Teen life during COVID

Ways teens are coping during pandemic

How are teens coping in this pandemic? We asked our former Low Down columnist, 13-year-old Lucy Sinclair for her take on COVID-19.

By Lucy Sinclair

COVID-19 has been difficult for everyone. The social distancing rules have seperated people, and being stuck in your house doesn’t help with morale. As part of the teen community of Chelsea, I’ve seen firsthand the willpower needed from my friends to make their own fun at home.

(From left) Lucy Sinclair, 13, and her sister, Sophie, 10, taking a break from social media. Photo courtesy Wanda Sinclair (Lucy’s mom)

I’ve been very impressed with the level of care taken with many of my fellow youth to help prevent the spread of this disease. I’ve recently attended a virtual birthday party, taken part in a friend’s recreational Google classroom and even coaxed my best friend to write 30-page stories with me!

Needless to say, many of my more extroverted friends are struggling to cope with being separated from their tight groups of friends. Although social distancing is hard, many of them have found ways to keep in touch while still keeping each other safe.

As many people know, teens have a natural gravitation towards social media. Our urge to make our voices heard and listened to makes platforms like Instagram and Snapchat tantalizingly appealing. But during this crisis, social media has taken on a new role.

Online chats have become a staple of everyday life. Instead of meeting up in the real world, my fellow teens flock to video chats and group chats to share their COVID stories. It’s inspiring to see the inventive ways my friends are using this time indoors.

As I said before, my best friend has embraced her aptitude for creative writing and come up with some revolutionary character and story ideas. We’ve written at least four novel-length stories, and I’m constantly impressed with her detailed use of descriptive language and realistic characters.

My little sister has taken it upon herself to learn knitting from our aunt, who teaches my sister through chats on Hangouts. My brothers spend a lot of their time exploring the field behind our house and my mom has been baking up a storm (the cookies are incredible!).

What about me? What am I doing besides eating baked goods and writing in my office? It’s a fair question. I miss my friends of course, but video chats have partially filled the hole left by their absence – it’s reassuring to see their faces. The BBC has played a vital role in my survival of this crisis; “Doctor Who” and “Sherlock” are almost constantly playing on my screen.

But veiling all of this is the constant worry about the planet. Like most people, I often wonder if life will ever return to normal. I make plans in my head of all the things I’m going to do when I can finally get out of the house. Top of my list is to drive into the city and just watch as people stream along the sidewalks.

Meanwhile, however, I know that people are working tirelessly to find a vaccine for this virus. It’s empowering to see how well humanity can come together in the light of a crisis like COVID-19 and the youth community is just as intent as anyone to see this virus vanquished.

Lucy Sinclair is 13-years-old, writes for The Low Down, and lives in Chelsea.