Covid-19 has affected the entire world and has impacted a lot of people in very horrible and tragic ways, and it’s fair to say that the English government has not handled the crisis nearly as well as it could have. One area in which covid-19 has had large impact is with young people in England and their mental health. 

Covid-19 has left young people in a very vulnerable state as they have not been able to receive the help and social interaction that they urgently need as lots of them may live in unhappy homes and have been left feeling alone, isolated and increased mental health and wellbeing concerns. The UK youth activists have also stated that some of the problems for young people during covid are having a lack of safe space, not having someone they trust to talk to, increased social media and online pressure and challenging family relationships. Social organisations were doing all that they could do connect with the youth and ensure them they’re not alone however not everyone has access to online technologies and for some it is too daunting and difficult to engage with digital communication. Many youth organisations have had to reduce the amount of support they can offer and even had to close because they are no longer receiving sufficient funding from the government despite the fact they are and should be accounted for as one of the most important sectors in the country for all the support and help they give to people. 

A survey conducted by Young Minds revealed that 80% of the participants admitted that lockdown made their mental health worse and 87% said that they felt lonely and isolated during lockdown. Despite Covid-19 having to be the number one priority, it is important to realise that a lot of young people have been through traumatic experiences, had their mental health declined and their lives turned upside down by lockdown. Many respondents in the survey admitted to relapsing back into bad habits such as restricting eating and self-harming. 

Loneliness was also a massive factor that hurt people during lockdown. For many young people, social interaction and meeting with friends is the only escape and coping mechanism in their lives and the impact of covid took that away from them, especially the English government whose terrible and unreliable strategy during this crisis made lockdown much longer than it could have been. 

Many young people suffered from extreme anxiety during lockdown, a big part of this was from the influence of the media who post fake and exaggerated stats to sell papers without considering the fact that this caused mass anxiety and extreme panic attacks in some people fearing for their lives and the lives of those that they care about increasing depression in many young people. The failure of the government and the resumption of a safe country to live in has caused young people to feel scared and sad. The worry of the virus meant that young people were isolating themselves from everything and shutting themselves out to people. 

Employment chances affected by Covid-19 

Lack of employment has also hit young people over the course of lockdown and now after it as well. Many young people have lost jobs which they enjoy doing and use as an escape and now are uncertain about what they should do. It is now extremely difficult for young people to even get an interview now and the constant rejection for some people can have very negative mental health implications, those who thought they had a good job have simply had that taken away from them.One young person in an interview said that she had her job just taken from her and that the thought on starting from square one would be “soul destroying”. 

Effects of Covid-19 on Education 

Another massive factor that has impacted young people is education and exam results. This is one of the largest areas where the English government has failed, they had decided to construct an algorithm to determine the a-level and GSCE results of pupils instead of teacher predicted grades which naturally just makes more sense. This resulted in nearly every single student being downgraded for their A-level results meaning that could not get into the university of their choice, take the subjects of their choice or get the apprenticeship of their choice. Many young people missed out on their dreams because of a government algorithm based on past results and location of the school. It was only mass protests by young people that forced the government to change and use teacher predicted grades. The government caused severe distress for many people. The students that must take their exams next year also have a very unfair disadvantage as they have missed out on months on valuable learning due to lockdown. Schools did the best they could to do online lessons although this was far from ideal and was difficult to learn for a lot of students. This has caused many pupils to feel anxious and overwhelmed by their upcoming exams and the government haven’t made any changes to the exams to make things any fairer for them. 

Despite the terrible impact Covid-19 has had on the world and the struggles adults have gone through. It is vital that people realise the effect that its having on young people and to do their best to support them instead of overlooking them as the “generation that have it easy”. 

Photo by Ellie Brown