The effects of covid on teenagers

 

Over the last 3 years, covid has slowed down, gotten worse, killed, and affected many people's mental health. I  know what you're thinking. How could a virus affect someone's mental health? Well with only the unknown ahead of us, we aren't very sure what is going to happen next. Living day to day not knowing if we are staying in school and the constant in and out of in-person learning has an effect on every person. The lockdowns I believe are what have the most effect on teenagers and children. Everything that has happened in the past 3 years has been scary and confusing. When covid first started and the first lockdown happened I was in my first semester of grade 9. I have been online learning for the last 2 and a half years. And now I find myself writing this in my grade 11 English class. Not just mental health has been affected but also the grades as well as the social skills of many children. Many children now that are starting school and starting high school don't know how to properly use their social skills which affect their social life and making friends. As well as the children become shyer and do not communicate enough. The grades of most of the teenagers in high school are going down tremendously. To add, online learning is better and more beneficial for some but for others, it is more difficult to focus on their online learning. The teachers however have more of a beneficial experience when it comes to online learning. Teachers have more time to talk to each child individually as well as having more time to grade presentations and tests. Even tho virtual learning has its ups and downs for many students, some find online learning a lot easier. As a student who enjoys and finds online learning much easier and a lot more convenient, I should probably explain my point of view. I find virtual learning very beneficial for me because I have a lot more time to complete my assignments as well as the learning is a lot more one-on-one. As a student that struggles with severe anxiety, virtual learning has helped me with my grades. When I am attending In-person learning I struggle to attend school, so my attendance is never the greatest. I struggle with depression as well, but my mental health issues really started to show more and affect my day-to-day life when the first lockdown hit Windsor. My depression has affected my school work because of my inability to get myself out of bed every day. With virtual learning, I do not have to leave my "safe place" as I call it. My home and bedroom is my safe place. The place I can be myself and not have to worry about what anyone thinks about me. I am that one kid that has been excited when we go back into these very uncalled-for lockdowns.