Lockdown; A Collective Youth Epiphany?

There's no denying it, students across the nation and indeed the globe are finding lockdowns and the perilous prospects of new and vicious waves and strains of coronavirus draining and it is sending anxiety levels rocketing with the report on mental health of young people in England finding one in six children experiencing a probable mental health issue. We are all missing our education centres and our peer groups hence many young people feel the new digital learning system has resulted in a void of communication and a sense of isolation. However, has the digital world and the sense of time stretching endlessly and emptily into the future triggered an epiphany of lucidity and hope in young people?

Young people's mental health has gone on a rollercoaster ride since March 2020, many youths feel a deep sense of disconnect from their peer groups and share a feeling of having lost a part of their childhood that can never be regained. The first lockdown bought about a sense of permanence and drilling into a dark tunnel that can never be escaped, the second frustration, the third agony. These lockdowns are necessary and important to protect the whole community but the recognition of the damage they are also having is important, especially when it comes to understanding the youth voice. Mental health has not all been negative, however, young people have found a love for nature and a deep appreciation for the self because despite any mental stormy weather we face- we remain, so why not treasure that?

Education has been a tricky and somewhat tedious process leaving many pupils feeling that they are not getting the one-to-one advice from teachers that would usually act as a lifeline in normal times- email conversations just do not feel quite the same. And of course, this is not to say that young people blame their teachers, teachers are stretched and struggling to wrangle with technology whilst also likely dealing with children and the sense of lockdown isolation that all young people feel. It seems that education has become a small online unit speaking to pupils somewhat intermittently but overall trying it's best to stay afloat. Arts students are particularly negatively impacted with a lack of specialist resources such as photography equipment, studios and models to even take photos of in the first place- there is always mum, but could she make the final cut on a portfolio about 'young people and education spaces'? something tells me not quite. This independent learning has enriched some students noting that it has made them rely on themselves and realise their true potential.

The real epiphany however, is going on outside of the virtual classrooms and on social media platforms. The black lives matter movement saw an enormous resurgence in spring 2020 and many young people found out about it online via Instagram, twitter and snapchat with the sharing of online petitions and information about socially distanced protests taking place across the country- notably in Nottingham with one of the largest anti-racist demonstrations to have occurred in the city in over 30 years. Lockdown gave young people the chance to sit back and think 'what the hell is wrong with the world?' and equipped with social media we took action on a larger scale than seen in years. Social media platforms are interesting when it comes to clicktivism and the sharing of events and social movements- they can become a dividing force or a uniting one, so many different opinions in one place becomes a melting pot for ideas and collision. This collision, I argue, is a healthy way of addressing divides in society- youth are opening up and speaking their mind, they are telling people when and where they have crossed the line and organising to make things better. The older generations may be disparaging of young people using social media frequently and obsessively but when it comes to activism is there anything more productive in this time?

So, what was this so-called epiphany of lucidity I talked about earlier? Was it just an aloof and slightly ostentatious turn of phrase? I don't think so. The youth of today have realised that in politics, in education and in life that to love oneself whilst looking out and advocating for one another is the most important but also sometimes most difficult route forward in our journeys. That is the epiphany.