#changesofcovid19

Kabataan Essay for the Youth written by: Marie Rosalina D. Valencia (Grade 12 HUMSS Quartz)

So much has changed in the lives of so many people ever since the breaking news about COVID19 was shared to so many newspapers, radio and television stations and online websites that publish articles for people to read. Before countries were put on lockdown, people were advised already to wear face masks whenever they were outdoors. They had to evacuate where they were by having buildings full of businesses, like resorts, restaurants and malls or shops stop services an hour or few hours early before the regular time of it closing, wait in long lines at grocery stores to purchase the needed groceries, and observe curfew hours in a certain city or state in the country. Some schools had to cut class hours, some schools had students pack up all of their things early before the last day of classes, and students had to submit their assignments a few days earlier before the actual date of the deadline, as the school had to be disinfected with a spray created for the virus. At that point, not a lot of people were able to go out of their homes, some places looked like a ghost town with nothing but silence, and students were left wondering when would the date of school recognition or graduation-depending on the grade level be, when would they be able to see their teachers, friends and classmates again, when would they be able to visit the school again, and how it was going to end.  

I remember back in March of 2020, how I was one of the students days before the president of the Philippines announced that the country was about to go on lockdown, that went to school to submit my assignments in the school faculty where most of the teachers were, leaving folders, notebooks, scrapbooks, and papers on their desks. I had rush to go to school even when classes ended to make sure my teachers had checked my work before the school completely shut down, although there was that one time I left an important assignment at home, that I had to travel from the university all the way back home just to get it, then go back to the school in order to submit it, before the door of the faculty was left on lock or closed. I even went to different nearby computer shops just to go online and search for something I needed on the borrowed computer, used my USB to print something, and asked to have it xerox copied following the request of one of my teachers. After taking care of all of my submissions, I was finally able to spend some time with my friends by roaming around the school like we always did debating where to eat good lunch or staying somewhere outdoors that was cold and we had easy access to the school WiFi, talking about people, ranting about the assignments or classmates that were annoying us, while we ate and drank and used our phones. Before the day ended, we all went home at the same time waiting for a ride by the entrance of the university, thinking about when would be the next time we would hang out again, and I remember thinking that the lockdown probably would not last that long, maybe it will stick around for a week or two, but little did I know that I was wrong. 

For the first two months of the lockdown (April to May 2020) I mostly had to stay at home, only went outside to go grocery shopping at the nearby convenient stores like AlfaMart or 7/11. I was not able to see my friends yet I found ways to keep myself busy for most of the time during summer break by doing what I could at home-cleaning my bedroom by rearranging the furniture, organizing my wardrobe, putting away my belongings in drawers or boxes they belonged in,  throwing out stuff I could no longer use or could be considered useful and sweeping the shelf full of books some I was able to read. I also became interested in doing arts and crafts again by writing all about the things I love in my journals, designing a scrapbook I owe full of memories before and during the pandemic, writing letters I wrapped up and sealed I planned to give to my friends, as well as learned how to properly gift wrap presents. I found these activities very fun, but it was still hard for me to adjust to the system that the lockdown was during that time, other things I did other than that and household chores and errands was to use my phone to clean its storage to be able to use more of its space, scrolled social media out of boredom until I became burnt out with everything I saw related to COVID19, played music and watched a lot of videos on YouTube, and I even got to try online shopping by using my remaining allowance from school on Shopee. By June, I was able to go to the mall and after, visit my grandparents-by October, I was able to meet up with my friends 7 months after we last saw each other back in March, and 3 months after we started online classes in Senior high school. 

As 2020 continued on, I started to notice so many changes with the outbreak of the virus on the news. Filipinos were fighting to keep their jobs as a lot of other people in the country had lost it and had to think and look for alternatives just to feed their families-like the Jeepney drivers who went on a strike with the news about how their vehicles were soon meant to be replaced by modern jeepneys that were being invented and tested in Manila, a lot of small businesses opened up a lot of opportunities from people who had lost their jobs, grocery stores constantly ran out of rubbing alcohol, wipes, tissue paper rolls that other people had to fight other people for, it became advisable to order food and items online delivered directly at home instead of going out to the restaurant or mall where a person could make contact with another person without knowing whether or not they have the virus, temperature checkers at malls were taken seriously although other people made fun of it and turned it into a meme on social media, meetings that were meant to happen in person, face to face had to be done through the use of applications and websites that offer voice and video calls like Google Meet, Messenger and Zoom, and forgetting to wear a mask and bringing a face shield had consequences as it already became part of everyone’s everyday use and modern fashion. 

Since most students in the country have started their classes with the help of moodles and modules, it has become difficult for some to make friends with their own classmates as communication is not frequent outside of class hours or it can be considered as awkward online. As a requirement for teachers to recognize their students, they must have working cameras and microphones to use during classes, that not all are able to provide-some students only have one working device that they use for everyday use other than school. Not to mention, how slow the internet connection can be living in a third world country. It has also been observed how students get burned out or drained easily from doing a lot of assignments other than quizzes, class recitations and listening to the discussion of their teachers at home, from Monday to Friday. Using social media has become so toxic with every post and feature it has-there is a clash between the posts of the privileged and unprivileged people, people who became famous overnight that their followers noticed later on do not deserve their fame for doing something so simple or silly easily consumed by their own fame, and how cyberbullying and scamming others has become a common trait for all platforms. 

Another thing on social media, a lot of children and teenagers have become exposed to its usage that they started joining the latest trends and wanted to look like other people who were older than them-rushing to grow up to look like all these models, celebrities and influencers who were known to using filters, photoshopping their photos and even undergoing surgery procedures to have their faces and bodies done to look attractive. They would even dress up wearing clothes that are revealing, showing their bare skin, inspired by their role models, when they do not realize their own age gap between them and the people that inspire them, as well as how they are able to handle the risky situations of social media like predators grabbing and stealing their photos for personal use, being bashed or catcalled online, as their bodies are underdeveloped yet and they do not have the proper mindset like their role models have to handle situations like that-the way a child or a teenager thinks is different from how an adult thinks-there is a big difference with their way of thinking. As a teenager, I have experienced other people grabbing my pictures and making multiple fake accounts using my name on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, yet the photos the person I knew grabbed were not photos of me wearing anything revealing or sexy, I did not set these photos on Facebook to a set of specific friends only at the time, yet with the help of my friends we reported the accounts that used my photos and after a week they all disappeared from Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. There is nothing wrong with children and teenagers having fun or the way they want to express themselves or show themselves off on social media, but they should realize the risk of uploading their photos online and how the actions of other users can affect their mentality when they do not know how to handle the situation-even when they claim that they do, it should be notable that they only share it to people they really trust, like a handful of their friends and family only instead of the public eye full of people who do not have good intentions, and make sure not to engage in conversations with them-what is uploaded on the internet, even after it has been deleted, somehow, stays on the internet forever. However, it is ideal for children and teenagers to wear what they want to wear by the age of consent in their country or state, with the permission of their parents and when they best know how to deal with the ugly side of posting on social media.