Covid-19's Impact on Our Behavior

Anna walks us through the COVID-19 quarantine and its effects on student's behavior in this informative article.

Has COVID changed our behaviors?

By Anna Walker

A human brain illustration

Photo Credit: Getty Images/Science Photo Library

It is clear that the world has changed since COVID-19 spread across the nation a year ago. Many new rules and regulations have been implemented to keep everyone safe and healthy--from staying six feet apart from people to wearing face coverings in public. All of these habits, which may be considered “annoying”, are all put in place to keep everyone healthy. Along with physically changing the world, COVID-19 also mentally and emotionally changed many people, especially youth. Because of the many regulations, teenagers are being forced to stay inside and communicate through online sources. Making face-to-face conversations and forming friendships is harder to come by. Though parents, teachers, and other people try their best to make things as easy as possible, many teenagers still feel as though they are not meeting the mark.

Engaging is a huge part of what school is about. An anonymous teacher at GPHS stated that “it seems to me that students now seem a little bit more engaged in school when they are in person”. Students seem more engaged due to them becoming more responsible, being face to face instead of being able to just close their chromebook at any sign of boredom or being distracted by a TV or sibling. Making it close to impossible to ignore work. As well as that a majority of students interviewed stated that “Covid has made people more thankful” for being able to go to school and interact with others. The things that we would take for granted in the years before covid; such as school and everyday conversations, have become rare. Going to school used to be a thing all students did not like to do. Going to school was a burden back then but now it is something students look forward to every week.

For many students the thought of if life will ever be the same again still lingers in the back of their minds even now returning back to school. An anonymous student at GPHS says, “So I guess after the past year of the uncertainty of whether or not I would ever be a normal teenager again, going back to school even if it's two days a week makes a big difference in my life.” She goes on saying it brings back a sense of normality in a world full of uncertainty. Other GPHS students have said that they see their peers more excited to go to school then ever, as well as very thankful for being able to gain a sense of normality in seeing friends or just interacting with other people.

Behaviors are beginning to change COVID-era teens, who claim that s after returning back to school, they are more quiet and kept to themselves. Even a teacher at GPHS says that students are more quiet and anxious than before. But how do teenagers go from being loud and unable to settle down to so quit that they must be forced to talk? Well some GPHS students think it has something to do with students being alone for so long. Understanding the Effects of Social Isolation on Mental Health, an article written by Tulane University, shows that “Nonetheless, isolation and loneliness are very much linked. Studies of loneliness’ causes, symptoms, and impacts shed light on the potential negative effects of social isolation.” In short, maybe being alone for so long impacted students and caused them to become more quiet and anxious. Because there was no interaction during our time of doing school online, there was no need to use social skills, making us a little rusty on communication.

Many students have different feelings on whether COVID has affected them positively or negatively. Some said that it affected them positively because it made them more thankful for the opportunities we have. Others said it affected them negatively, making them quieter and more anxious, that being alone and far from others made teenagers more closed off. Everyone has experienced the pandemic differently from gaining anxiety to becoming more thankful, it changed everyone in different ways, even making us as a society more understanding of each other.