How COVID -19 shaped Teenagers?

I think for most teenagers the unexpected lockdown from the past 7-8 months is a phase of epiphany.

This uninvited and overwhelming vacation has treated everybody differently. We all are frustrated to a certain extent for possible reasons. But whatever it is, it happened and we ought to fight it.

Particularly for teenagers, it is a lesson in wellbeing. Maybe physically you’ve improved health or emotionally you have let go of toxic relations, each one of you must have made an effort to improve your well-being.

Students, who are academically average at performance, have relief from relentless examination stress and topper’s discussion in the classroom. Tired employees are relieved from bossy bosses.

Introverts are saved from crowd gatherings and talkative people. Surprisingly all concerns of body shape and appearance are no more because all of us are confined to pajamas, messy buns, and chashma on.

Though there are anxiety and depression in the beginning, eventually the power of habit and routine brings out the positive side of a circumstance.

Most importantly, we teenagers are gradually losing the threshold limit for patience. It’s dropping day-by-day. Also, an added feature is that we want quick results with no much effort.

Everything should be instant from noodles to opportunities. An empty mind is the devil’s workshop. Most of us choose to stay idle, binge-watch TV shows and series and re-define the definition of relaxation.

I don’t say it to be a no-no, but if a constant devil is running on your mind, saying you are being unproductive or you are wasting time or brings in frightening glimpses of the reality of how hard it is to survive in this world; then it is for the good. Please acknowledge it and act on it.

I think this pandemic has taught acceptance and gratitude to all of us, I emphasize teenagers especially because we are full of desires and fantasies. All are brought down to reality now. As I have mentioned in one of my earlier posts, change is the only constant. And sometimes to have constants in life you need change.

COVID-19 has definitely made some positive changes in all teenagers. People who wanted vacay every month, understood how depressing a long vacay could be. People who felt schools and colleges taught nothing, we could learn online too, well, reality hit hard; how tiring and qualitative are online classes? It has changed opinions and sterotypes.

There has been a lot of revolutions over the internet. This unexpected leisure time, brought out a talent exhibition. Moreover, 80% of teenagers acted responsibly towards improving their grades and health.

But this goes without being said, that this crisis time has brought out a lot of negative effects than positivity. Though I tried to outshine the optimism of it, I can refrain myself from talking about the hurdles.

There have been increased levels of boredom, irritation, nostalgia, solidarity, anger, disappointment, fear, and anxiety. This is for all age groups. Many families have been affected economically and socially. People have lost jobs and there has been a lot of disturbance. But hope is something that has been allowing us to survive and this too shall pass.

An online survey of knowledge, attitude, beliefs, and practices (KABP) conducted by UNICEF concluded that 72% of the teenagers from Bulgaria had quite a pessimistic lifestyle in this full-blown lockdown. It promoted teenagers to experience strong emotions. Though it was an objective survey, a lot of teenagers wrote in the comments section:

I feel lost in my own thoughts

Well, the researchers have one thing to say: Your thoughts are gonna be with you for a lifetime. Filtering the best is in your hands. Life is full of opportunities and not everything has to happen according to what you expect. There is always better in everything that you cease in grabbing.

So stay positive. Stay home. Stay healthy.