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Covid has affected us all in multiple ways, especially mentally. Our social relationships, family and friends relationships have been impacted by the global pandemic and covid in general. Lots of people have talked about how their relationships with family and friends have suffered or even been broken completely due to the pandemic. Bobby Hamblin said “I used to visit my grandparents every day since they lived within walking distance, but once covid hit we were not allowed to go over and that really impacted me and our relationship.” With these new or old found riffs in relationships people’s mental health have also been impacted severely. Their social skills have decreased and their want to be outside has started to dissipate slowly, this is what our society has suffered due to the “time gap” caused by a global pandemic and a dangerous illness.
Time has flown by faster than we thought, teenagers are realizing this more than anyone at the moment. Seniors realize that this is their very last year of high school ever,
and to them it feels as though it only just started. The “time gap” took away almost an entire generation’s high school experience, for those who were in 8th grade or barely even freshmans are now about to graduate or are about to be in their last year of high school in less than a month. You may say “but you were in ‘real’ high school last year” but were we really? It honestly still felt like the dark cloud of covid was still looming over our high school year. Between the mask mandate and all of the restrictions and new rules it didn’t feel like high school, it felt more like a prison. Imagine how those who are graduating early feel, to only have one official high school year and it’s also their last year. This is why teens are so stressed and feel so unprepared for what to do after high school. They barely had the high school experience, and being expected to apply and go to college when you are stressed isn’t easy. In fact it’s so difficult that it leads students’ mental and physical health to crack from all the pressure.
From where I see it being forced into adulthood is what causes a lot of our problems today. In our case it can’t be helped yet it still feels unfair in a way, being told we have to grow up to survive in this world at an age where our teenage social life was so easily stolen from us. It just doesn’t seem right and I feel like our generation has been through a lot, but so has every generation before us. Taking big steps when you’re not even ready to walk yet isn’t the way to go about things, we need to start with baby steps and we shouldn’t be afraid to ask for help when we know we need it. Supporting each other is how we will overcome stressful and scary times. We are being told to figure out what we want right now and there’s nothing wrong with not knowing.
All in all time will only continue to move forward no matter how much we want it to stop or rewind. Covid may have had the biggest impact on our lives yet, but we can’t let it continue to stress us out and miss opportunities. We must focus on what’s to come instead of what’s already happened, this is how we move forward.
By Audrieaunna Brown
Roosevelt High School
Published May 25, 2023
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