Can't Stop the Party: Youth and Coronavirus

Can't Stop The Party

For the first time that I can remember, I am having difficulty relating to a majority of my peers. I am perplexed as to why so many people act as if there is no longer a pandemic. Am I missing something? Am I living in some sort of alternate reality? Despite expert models now predicting a potential doubling in the number of Covid-19 deaths by the new year, many young people are still attending weddings, hanging out together in large groups, sneakily partying on campus; essentially going about their daily lives as if nothing is different. When I see groups of people partying across the country on the news and on social media, I get frustrated and resign myself to thinking that the virus is going to be here for a long time. How are we going to finally catch up to the rest of the world and control this annoying virus if so many Americans, especially young people, are unwilling to sacrifice their social lives for a few more months?

  

         I think it’s safe to assume that many young adults see themselves as invincible and that if they do come down with Covid, they’ll likely be fine. Of course, this may be true in a majority of cases. However, this reasoning blinds them from the seriousness of coronavirus and to the many still unknown, long term effects of even mild to moderate disease. With the first wave affecting mostly middle aged and older populations, young people (ages 20-40) are now making up a large portion of the growing number of cases. Why aren’t the facts alone enough for young people to listen? I suppose the horrible mixed messaging that we’ve received from our federal government and the politicization of mask wearing has not at all helped in getting everyone unified and on the same page in what we need to do collectively to win out over the virus.

We often hear the phrase “this too shall pass” in response to the current state of the world. According to most experts, the pandemic will not go on forever and will be, relatively speaking, a short lived experience in our lives. This is why it’s particularly difficult to understand why some people refuse to see the big picture and realize that if we want to have a normal spring or summer 2021, now is the time to sacrifice. 

  

                          Another real and crappy part of all of this is the inevitable feeling of missing out. 

FOMO is real. If you’re at home, not partaking in social events or parties, and watching friends and acquaintances all over snapchat together and having a great time, it feels as if you are the one missing out, while seemingly, they aren’t giving up anything. You think to yourself:  “geez everyone is really moving on and back to normal”…. It’s definitely frustrating and frankly, a little disillusioning because here you are trying to do your part, while your friends and peers seem oblivious… And just to be clear, it’s not like I’ve been sitting in my room for six months. I go out with friends and do things a lot - I’m just not blindly ignoring all guidelines.

 

  

             Even Influencers on apps like tik tok are still getting together in large groups and posting content. This is especially damaging because many young people look up to influencers as examples, and if they’re out partying and having a good time it’s easy for them to think it’s safe for them as well. It seems like everyone is on social media so much more these past several months, and with young people continually seeing images and videos of people completely ignoring covid guidelines, especially those with large platforms, it certainly doesn’t seem like the right message to be sending to be putting out there. 

        So, if you’re a young person reading this and debating whether you should go to that party or sit inside of a restaurant, think more about how good it’s going to feel in a few months (hopefully!) when you can do all those same things without the fear of getting this virus, or worse, infecting someone who is even more at risk.