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.

@xenia is that right???? Blimey makes you feel a bit shit really

@Daphnise my friends toddler is a wreck, routine keeps changing (actives open then closed repeatedly), missing family without understanding why they cant visit, scared of people, scared of leaving the house....

I don't know if I'm still a young person but I'm 28 and a student. I've not seen any of my friends since our course went online back in March. My best friend lives in England while I'm in Scotland, we usually meet halfway which we can't now. I can't see my family as they're vulnerable and two have been very unwell recently. I only own a little flat and I've felt really trapped, especially when DS is off school. I'll come out the other side feeling like I've lost the end of my 20s.

Totally agree OP. I have much younger kids and it's hard enough on them. But when I think about my teenage years; the discovery of independence and boys and adventure it's truly awful for the generation that are missing out. When I was a medical student, I went on an elective and worked in a hospital abroad and this cohort of med students are being drafted in to help prone COVID patients. It's so utterly shit for young people. And it must be hard for them as they are not an 'at risk' group so they probably feel as if they are sacrificing for the sake of the older generation!

@Flyonawalk

Lots of examples here of nice things being done to cheer up children and teens. But that’s not addressing the real issue of them being ‘forgotten about’ in terms of policy. Yes people are looking after them, but we have dismantled the world which needed to be kept stable in order for them to have a future.

It’s like cancelling pensions and then saying the oldest members of society aren’t forgotten about because younger people help them out a bit. That wouldn’t atone for taking away their most basic and necessary means of support.

We have curtailed education, services and mortgaged our children’s futures. Arranging some nice activities doesn’t address the damage.

100% agree with everything you have said.

I think we have to remember that without the lockdowns many more young people would have died - unfortunately they are the age group that mix the most as well.

I agree with Xenia's post but it's not as simple as saying only X have died in my opinion. We would never know the true cost without lockdowns, particularly with the new variant and the south african variant.

But yes, I have bloody hated it too.

I think 18-25 year olds have been massively fucked over. All I see is about children or about elderly. And I see a lot of realistically faux concern for children, but no thought to young adults.

So many in this age bracket have basically just given up all their young adult life. None of the things that you normally do at this age and have a limited window to do..

Most of them will be single, living alone or in flatshares. This is an age where you are reliant on friends for socialisation. Many are really isolated and unhappy, and its a very vunerable age. A lot of people its their first time away from their parents for an extended period, and their first christmas without seeing their parents. I think a lot of people on MN show very little empathy to this age group

My brother is early 20s and most of his friends have lost their jobs and are now just sitting in flatshares, it makes me so sad but equally they arent complaining. They just arent seeing their families or bfs/gfs for months. And then will be blamed for the rise in cases when they dont have any money to go to the pub let alone the opportunity!

And its not like when this pandemic is over they will get their lives back. Realistically their job prospects have been massively curtailed. Our economy is in tatters, theres so much anxiety about their futures.

@xenia well expressed. To my mind a catastrophic overreaction, and one which will cause harm for a long time.

I think there are very many lonely older people that we hear nothing about.

Also I am mod 20s and I definitrly feel I have wasted a year of my 20s, when my parents talk about what they did in their 20s Im just sad that I am missing out on that. I feel like Im wasting a massive part of my life.

I agree OP. My dd was unable to complete her 3 year college course due to college closing in April, so they have not received their diplomas and the college hasn’t opened since. She enrolled on another course, at a different college, that had reopened in Sept. She managed two days in college before they closed all the colleges in our area. The rest has been online, except two tutors have been down with Covid, so no lessons on their subjects. They cannot carry out compulsory placement outside of college either. She had a part time weekend job but that has also gone. She has been unable to mix with her friends, even outdoors, since March because me and her dad are on the shielded list.

I really fear for her future career prospects as she cannot get a decent education. I also fear for her mental health. No young person should have to not socialise with other young people. It is damaging to their mental health and well being. It is very difficult for them. There are no quick fixes.

No young person wants to solely have the company of parents. I keep telling her how lucky she is that she can keep up with younger family members and her friends over FaceTime etc. But it is taking its toll 😞

I agree that it’s particularly awful for this age group - but I don’t agree that they’re forgotten.

I have two stepsons - one lost a job due to company going into administration due to Covid, the other is having to do uni online. But in terms of social contact, they have friends. They have the confidence to use technology to stay in touch. They can go out for long walks (in the freezing cold if necessary) to socialise, in a way that often the elderly can’t. They often have parents looking out for them - more than older people have grown children looking out for them? I don’t know, but I think so. And then, as a backdrop to all that, they are much less at risk of serious illness and death.

It’s rubbish for everyone, and it’s especially rubbish for young adults. But I don’t think community efforts for the elderly alone at Xmas is indicative that the younger adults are forgotten.

@Chimeraforce

I agree. My child is 14 and has received f11ck all education in school since March. Her year are meant to have the hpv jab. Meant to have 1st jab Jan 5th 2021. Looking unlikely. She needs both by September as she turns 15 then. She had surgery a week before lockdown 1. No aftercare or physio. Isolated from mates. Older ones, where are the pub, shop jobs for them? Disappearing rapidly. All the while all I hear is bitching. I told the inlaws when they started on at the youngsters. Wish I knew the answer. Throw a dog a bone though😔

I have two year 10s at different secondaries. One was meant to have DTP and Men ACWY vaccinations in March (his sibling had them in Sept 2019!), God knows when the vaccination programme will be implemented again.

He's had 40 days out of school, 6 isolations, since Sept and Covid due to high number of cases in school.
Other DC three self isolations.

It feels like they've been abandoned and YANBU op.

The young are not all lonely or isolated or scared, any more than any other age group. I've been made redundant and been on my own for months, my poor sis has been widowed, another sibling has been sheltering since March.

Covid has hit school children, students, young parents, the middle-aged, pensioners. It has hit us all, no-one has escaped.

I also think that a lot of people my age (36) who get on very well with their parents are viewing younguns moving back in with family through their current relationship lens, where they ring their mum every day and it's all lovely. Did nobody else bicker constantly with their mum/dad/sibling until they moved out? I certainly did!

I agree OP. I feel very sad for young people at the moment. I have thought to myself many times over the last few months that I am relieved to be experiencing this in my thirties with DH and DC around me. I would have found it much harder in my teens and twenties I think.

I agree - pretty well all of the most serious consequences of Covid fall on the 14-30 age group who are amongst the least likely to suffer serious illness from the virus. We really are hanging the young out to dry for the benefit of the retired population who could really afford to stay at home now until the vaccine has rolled out.

It was sickening to read post after post on a thread about schools earlier this week that said that we can shut them down again as there are "only" 3.5 m working mothers and that the children will all "bounce back" when the school reopen.

At least schools are being discussed - the fate of the 18-30s not at university is really ignored - BBC news ran a story last week about the increase in the number of homeless on the streets of London now - everyone they interviewed said they had become homeless due to losing their jobs because of COVID lockdowns - it's a total disgrace that we have flung the generation who will be paying for COVID under a bus.

@Xenia

Yes, we (the world not just the UK) chose through lockdowns to sacrifice theyoung for the old and sick. It was the wrong decision.

"377 people aged under 60 with no underlying health conditions have died of Covid-19 in England's hospitals since the start of the pandemic."

377 v the destructions of so many lives and the huge financial cost to the nation never mind biggest breach of our human rights in our history.

Yes but that is from stats that consider obesity to be an underlying health condition when nearly a third of the population are obese.

100% agree with you. Haven't dared speak to my 14 year old to tell him he might be missing more school. He is so anxious.
My 8 year old needs to see other kids. She needs school.

I definitely think they got the crap end of it all.

I got really frustrated in March (and creeping back in again at the talk of schools closing) that everyone kept saying about protecting vulnerable people from the virus. Which was fine but people who are vulnerable for other things literally do not matter. Children vulnerable due to their SEN absolutely don't matter. Young people vulnerable to their MH absolutely don't matter.

In my opinion if we are focusing our entire efforts on protecting the vulnerable that absolutely must include those vulnerable to the virus and those vulnerable due to the implications of the virus. One group is no less deserving than the other yet they are treated very differently.

We are all suffering it's a pandemic ,a previous poster feels that the age group 18-25 have suffered the most ,it's interesting to note they say they are mid 20,s everybody sees it from their own perspective don't they? My disabled child didn't go to his special school from Marc untill September we have also had no respite ( not that we got much anyway since march ,my fourteen year old has missed months of school ,I haven't seen my elderly parents for months ,this pandemic us affecting most age groups not just one .

I agree OP. I teach in higher education and have small kids and the impact on them all has been huge. The uncertainty for the future is also horrendous.

earlier this week that said that we can shut them down again as there are "only" 3.5 m working mothers and that the children will all "bounce back" when the school reopen.

Glad I didn't see this. What happens if they dont "bounce" back. One of mine is year 10 - he simply doesn't have time as he is in exam years

This has been hard for everyone. I don't think any age group has been forgotten. It's not a race to the bottom. Everyone has missed out on this year. Not just 18-25 year olds. We've all had to make changes to our life's.
Working from home and trying to homeschool children was really difficult. Missing seeing family.
The majority of the elderly aren't proficient with the internet, and have less to do.

Who do I feel suffered the most. My deaf elderly father who was alone for the first lockdown, not speaking to it seeing anyone for months. Or my 18 year old daughter that was able to facetime friends, watch telly in demand and play games.

@Vitaminsss

I agree. I feel like I have wasted a year of my 20s and that my life is on hold

But do you think older people don't feel like that too? People in their 30/40s having weddings cancelled, delaying children, losing jobs and businesses, not buying homes because of the crisis, using up their savings. What about those who are alone in their 30s or 40s or 50s? Threads like this act like life is only really of value up to about 25. Beyond that if you haven't got your shit together, who cares.

@Londonmummy66

I agree - pretty well all of the most serious consequences of Covid fall on the 14-30 age group who are amongst the least likely to suffer serious illness from the virus. We really are hanging the young out to dry for the benefit of the retired population who could really afford to stay at home now until the vaccine has rolled out.

It was sickening to read post after post on a thread about schools earlier this week that said that we can shut them down again as there are "only" 3.5 m working mothers and that the children will all "bounce back" when the school reopen.

At least schools are being discussed - the fate of the 18-30s not at university is really ignored - BBC news ran a story last week about the increase in the number of homeless on the streets of London now - everyone they interviewed said they had become homeless due to losing their jobs because of COVID lockdowns - it's a total disgrace that we have flung the generation who will be paying for COVID under a bus.

I agree with this.

I think most of the long term fallout will be seen by the 14-28 year olds I'm afraid. GCSES messed up & maybe not taken seriously or them taking them seriously going forwards. Lost jobs, careers, not wanting to go to uni/having a good experience, the age where many of us grew a lot in many ways plus more. Being around families 24/7, no travelling, less jobs. Tech savvy but so what? I have a toddler and I'm pleased I don't have a school age child this year, of ANY age but I have thought that the teens/young adults will suffer going forwards.