The current COVID-19 outbreak has without a doubt been a stressful and worrying time for everyone, but with lockdown commencing and young people out of education, I wondered specifically how lockdown is affecting teenager’s mental health. To find out, I spoke to two people, both in Y12 and in full-time education to find out more about their personal experiences of lockdown.

 

First, I asked ‘If you could sum up your feelings toward the current COVID-19 outbreak in 3 words, what would they be?’ to which they responded ‘empathetic, idiocy and worry’ and ‘dangerous, awful, life-changing’. This clearly shows that the COVID-19 outbreak and lockdown do not bring about positive feelings among young people and suggests that there is a lot of concern for them regarding their future. They both said that they also didn’t expect the COVID-19 outbreak to be as severe as it has become, with one saying ‘I undermined and belittled the whole outbreak due to my lack of knowledge on the subject’ and this suggests that more resources targeting youth to educate them about the severity of the outbreak and how to stay safe could be beneficial.

 

Secondly, I asked what they had each been doing during lockdown for entertainment. ‘I have been focusing on singing as that helps me to take my mind off this whole situation and I have also been playing on my PS4 way too much’ ‘I’ve bought a new guitar and have been teaching myself how to play again, I’ve also been painting, drawing and watching lots on Netflix’. This shows that having access to technology during lockdown in somewhat important to stay entertained, which could be an issue for families who can’t afford things such as games consoles. It also shows that lockdown has somewhat been beneficial for youth as it has encouraged them to pick up old hobbies and new skills that they probably wouldn’t have done otherwise. I then followed by asking, ‘Is there anything you miss or are unable to do because of lockdown?’ to which they answered ‘I miss being able to see my friends and I have even started to miss school too which is weird as I never usually miss school’ and ‘I miss my friends, we facetime all the time but I miss actually seeing them’.  

 

Thirdly, I asked them if they were continuing their education at home. ‘I try to continue revising and keeping up with recent work that gets set online but it is hard to concentrate and do school work in an environment where I usually stay in bed all day and do nothing, so I have a massive lack of motivation’ ‘I am but not as much as I should be, I can’t stay focused on it’. This shows that young people are really struggling to educate themselves at home, and suggests that instead of teachers setting work online, online classes e.g. via zoom calls could be more beneficial for students- especially those in years having to teach themselves large amounts of crucial content (e.g. years 10 and 12).

 

I then asked ‘How do you think our government is handling the COVID-19 outbreak? How do you think we compare to other countries?’ to which they responded ‘I personally think the British Government is doing decent. I do think there were some faults at the beginning- I think that they could have closed the schools a lot earlier. Many people are still not listening to the lockdown rules which is absolutely ridiculous and selfish in my opinion, so I think they should tighten the rules a little bit more so that this isn’t possible and then we can reach our peak faster and life can get back to normal sooner’ and ‘I feel like if we had gone into lockdown earlier it wouldn’t be as bad as it is now and also if the government put in place an ‘actual’ lockdown where people can’t leave their homes like what Wuhan has in place I feel that it would be a lot more effective.’ This shows that from young people’s point of view the government is doing a good job responding to the COVID-19 outbreak, however there is still some room for improvement such as tightening the lockdown rules.

 

Lastly, I asked them if the current COVID-19 outbreak was affecting their mental health and making them worry about their future. ‘I’m worried that I won’t be able to focus enough on my school work and then not be able to get into a university that I really want to get into. Lockdown has also definitely affected my mental health. I had never realized how much doing things like going out with friends and even just being able to go outside can take my mind off a lot of things that I now can’t really escape.’ ‘As I can’t go to college I’m not as focused on my coursework which puts my future at jeopardy as I want to go to university and I need certain grades to achieve that, but I feel that this is more my fault than the COVID-19 outbreak. In regards to my mental health, I honestly overall feel happy. I miss my friends but I’ve been keeping myself busy and I’m happy with the progress I’ve been making with things such as playing the guitar. I feel that sounds selfish as I’m obviously extremely worried about the millions of people suffering from the effects of coronavirus, but personally I am in a good place’. This shows that a major concern for young people at the moment is how being out of education is going to impact their chances of getting the grades required for them to go into further education e.g. unis or the world of work as a lot of young people are struggling to motivate themselves do work from home. It also shows that lockdown is affecting young people’s mental health very differently. For some, time away from things such as school is providing a much-needed break and time to focus on themselves and hobbies, while for others being away from things ,such as friends, is bringing them down.

 

From interviewing young people I can conclude that their main concern is that they feel they would benefit from extra support from their teachers- which would probably help them to feel less down and/or anxious. It is also clear that lockdown is affecting their mental health- for some positively and others negatively. For those feeling that their mental health is being negatively affected, there are many organizations online that can advise and support you, but it is also important to remember that you are never alone- despite how alone you may feel.

Some organizations include:

  • Childline:

Telephone: 0800 1111

Website: www.childline.org.uk

 

  • Youngminds:

Telephone: Text YM to 85258 for urgent support

Website: www.youngminds.org.uk

 

 

Stay safe!