virus. COVID-19 has canceled many events that we were very excited about, such as the end of the year trips, graduations, and other important things. A lot of teens are also experiencing loss in friendships and relationships with others. People that you may have considered your best-friend before COVID, are now almost strangers. For high school students, after Christmas Break, a whole new set of classes begin, which creates new budding friendships. Many of those friendships were destroyed by the abrupt stop in everyday activities.
Even in the world of Face-time and Social Media, communication is still just not the same through a cell phone. Being stripped from being able to communicate face to face in a meaningful way is rather devastating. Without the experiences of everyday life, we don’t really have much to talk about except for the inescapable topic of COVID-19. Great technology that allows us to communicate no matter the distance is good, but only when you have things to talk about.
One thing that I have found is that being in quarantine seemed to affect my ability to make logical “long-term” decisions. With teen brains still being “under construction,” the limbic system that allows teens to understand what is going on and have emotional reactions to it is just as functional as an adult brain, but the prefrontal cortex, which handles thoughtful and long term decisions, is not fully developed yet. This can be rather trying, especially in a crisis like this. Whether we can admit it or not, it is scientifically proven that teens have a tendency to make impulsive and short term decisions without thinking about any long-term consequences. When we make a decision, such as going off on a friend, breaking up with a boyfriend, or quitting a sport when we are frustrated, it may feel good at the moment, but later we will regret it. This impulsive decision-making behavior is even more escalated in a crisis. “When this is all over” may not matter to most teens, to many of us, it may seem like this crisis is never going to be over.
As toilet paper begins to be on the shelves and we begin going back to school, we need to realize that not everything will be the same. Social distancing in hallways, wearing masks, and daily temperature checks are a big change in what we once knew and constantly took for granted, “normal.” No more pep rallies, 50% capacity football games, and desks spaced six feet apart are all new changes that we never thought would be such a big deal to us. It may still seem like Coronavirus has taken the fun out of everything, but think about how far we’ve come since the virus began! We will continue to progress slowly but surely towards what we know as normal as long as we have hope.