This is so fucking shit for young people

[ssd]

Yeah i know its shit for everyone before you pounce on me

But imagine being around 20 just now...no pubs, no nightclubs, no jobs around, no buzz in your town centre, no excuse to dress up in something new, or planning your latest night out, meeting your pals and all the excitement of the night ahead.

Its just so fucking shite.

I got the train home tonight from work, Glasgow city centre is a ghost town. Places that were always busy boarded up, of course everything except like of newsagents and tesco's shut. Its Friday night. It was always jumping when i was young, absolutely jumping. It was dead. On the train was a bunch if young boys, playing music a bit too loud, all singing along....going home from the city centre at 6pm!!!!. I could have cried watching them all, a nice sunny evening and the only place they are heading was back to mum and dads, or a local park maybe, i dont know. They were about 18, casual dressed, haircuts, all wanting a good time with their pals and probably hoping to meet a partner if they were single.

Where is the life for these kids???

This has gone on long enough. I dont care if i never see inside a pub again. I've had a brilliant social life at that age. Now they have fuck all.

Its too much.

It is worth noting that the media and the general views voiced over the course of the pandemic has been on the elderly and the plight of the care homes and the elderly. The emphasis from the politicians for so long was the old and elderly - this was seen as the priority. Everyone was stopped from pursing normal life - we were told we were protecting the elderly and the vulnerable - most young people played the role they were allocated and obeyed the regulations. What has happened is that they in my view were forgotten. The damage that has been done to young people through isolation through the destruction of the economy is huge. It is irritating that the young are now being portrayed by some as selfish and uncaring etc - in some ways they are being demonised

We were protecting the NHS, not specific groups of people.

Lack of proms isn’t a bad thing and no pubs or parties means far less alcohol which is better for health so there are upsides.

It’s not the young people I see breaking lockdown or moaning. The majority seek to have accepted it very well understanding the risks to others.

[quote IrishMamaMia]@OpheliasCrayon I agree so much. I commented earlier on the thread. Even in normal times my lovely octagenarian grandparents say that they've had their life. I'm similar to you in that I'm settled down with two kids so as hard as I find everything, we are comfortable with a spacious house, and nice neighbours.
I graduated into 2008 and found it hard to get professional opportunities, it has definitely held me back and this is so much worse. For this age group its almost like a weird experiment :([/quote]
I agree its like we and the older generation have had these opportunities and at the time of life we are at both we and older people are naturally quieter anyway in what we would be doing. Yes I do have a social life for sure as do older people and yes we've missed out on some of that but it's the totally carefree nature of your early 20s where you're experiencing properly moving off on your own for the first time which they are not getting at the moment which is such a shame.
I mean my 20s weren't totally care free , I had more than enough of my own struggles at that time as well, it wasn't all perfect for sure...and I'm aware that isn't always the case I'm being somewhat generic and idealistic but.... They are definately missing out on a huge amount that cant easily be gotten back. Or.... Will the nature of university and how things work now be forever changed and it won't be an experience that students / young adults have anymore..... I don't know

@mustlovegin people who have been retired 30 years have not made sacrifices! How many of our youngsters will be able to retire at 50?? I feel so sad for the younger generation who have had the best years of their lives disrupted and quite frankly have little to look forward to other than a huge financial tax burden

Except:
Probably no NHS when they were born
Probably rationing
Probably lost relatives in the war
Probably did National Service
Coped with 3 day week, stagnation and heating/electricity blackouts in the 1970’s
High unemployment in the 1980’s with high interest rates.

Every generation suffers different hardships.

There’s a sense of entitlement on this thread

@IceCreamAndCandyfloss

Lack of proms isn’t a bad thing and no pubs or parties means far less alcohol which is better for health so there are upsides.

It’s not the young people I see breaking lockdown or moaning. The majority seek to have accepted it very well understanding the risks to others.

I agree. My son doesn't drink, so he's not missing pubs, parties and nightclubs at all. But, he IS missing all the other things that Uni students do, such as their clubs & societies, the gym, face to face teaching, and isn't really enjoying being stuck in his tiny Uni bedroom all day, every day. He's met no one on his course, none of his lecturers are even on campus (all WFH, some abroad), etc. It's been a miserable existence and his studies have really suffered as there's only so much motivation you can scrabble together when you're forced to watch endless repeats of prior years "live" lectures on your laptop screen.

@ssd

For the people shouting ageism on this thread, and it being mn there's always one or 2, this thread is about how shit life is at 20 right now. No one us saying an 80 yr old is nit having it shit too. But yo lose your freedom , social life, education, job prospects at 20 is a lit worse than at 80. And every single older person i know agrees with me.

Plenty are saying 80 years olds aren't having a a difficult time - in fact, they're saying they're having it easy in comparison to young people. You know - "they've lived their lives", "they don't go out anyway", they have cushy pensions they're sitting on" - and that's just this thread.

It has been just one year, and vaccinations are kicking in. There in no need for this gloominess and doom-mongering. Young people don't do it.

So sorry to be bothering you for being the "one or 2" on your thread.

@IceCreamAndCandyfloss

Lack of proms isn’t a bad thing and no pubs or parties means far less alcohol which is better for health so there are upsides.

It’s not the young people I see breaking lockdown or moaning. The majority seek to have accepted it very well understanding the risks to others.

Not sure no pubs and clubs means less alcohol, due to the number of zoom calls with friends - which then means they are drinking home measures and often drinking in a bedroom on their own (well not alone as they have friends there via video call but only SI ally alone.)

I really don't think pubs being closed has reduced what Dd and her friends drink.

Infact she went out last night with her bubble and they drank far less due to being cold outside, restricted time slots and smaller measures..

I totally agree. I have missed my pre-Covid life terribly, but would happily sign up for another 6 months of lockdown for myself if my two DC at uni could have a normal life of hanging out with friends and actually *going" to university!

The ageism allegation always seems to aimed at those being pro young or critical of old - rarely the opposite way.

People think young people have been failed, but I really feel you are failing them now. Feels very self indulging about how much pity you are feeling, about how their future has been destroyed and there is nothing left for them. If you're passing these thoughts onto them, if this is what you think, if all you want to do is get a kick out of how bad you feel without doing anything, then what's the point

Indulgent for parents on a parenting website to express pity? Is that really what you're saying? wow.
Myself, like all parents I know have kept a cheery face and positive outlook with our kids. And you're telling us off for coming on here sharing our concerns and sadness. You sound nice 🙄

@slashlover

So far in the past year we've had

It's worse for babies/toddlers not being socialised
It's worse for primary school kids not being able to get used to being at school
It's worse for secondary schools kids because of not taking exams
It's worse for uni students not getting the experience
It's worse for people in their 20 not getting on the career ladder
It's worse for people in their 20s/30s who've had to postpone weddings/who've been pregnant or had babies
It's worse for people with young kids/people with teenagers/single people/people in shit relationships
It's worse for the elderly.

This - there will be long lasting affects for everyone as well - impacts on younger children or social contact, being behind in learning, job prospects.

Not as much long term stuff for those who are 70/80 but are likely to have died alone, missed company, survived Covid but live with long term health issues.

I’d like to hear direct from that age group but MN isn’t the right place for that.

Like many other posters, my parents - my kids grandparents - have the attitude that they've had their life, their fun, and feel very sad for the impact Covid has had on their grandkids, their education, social and emotiomal wellbeing.

In fact, one lecturer said she didn't want to be in close contact with any careless 18 year olds. Seems like Uni staff don't really like their students and would prefer not to spend time with them. Covid etc is giving them a perfect opportunity to hide behind computer screens.

A friend of mine who works at a uni said that nearly all her colleagus are dreading going back and have got quite comfortable 'teaching' from home, even though it's an absolutely rubbish experience for students. I'm sure not all uni staff have these attitudes, but quite a few do.

On this thread people are expressing their opinions that is not letting anyone down, or being indulgent. Quite often people express their view on this thread are making the best of what has become a difficult situation. To judge in this way I think is very naive

I agree op. So pleased my oldest is just about to turn 14 and hoping his life as a young adult will be more back to normal. In the meantime I am pulling out all the stops for him to spend time with his friends when he can

Totally agree with you op. Was much the same as you last night as my 23 year old Ds came home from work in Glasgow to spend another Friday night with mates on his Xbox and 20 year old dd at uni online. Hoping there is light ahead!

Whilst I agree the young have sacrificed a lot I'm not sure about this idea that they can't make up for lost time. PPs had a wild fun carefree time aged 18-24 (for example) because they could, because certain experiences were available then, not because that's the only age it's allowed. Today's young people might just have those experiences a little later. There's not actually an age limit on clubbing and festivals and travel. There IS an age limit on meeting a partner to have children with but that will affect women in their 30s, not young people.
I find this idea that life has to follow a specific route really difficult and odd. I had awful experiences as a young person so can see how to make up for lost time a little later. But as a late bloomer I really am missing out on some of the very last chances for things in my life. I just want to say to young people, you have time.

@ArseInTheCoOpWindow

"We were protecting the NHS, not specific groups of people."

I never quite bought this argument, firstly because the if the NHS was overwhelmed by Covid cases then specific groups of people (the 80s and those with serious underlying health conditions) would have been more at risk of death. Secondly even if the objective was to protect the NHS then it's not been that successful with over 5 million now on waiting lists. Thirdly the focus on preventing Covid is deaths has resulted in missed cancer diagnosis, increased mental health problems etc, so we have chosen to protect the health of specific groups at risk from Covid deaths over specific groups at risk from say mental health or cancer patients.

Sunny side I think there's a time where you're old enough to enjoy your freedom and finding out who you are and still young enough to be free of the ties that we all have as adults (whether we have children or not). This is about 17-20ish. I'm not saying there's no fun tk be had after that but it's simply not the same.

@Thewinterofdiscontent

It’s been a year. Everything is opening up again. Honestly it’s only recent history that has young people going out all the time. It’s not a divine right. I’m sure young people can find fun anyway, That’s the bloody point of being young.

It’s been a year yes. But two academic years have been affected. If you started university last year, you lost half of your first year and then loads of your second year. If you are only there for 2 years, then that’s a massive chunk of your university experience that you are paying for that has not been delivered in the way you expected when you agreed to pay for it. Paying for face to face tuition and time a labs etc is expensive but worth it. Paying the same amount to sit in your bedroom at home on a zoom meeting? And you can’t get it back, it can’t be redone. Unless you pay all over again...

YABU. Of course, it's horrible that youngsters don't have a social life at the moment. But they have another 60 years or so to catch up.

Imagine being 60 or 70 with no social life AND the risk of premature death. They have a lot less time left.

I think the government needs to for out on the university issue.

For out?
I can't unscramble the auto correct!

@Jaxhog

YABU. Of course, it's horrible that youngsters don't have a social life at the moment. But they have another 60 years or so to catch up.

Imagine being 60 or 70 with no social life AND the risk of premature death. They have a lot less time left.

I agree.

They will get to do many things in the future and whilst they are having to socialise in different ways now they will see a return to normality and have many years left.

It seems to me that the anger on behalf of the young is being amplified by the generation above them, which in the case of parents is understandable.

However what I find very sad is people turning that anger on to the older generation and those who are ECV.

I have teenage DCs and it hasn't been the greatest year for them admittedly.

However, speaking as someone who developed a chronic illness and disability in their early teens and

• missed large chunks of school
• missed friendships and socialising
• was a teenager in a time before mobile phones or the internet
• had to leave university after a year due to not coping with disability there

I still survived and became a fully functioning adult, even though I was medically retired in my early 40s after trying and failing to work and live with my limitations.

I am classed as ECV and have been shielding for a year. Do you think that "I've had my life" to quote pps?
Do you think my DC would rather have lost me than have had to stop going out and having fun?
FWIW they did lose their Grandfather to Covid- but he was in his late 80s so again, according to the pps on here it was no big deal that he died alone having been unable to see any of his children or grandchildren for the best part of a year.

I hope that I am teaching my DC that no one life is more valuable than another and that this pandemic is nobody's fault. I am and never have been a Tory supporter but I still think it will be a long time before we can really assess which countries handled this thing best.

In the meantime whatever happened to showing others some compassion and understanding regardless of their age.