To think young people have been totally forgotten ??

[Mossang3l]

I was watching something earlier and it was the very elderly talking about how the community has come together to take care of them. Christmas dinners, companionship, gifts, phone calls, check ins etc. Wonderful. I’m very happy they are being looked after.

But it’s really struck a chord with me. There is NOTHING like this to look after the young even though they are sacrificing so much for everyone else.

They don’t have careers or adult social connections, they’re probably single, they’re missing their educations and exams, they’re probably the highest percentage to have lost their jobs, they can’t see their friends, their future prospects have been reduced massively (through the economy, educational inequalities, brexit etc).

They’re all lonely and isolated and scared and all that adults seem to do is bitch about students and the young. They’re moaned about and criminalised just for being young (well they were is September anyway but it’s stuck I fear). Far too many of them are committing suicide and yet still nothing happens.

My daughter (20) lost her job and can’t get a new one, hasn’t been into uni once and is so lonely. She signed up to volunteer with every organisation she could find and hasn’t heard back from a single one.

Surely we need to be doing more to help the young ? I fear they are being totally forgotten and may be having the worst time of all.

Opportunities will be different but there will be opportunities - It isn't great but it isn't the end of the world either.

It's very very easy to say that if you didn't have to have your opportunities curtailed when you were a young person and see the effects of that your whole life.

I haven’t read the whole thread before I posted so apologies if I’ve read the tone of the the thread wrong.
I thought this was a thread about how impacted our young people were?
I didn’t realise some people were questioning the protection of elderly and vulnerable?
My dd would never accept a vaccination over any older or vulnerable person.
I believe our young people have been demonised to a certain extend and that they have sacrificed greatly and have been proud to do so - ❤️

As a 50 year old, I'd gladly give up my place in the vaccine queue for a younger teacher with no underlying conditions if it meant my DS14 was more likely to get an ongoing in person education. Not sure my vulnerable 80+ parents would be quite so keen though.

The Other is right. I graduated in a very difficult time too - 1982 - the worst unemployment for FIFTY years ( 3m) and only 15% of people could go to university anyway then. Women had only just got an equal pay right a decade before. Even in 2020 we have fewer than 3m unemployed and that was today on higher population numbers so yes really really bad. People forget and think the past was sunny uplands. Anyway it did not come right for most of the class of 1982. Many of those who graduated never were able to move into graduate work. they were utterly blighted by that 3m figure. Even I top of my school and my y ear at university with prizes in law still had to apply to 139 law firms and have 25 interviews before getting my first job and yes I did get one although I was never made a partner.

My point is that in 2020 we (not just the UK but most nations) have chosen to sacrifice the young for the old and it was the wrong choice. We chose restriction over freedom. We chose a collective nanny state. I am certainly not prepared to pay for it as since March I have been against it. Give us liberty or death. Having to check legislation to see if you can leave your house is not a way to live.

My 2 youngest are 22 and 16. The elder hasn't gone back to uni to do his masters, I feel a good thing now hopefully he can do it next September, his pub job is no longer though he's furloughed and has now got a job at a testing centre. He can't see his friends etc etc.
My DD missed out on her prom, her correct GCSE results (even though we were happy enough with the predicted ones she'd have liked to have something to show for all her hard work), her 16th birthday in August was friends picnicking in the park, no socialising at all, having to isolate twice from sixth form as people on the periphery of her friendship group had Covid.
However in the grand scheme of it all, they've not had it too badly. Though their nanna, my mum, passed away earlier this month after four years of suffering from cancer, and that has definitely knocked them both for six even though it was expected.

As usual with these threads ,there are some really unpleasant attitudes ,it's not just about saving 80-90 year old,s ( although why people think that people of that age lives matter less is beyond me ) there are plenty of vulnerable people with underlying conditions that are in their 20,s ,30,s 40,s etc too .

I agree there is something really disgusting about this thread. People saying "fuck the rules - they should be allowed to go to gigs and have sex with randoms, just like what I did when I were a lass"! It isn't fuck the rules, fight them. What you are actually saying is fuck the vulnerable. Sick.

This isn't every poster obviously, before anyone jumps up and down. If you read my posts, you'll see I am worried about young people...in fact, anyone under 40 has been handed a shitty stick in terms of job prospects and the housing market. But now is not the time. If you've, until now, been cushioned from the problems facing many people in terms of housing and careers, then you are extremely lucky. The posters who talk about going to gigs as some sort of god given right sound unhinged and out of touch. Honestly, I haven't even been to a covid ward, but just hearing about it is enough to find these comments massively fucked up.

@FuckOffDailyFailure - totally agree

@FuckOffDailyFailure

I agree there is something really disgusting about this thread. People saying "fuck the rules - they should be allowed to go to gigs and have sex with randoms, just like what I did when I were a lass"! It isn't fuck the rules, fight them. What you are actually saying is fuck the vulnerable. Sick.

This isn't every poster obviously, before anyone jumps up and down. If you read my posts, you'll see I am worried about young people...in fact, anyone under 40 has been handed a shitty stick in terms of job prospects and the housing market. But now is not the time. If you've, until now, been cushioned from the problems facing many people in terms of housing and careers, then you are extremely lucky. The posters who talk about going to gigs as some sort of god given right sound unhinged and out of touch. Honestly, I haven't even been to a covid ward, but just hearing about it is enough to find these comments massively fucked up.

"Fuck the rules, fight the man", not them.

For me it’s not about the missing out but the lack of support, funding and acknowledgement. I have 2 teens struggling which the last lockdown caused in one and made worse in the other. CAMHs support is pretty dire, partly due to funding and partly due to something nobody ever seems to want to fix. There are very few incentives for youngsters to work towards as regards mental health at the moment. It is having an impact on top of the isolation, school struggles, worry about the future and everything else. Families are being left to support youngsters who are quite ill alongside juggling jobs, Covid,worries about pretty much everything and support for their elderly.

There is very much a snowflake attitude and well they’re young, didn’t live in the Blitz so can get on with it. I find it quite shocking. We want our young to support us yet we don’t really want to give back. True colours of our society are showing up politically and socially. It’s quite sad.

This is an absolute non-debate.

There are 2 elements to consider:

1. Current circumstances. All age groups suffer here.

2. The Future. Our young generations suffer vastly more negative impacts here.

Ergo, young people are significantly disadvantaged compared to the rest of the population.

Mitigating propositions include:

• Pay 80% of tuition fees for them, as per the 80% furlough everyone else has received.

• Pay cash grants in order to help students pay their living costs, as per the grants business owners have received in order to pay their living costs.

• Provide laptops, wi-fi, and full-time remote access to teachers for all under 18s still living at home. Leaving this population without access to their peers is akin to leaving an elderly person without access to their peers. And depriving them of the education they need for the future puts them at a further significant disadvantage.

Totally agree. My oldest will be 18 in a few months. He should have been spending 2020 doing all the stuff 17 year olds usually do and it's all been cancelled. Driving lessons have been on, off, on again, off again, on and now cancelled again. He's had two theory tests cancelled. No Highers last summer, did OK in his predicted grades but not the same thing. No university open days. No gigs, trips to the cinema and Nandos with his friends, no going round each other's houses to clear the fridge and watch Netflix. No part time job, no work experience, no placements/internships as everyone's working from home.

It's utterly shit for this entire generation.

Sacrificing their lives for a few old people? Good god this is one of the most self pitying, dramatic threads I've read in a while.

No one on this thread is saying don’t vaccinate or look after the vulnerable or disabled. What people are asking is why start vaccinating the over 80s first? The over 80s can isolate a little longer and we focus on vaccinating the youngsters and front line staff first. Then schools can open etc.

I appreciate that people want to see their over 80s parents safely and once vaccinated they can do that. But what about those with disabled children in care homes who haven’t seen their child since March. Dont they have a right to be vaccinated first?

There isn't enough support for anyone in terms of MH. Again, this isn't a new problem! People in serious crisis get turned away from the NHS. This was happening before covid was even a thing.

I think, that while I do worry about young people, especially in terms of the economy and their career prospects, it is wrong to say that they have no incentive to do anything. The young people I know are either studying online, wfh or volunteering. Whereas, people like sahms, those who have disabilities which mean they can't work are even less able to get out.

It shouldn't be a competition about who has it the worst, but since this nasty thread is here, it does mean there will be counter arguments and what aboutery. Probably shouldn't even be up tbh (the thread I mean).

It's utterly shit for everyone not just the young ,I have a fourteen year old he's missed months of school and not been able to mix with friends etc ,so I get it ,but I also have a disabled child who also missed months of school at his special school ,no respite etc no clubs activities,but I think they would be rather more traumatized passing the virus on to their grandparents who wouldn't survive it or their Dad who is clinically vulnerable but should have many more years left ,.

Whereas, people like sahms, those who have disabilities which mean they can't work are even less able to get out.

And the elderly of course. Sorry to bring up those pesky drains on society and all . [SARCASM WARNING].

Is this really, really not obvious to those who keep on and on about how we should vacconate the more deserving younger people first?

I’m beginning to think it might be wilful ignorance. It feels like the whole shield the vulnerable let everyone else get on with their lives rubbish has been debunked soooo many times. Vaccinating the young in place of the vulnerable just feels like another twist to the same point of view.

If were really bothered about the life chances of the young we would have looked to the countries used to dealing with potential pandemic viruses and seen what they did. We decided that was too draconian which is a valid choice but it does leave us in the situation we are now in. At some point we probably need to decide whether we want to get on top of the virus or continue to sacrifice the lives and livelihoods of the young, elderly and vulnerable in order not to temporarily give away too many of our civil liberties.

How do you deceide whose more worthy @Coffeeandcocopops? Yes I would be devastated if my disabled child was in a care home and I couldn't see him for months ,but it's not up to me to decide whose more worthy of the vaccine first

It’s all relative. DD is now having online lessons but she remarked that, due to the part of the world she was born in, at least she’s getting an education.

I get it has been hard for a lot of people but the focus on what we’re missing, gets in the way of appreciating what we do have.

Agree. Sidelined to protect everyone else, education in the bin, demonized for spreading asymptomatically, isolated from hobbies and friends... my youngest at 11 has developed what is certainly depression and there is so little help to access for him. Formative and teenage years shape the brain. The shaping is currently inhumane and grotesque. Bring on vaccines for young people and teachers so they can get back to developing normally.

@x2boys

How do you deceide whose more worthy *@Coffeeandcocopops*? Yes I would be devastated if my disabled child was in a care home and I couldn't see him for months ,but it's not up to me to decide whose more worthy of the vaccine first

I have no idea how to allocate but I am asking why the over 80s were chosen yet we want to send teachers back into schools in January not vaccinated.

There is an ongoing debate that the over 80s are the guinea pigs. Were we asked if we agreed with that?

So the over 80's are now the guinea pigs ..and so the thread continues..

Well it has to be a bit arbitrary doesn't it if the whole country needs vaccinating my parents are both 78 and my mum is extremely clinically vulnerable more so than some 80 year olds I imagine ,but the government have to have a way to prioritize they can't go off individual cases ,.

People saying this is a nasty thread, there may be some harsh views expressed which seem extreme but we need an outlet to say how worried we are about our young people. I agree with most views here, especially that the government has been pathetic in its response to support young people and there is much anger amongst parents and we are called selfish if we express those views. Yardley X is totally right and I’m leaning more toward Xenia’s viewpoint too.This thread is a vital one for me to read and generally supportive.It should not be taken down just because there is debate on vaccinations priorities.