As coronavirus lockdowns continue, we asked teens how they cope with the situation. This is what they said.

"My name is Maja and I’m in the first grade of high school in Grójec, Poland.

If someone in January told me that two months later we will have to deal with a global coronavirus pandemic, I would never think that something like this will happen. But now it’s our reality and we have to adapt a new way of lifestyle. That’s how I cope with this situation.

At the beginning I was totally convinced that coronavirus is not that dangerous, but with the passing of time i realised that it is serious. The outbreak caused a lot of anxiety to me and my family. The panic was getting bigger and bigger because there were informations about coronavirus everywhere on the TV and the internet. It was hard to get used to staying at home for such a long time, but I managed to do it. Now I’m a little less stressed, but I’m worried about my parents that they will get infected when they go shopping. Also my plans for holidays and trips were cancelled, so I’m very upset about it.

There are many disadvantages of the quarantine - mainly that I can’t meet with  my friends and have horse riding trainings. 

But also there are it’s positive sides - I have some more time for myself and I spend more time with my family. 

Today is the 26th of April and there are 11617 confirmed coronavirus cases in Poland. Our country is still on the lockdown, also it’s been more than a month since schools have been closed. 

We are not able to go to school, so we have online classes. I’m in the first grade so luckily i’m not going to have any important exams this year. 

I have a schedule for the whole week and usually there are two fourty-five minute online lessons for a day. Teachers also send us some attachments and homework via an online gradebook. 

Personally, I find online learning quite hard. We must work on the material on our own so it’s quite problematic. Sometimes I have technical problems with my computer so I’m not able to take part in the class. Also, I have a little brother who usually interrupts me and I can’t concentrate.

I hope that coronavirus will be gone soon and we will all come back to reality. Now the most important thing is to stay at home and stay safe."

Maja

 

"Now the whole world has stopped due to spearing epidemic. Students from around the world have moved from school benches in front of computers in their homes. My school just like others schools in my country have strated on-line learning. 

First of all this time where we are now is very hard for everyone, because of many restrictions. However, we must adapt to them to protect ourselves or other people from coronavirus. That’s why I reckon that blocking the whole country is the only solution in the initial fight against the prevailing virus.

What about on-line learning? Firstly it was hard to get used to having lessons on video chats, but every week it becomes more and more normal for me. By on-line learning students from my school are getting special materials that are supposed to help us learn at home as much as possible. Another new thing for me during quarantine was having test online. However e-learning is worse than learning in school, because sometimes is difficult to understand a given topic in sciense without a teacher. But school is not only learning but also are friends, I heven’t seen for a month.

In conclusion, on-line learning is a good option to continue studing even in hard times. I reckon that the biggest adventague of e-learning is that I have more time for my passions."

Ada

 

"Due to the coronavirus pandemic in Poland and the growing number of infected, all educational establishments are closed from March 16. At this hard time, we have online school. Teachers send us materials/assignments via e-journal (we have to send them back within a certain period of time). Sometimes, we also have online lessons through the Teams platform. From time to time we have short tests. Personally, this type of lessons suits me, because it‘s easier to solve some topics and I don‘t have to get up to school early, as during normal lessons.

However, teachers give us a lot more than we normally did in class, so we have to spend more time learning. After lessons, we can't see friends and we shouldn‘t leave the house, because we could meet someone who is infected and doesn‘t even know about it, so the virus would spread faster. Although I‘m not a person who often went out, I feel a lack due to the fact that I cannot meet my friends

Fortunately, the situation is changing. Now, we can go outside in masks, meet with friends (we must remember to follow the rules). This change is really good, because it‘s hard to endure such a long time sitting at home. 

Anyway, I hope that we'll soon control the epidemic, find a vaccine, so that we could come back to a normal lifestyle."

Oliwia

 

"Living during a pandemic isn’t something most people have ever expected and prepared themselves for. This sudden situation had changed our lives drastically. These are my general thoughts about the lockdown.

When I heard about on-line learning, I was pretty concerned. Luckily, it turned out not to be as bad as I thought. Most of assignments are understandable and teachers try to help us during online lessons. Of course, learning by yourself isn’t easy and takes a lot of time out of my day, but when I’m done, I still try to be productive.

Spending time outside after being in front of a computer for such a long time is significant, but also hard considering that we shouldn’t leave our homes. I live in a house, so I hang out in my garden and breath fresh air as often as possible.

One of the worst things about the lockdown is missing your relatives. Having no idea about when you’ll be able to visit your family can be terrifying. Also, I’m very sad about having to cancel plans. Many people, including me, intended to travel and now it’s impossible. 

After all, we have to think positive and make the most of our lives during this unusual time. I think we should be cautious and remember that the whole situation depends on us."

Julia

 

"To my mind, lockdown and on-line learning during quarantine is a good way to stop the virus from spreading in Europe. However, the fact is that this is a really difficult and stressful situation for our society. People have to adjust to this new lifestyle.

 First of all, these days technology is at a high level of development, but it is still not enough to prevent some problems. When plenty of people are using the same learning website or e-mail, it stops working and it can be a little bit problematic. In addition, teachers and students who have never worked on-line were not prepared for this type of studying and working.

Moreover, because of the difficulties in on-line learning, students cannot understand the topic of the lesson. For some of them it is really hard to study without teacher’s explanation. If students do not know what they are studying about, the knowledge cannot stay in their brains. 

On the other hand, when students are doing exercises and notes at home, they have got more time to do it and they can feel more comfortable in their own space: bedroom, living room, garden. It can help them with effective studying because they do not feel as stressed. 

In conclusion, for many people this situation is beneficial and they can find a lot of advantages of it. However, there are a lot of people who have to change their lives completely and they don’t like it. Whatever their opinion is, thinking about others is the most important right now."

Ola

 

"In Poland schools were closed at 12thMarch. Since that time, students learn at home. learning is all about self-study and regular housework. Now all my school is in my laptop. I spend about 3 hours a day studying in front of a laptop. My school has been using the Microsoft Teams platform for a week to conduct online lessons. This is really simple and good idea for lessons in pandemic.

In my country, if you want to go out in public, you must have a mask and gloves and keep a distance of 2 m to another person. It is also forbidden to meet in more than 2 people. It is very troublesome but necessary to master the COVID-19 pandemic. In this time, I really miss my friends and extended family, who are very important to me. 

Of course, there are also advantages of quarantine and limited exit from home. One of them is that I have more time for my hobby which is programming. To keep fit a few times a week, run, cycle and do workout at the home gym.

It is a difficult moment for each of us, but we must try to function as well as possible."

Kamil

 

"On behalf of all three, the situation is certainly one of the most critical that the planet has ever had to face. What we are experiencing are certainly difficult days, our daily lives have been literally upset, our habits have changed in a few hours and drastically. The first thing we thought was: What to do in these three weeks of quarantine: cooking or tidying the room? Sure. Reading books left on the bedside table for too long? Definitely. Starting new TV series, watching movies we haven't seen yet? With pleasure. But after 50 days even the most banal affair has become annoying, stressful.

One thing that has definitely changed is learning. We are using a new methodology, distance learning, with which we are quite comfortable. We have a class with each teacher, in which there is a stream in which teachers upload material for lessons or in which we express any doubts and perplexities.

It is certainly a new world, but this too has transformed us, making us develop new skills, which we will need in the future, since an event of this magnitude could have repercussions on the world of work and education in general."

Italian Teens