Virus is Our Enemy

Kids should have a way to express the way Covid-19 has affected their mental health with other kids.

All kids who have tested positive for Covid-19 have not only felt affects physically, but also mentally, emotionally, and socially. Even kids who have experienced the quarantine have been negatively impacted by it. There should be a space where those who have dealt with the mental and social tolls of the virus can help those who have also shared similar experiences. This can help those not feel alone and guilty, especially for kids who have tested positive. Especially with testing positive, kids feel alone with no one else to share their experience with. This can also help with the negative social affects testing positive have caused like losing friends or being deemed irresponsible by the community. Cyber bullying in a Covid-19 era is a serious issue that youth face. I think there should be a service that can be run to share joint experiences.

The American Psychological Association (APA) reports 81% of Gen Z teens (ages 13–17) have experienced more intense stress during the COVID-19. I have personally seen the change in my peers just from going to school. This doesn’t seem like a change just from growing up, this seems different. 7.9 million children under the age of 18 have tested positive. This is why there is a need for this issue to be talked about on a platform. Our generation did not have the same childhood as the ones before. We have to deal with not only the pressures of growing up, but the negative toll of the pandemic. Especially when tested positive, I personally felt like the whole world turned its back on me. 

The kids growing up in the Covid-19 generation including the 7.9 million kids who tested positive. Having Covid-19 made me feel alone, so having an outlet to those who have went through the same thing would be beneficial. Having an outlet can just give a space to talk which will hopefully help mental health.

I have been featured on Newsday, Fox Business and Fox News for what I have been doing with only my Instagram page “Virus is Our Enemy.” With only my Instagram page, kids my age have been able to DM me and reach out to share their experiences.

We live in a time of Covid-19 and mental health is a cause that needs to be talked about for adolescents, especially during this time.

I have only been exploring this idea of kids being able to reach out to talk about their Covid-19 experiences via Instagram and Instagram DMs. I haven’t been able to expand outside of Instagram, but I have had national coverage from Fox News and Fox Business.

I would like to turn this concept into some service or social media. Maybe an app, but I am not educated in developing an app or website, but I would like to learn.

I have talked to about 30 kids who have reached out through Instagram to talk about their experiences through news coverage, but I would like to see more. I would like to help as many as possible reaching the goal of 100+. I would just want kids like me to be able to reach out about their mental health experiences throughout Covid-19.

The impact goal is to make adolescent mental health through Covid-19 a serious topic being talked about. I want to help as many kids as possible talk about what they have been through and feel comfortable expressing it. I plan on developing or collaborating with some sort of technology or social media network to reach out to as many affected kids as possible.

I would do this by staying available and keeping up with the news. The current events of our day are important for this concept, especially with the new variants going around.

I haven’t faced an obstacle to what I have done so far. If something comes up, I will figure out a solution on the path.

I had Covid-19 and collaborated with the tracers. I know how it feels to be down because of the virus and my positive diagnosis. My dad works in hospitality as a restaurateur and has helped me understand how to address others and their situations.

I am not working with an organization yet, but would like to in the future.

I am a teenage girl who has seen a conflict that I feel needs to be talked about. Especially with mental health, teenage girls should be able to talk about it, especially since the teenage girls of this decade have been through a pandemic and growing up.