I went to a gala performance that featured original dance material by some young adults in high school. The focus of their work was on their mental health during the pandemic–scenes of childlike dances that turned into stunted awkward navigating and seat-bound screen scrolling.

The program they passed around showed alarming statistics on the correlation between the coronavirus and anxiety and depression in teens. Like this, studies since the pandemic have shown that “1 in 3 teens meet criteria for anxiety disorder by age 18” or how “70% of teens describe anxiety as a problem for people their age” (backed up in this article).

I left with a sinking suspicion that there might be similar sentiments among younger people than teens, and thought I’d interview the kids at the Dat School, the ALC of NOLA (ALC=Agile Learning Center. NOLA=New Orleans Louisiana), a school I work at, to see how their experience of the pandemic compared. I thought I would write a scathing article about how negatively the pandemic affected young people’s mental and emotional well-being.

I wanted to ask who these measures of extreme caution have really been intended to help if x number of young folks are struggling with their mental health amid covid and only y number of young folks who’ve contracted a serious illness from covid (in case you’re curious too, here are the states for child rates of covid-19 in the US).

Then I interviewed Oscar (who consented to have his name used for this interview. Thank you, Oscar! Conversation below is paraphrased to memory).

~~

Madi: Oscar, can you tell me about your experience of this Covid-19 pandemic so far? What has it been like for you?

Oscar: covid sucks. I mean, it was fine at the start, the first two weeks I was still having a fun time. I was in California with my family the day before it hit and we went to an amusement park and I got to ride this really cool roller coaster that I was scared to ride but I actually rode it two times and I’m really glad I did because, after that, everything was closed.

Madi: how was the lockdown?

Oscar: lockdown didn’t affect me that much, I stayed inside. It wasn’t fun but it wasn’t that bad either.

~~~

And there you have it, folks, in writing. My adultish mind expecting something from young people and, as usual, being astonished, having my worldview pǝddᴉlɟ, and feeling relieved after asking them questions and getting curious about what things are like for them. And it always (always) ends up being more nuanced than I could ever have anticipated.

GIVE NOLA DAY: Today is give NOLA day! If you want to support an amazing space where young people are free to learn in their own time, in their own ways, and with a community who supports and respects them, consider donating to Dat School, the ALC of NOLA! The young folks who attend Dat School absolutely love it and wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

Your donations will help the center to prepare for major changes for the 22-23 school year such as hiring a new facilitator at a decent living wage, acquiring a new building to allow space for more families to join the program, and supporting sliding scale tuition funds–Equity is one of Dat School’s core values and the fund provides scholarships to New Orleans families who would otherwise not have access to self-directed learning experiences.

You can make your tax-deductible gift at www.givenola.org/datschool. 

With gratitude,

Madi