COVID-19 Teens

By Charles Brandon Rapp McGuigan 08.2020

COVID-19 has changed the way we live. Teenagers and young adults have been affected in unique ways. For one thing, graduations have been held differently during the pandemic. Many seniors attended outdoor graduation ceremonies, even in school parking lots. Other seniors had graduation parties with their family and friends, while social distancing. Many young people have been following all the protocols to ensure their health and the well-being of others. They have been wearing masks when in public, staying six feet apart from other people, and properly washing their hands.

Recently, I interviewed a few of my friends, most of whom have graduated from high school during this crisis. They were following all necessary precautions during the interviews conducted on my front porch, and told me about their experiences and their perspectives during these unprecedented times. They also told me about their plans for the future.

They included Josie Arthur, who received her high school diploma from Appomattox Regional Governor School in Petersburg and will be attending Emerson College in Boston this fall; Henry Johns, a homeschooler who just finished high school and will taking a gap year; Jefferson Miles, a recent Community High School graduate, who begins his freshman year at Virginia Military Institute later this month ;  Nicholas Erickson, who graduated from Douglas Southhall Freeman High School and plans to take a gap year working at Patient First before attending Virginia Commonwealth University in the fall of 2021; and Willa Johns, a rising sophomore who is homeschooled.

Here are their responses to a number of questions I asked them:

Q: What have you been doing since school let out because of COVID-19?

Josie: “When it was colder, I would run a lot. I’m not a very good runner, but I would do it for exercise. But now it’s really hot, so I don’t really feel like doing that anymore. I’ve been writing songs and drawing.  Sometimes I do yoga, or I’ve gone to the river to swim.”

Jefferson: “I’ve been trying to stay in shape a lot and I’ve been going on runs when I can. I’ve been working out. But just like everybody else, I’ve been really doing a lot of staying inside, watching TV, and reading.’’

Nick: ‘’ Mainly I’ve been just playing a lot of chess with my grandpa. Other than that, not much.”

Willa: ‘’My schoolwork kind of stayed more regular since I don’t have to go anywhere to do it. But once I finish my schoolwork for the year, I’ve just been doing a whole lot of nothing.”

Henry: ‘’I have been staying more inside. I haven’t been going out in public spaces a lot.  It’s been very quiet for me at my home and I haven’t done a lot. So, yes, my habits have changed, but no, I haven’t really done anything, if that makes any sense.”

Q: What precautions have you been following during the pandemic?

Josie: ‘’Mostly social distancing and every time I go out to just go to a store with my mom, I’ll wear a mask. If we’re walking outside or talking outside then we’ll just be six feet apart, not touching.’’

Jefferson: “I’ve been trying to keep my interaction with my people down as much as possible and when I do interact with people I keep a mask on, use hand sanitizer, cover my face—common courtesy things.’’

Nick: ‘’ I’ve been wearing the masks, I’ve been staying six feet apart, I’ve been trying not to be around or be super close to anybody. I’ve been using a lot of hand sanitizer. I’ve been very careful when I go into stores. ‘’

Willa: ‘’I’ve been wearing a mask when I go out in public spaces where its crowded. I’ve been social distancing with people. if I need to go in a store or someone’s house, I wear my mask.’’

Henry: ‘’I have worn a mask in public when I am in enclosed spaces, and when I am close to a person such as inviting them into my home especially, I ask them to wear a mask.  Also, I wash hands after touching things as in groceries that are coming out from the car, from inside grocery stores where obviously people can touch them. And they might have the virus. So, it’s always good to wash your hands after you’ve been in public spaces.’’

 Q: What was your graduation like?

Josie: “It was actually really fun. I honestly liked it better than what it would have been if it was normal. We didn’t do it online. At least my school didn’t. We had this parking lot thing. So, half of the students came in the morning and then half of the students came in the afternoon. And everyone would park their cars, there would be a family in a car and there was this little stage that they built. It was really cute, and people would honk congratulatory honking if their kid was on the stage or something. I actually liked it a lot. ‘’

Jefferson: ‘’ It was interesting. We had a two-part graduation. So, the ceremony itself was online and there was a nice slide show that was organized by our school. Then, in the following days students went to pick up their diplomas at the school in waves and got their pictures taken. Things like that.’’

Nick: ‘’ My graduation was definitely way scaled down. It was spread out. One of us at a time would walk across a little riser on the football field. Our name would be called through the little speaker system they had on the football field and they only have about ten of us go up at a time.  It was in sections; it was split off into time blocks.’’

Willa: ‘’Actually, I didn’t have a graduation, sort of party or anything. Cause it’s never really been something that we’ve super celebrated whenever we go into the next grade. We usually have a tiny, little pizza party. But that didn’t happen this year.’’

Henry: ‘’My graduation was very quiet. I didn’t have a lot of people to talk to about it. It was really just my family. I had a lot of people come over to see me, just a few at a time. We didn’t have a big party. It was very nice to just see everyone and to be appreciated for graduating. But there wasn’t much to do really because there wasn’t a big party. So, it was more of a relaxing time talking to an individual person.”

Q: Did you do online learning?

Josie: ‘’ I did. My school had an option where you could opt out of some of your classes for the semester. I’m a senior, and I really wasn’t learning that much so, I opted out of most of my classes. I did have to continue to take English, History, and AP Environmental Science.’’

Jefferson: ‘’ Seniors were not required to do online learning. I had to take a few tests just to solidify my final grades online. But I didn’t have to take any online classes.’’

Nick: ‘’Yes, we did do online learning.’’

Willa: ‘’Yes, I usually use a lot of online learning resources with my school because I’m homeschooled.’’

Henry: ‘’ Yes, I did do online learning for a lot of my second semester of my school year at North Star.’’

Q: How have you been occupying yourself during this crisis?

Josie: ‘’ I watched movies, TV shows, and I go on TikTok a lot, which is fun. Also, I been trying to be active and creative for the most part.’’

Jefferson: ‘’I’ve been playing a metric ton of Xbox, so many video games, and I been doing odd jobs around my dad’s house and my mom’s house. Really, anything you can do inside; I been doing it.’’

Nick: ‘’I’ve been mainly playing a lot of chess with my grandpa. I’ve been trying to learn a lot about chess and trying to become better at the game. I also have been trying to find a job during this crisis. So, that’s been keeping me pretty busy.’’

Willa: ‘’I’ve been doing a lot of reading, roller skating, and drawing a lot. Which has been fun so I can improve a bit more. I have been writing letters to my friends that live far away.’’

Henry: ‘’ I have been having a lot of an online presence in my own little communities that I have found online. Not much to do with the pandemic. But I have been keeping myself occupied. ‘’

Q: What is your passion, how have you been spending your time working on it?

Josie: ‘’ I actually recorded a song the other day and I was really proud of it. So, that was cool. Maybe, it’s like a silver lining of everything.’’

Jefferson: ‘’ Since probably fourth grade I’ve played trombone. So, I’d say that’s probably one of the biggest and most consistent passions I’ve had, along with any social activities. I just really enjoy communicating with my friends, spending time with people, going out and doing things. It doesn’t have to be anything specific.’’

Nick: ‘’ I’ve been writing a lot of music with my friend Connor. Me and him have been writing. We probably spent around ten hours so far. So, I definitely have spent a lot of time during this pandemic working on music.’’

Willa: ‘’Definitely roller skating and drawing. Those are my two really big things.’’

Henry: ‘’ My passion at the moment is Magic: The Gathering. It’s a card game. I’ve been having a fun time collecting them, and spending money that I got on my graduation and my birthday.”

Q: What has the corona virus taught you about yourself and the world at large?

Josie: ‘’This is kind of sad, but it’s taught me that our current government is kind of inefficient, and a lot of people are disadvantaged because of the way the system works.’’

Jefferson: ‘’ It taught me how much I rely on everyday human activity that you sort of take for granted. Being out of school and not being able to go visit your buddies or see family takes a toll. There have been a lot of examples where people from all across the world have come together, and supportive of each other and trying to make sure we handle this virus as one. It’s also taught me that sometimes ignorance just cannot be fixed. Some people are just stupid.’’

Nick: ‘’ It’s taught me that when it gets tough and you have to completely change what you’ve been used to and what you been doing that I personally am a lot more adaptable than I thought, and everyone around me has been super adaptable as well. So, I guess it taught me that there are some people that can adapt to drastic change and kind of thrive off it to be honest. My mom, for instance, has started selling jewelry online during this pandemic and sustained herself through it.’’

Willa: ‘It’s taught me that I’m really dependent on human interaction outside of my family. I didn’t realize how much of an extrovert I was until I couldn’t hang out with people. The world continues to disappoint me of how it handles crises, how there are people out there protesting against wearing masks for a pandemic that could kill you. It’s so infuriating to me.’’

Henry: ‘’ It has taught me that I really need to be among people that I care about and people that I am familiar with to feel confident in myself. It really dampens my heart a lot when I can’t see the people I like too often. It’s also taught me that the world is a very messed up place.’’

Q: What has your response been to the black lives matter protests?

Josie: ‘’I personally was really behind the movement. I attended a couple of protests and I thought it was a really good experience and I hope that there will continue to be protests and I really hope that we get to make some change.’’

Jefferson: ‘’ I am in full support of them. I’ve been to a few of them. I wish I could have been to more. But during these times, it’s hard to maintain the balance between safe and support. I think it’s great that so many people, especially young people, are fighting for change that should have happened years ago. It makes me proud to be from Richmond to see everything that’s going on, to see nightly protests. We’ve got the monuments down, signing petitions, and everything, getting George Floyd’s murderers held accountable, fighting for Breonna Taylor.’’

Nick: ‘’ I’ve been very happy to see it and I’ve gone down to the protests and I protested. I definitely support the Black Lives Matter movement. I’ve been signing petitions and trying to make a change.’’

Willa: ‘’ wholeheartedly agree with it. It’s super exciting for me. I think that now that everyone is kind of out of work a little bit or working from home it’s easier for people to go out and protest. I’ve gone to the protests in Lakeside, and I’m also trying to organize a little protest for teens and young adults my age to skate and do a little protest.’’

Henry: ‘’ I’m really excited that all of this stuff is happening at once. Far too often, the Black Lives Matter movement has been brushed under the rug and not many people have appreciated it.  With the presidential election just around the corner and the monuments being taken down in Richmond, things have been moving forward a lot faster than they would have in the past.”