1. Change: ‘Life Feels Weird’
Several young people used the word ‘weird’ to describe how their life had changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The most frequently identified changes were associated with either their lifestyle or schooling.
1.1 Lifestyle changes. In terms of lifestyle changes, when asked what had changed since lockdown, young people often identified factors relating to their daily routine, for instance: “I was awake around about the same time, but instead of having to get up, I either read a book or just watched my pad and just had breakfast” (Peter). Indeed, several participants noted the opportunity to have a ’lie in”, stay in their pyjamas, and have a more relaxed morning with a “better” breakfast. Conversely, some young people said that their daily life had “mostly stayed the same” (Bruce). One participant recognised that this was due to their parents being key workers: “well my dad was still at work, so it kind of felt that was normal”, although recognised that there were still elements of their daily routine that had changed: “we had a system, so he would come home, and he put his work clothes in the wash, and he’d go to shower, so that’s new. We do that every time we come in now… so… we know we’re safe” (Isabel).
However, for some participants, lockdown presented what they perceived as negative changes to certain health routines. For example, two participants noted that their “sleeping pattern was very bad” (Elsa), another commented on their increased food intake: “everyone in my family were just eating and eating” (Mr Miyagi). Others mentioned the lack of exercise: “normally you’d do martial arts, you’d do football, you’d do swimming. So as well as school you’d be doing all of those things… And then all of a sudden all of that was off” (Jeff).
Some participants described that having to stay in the house during lockdown meant they lost some independence, which they found hard: “[I was] quite upset that I wasn’t able to like see people and go out and stuff. It was quite frustrating because I just wanted to go out but I couldn’t” (Sofee). Often, the frustration was focused on not being able to go out with their friends: “we were locked inside of our houses. And I really like, with my friends sometimes, when I’m allowed some alone time or something, or like I’m allowed to go out with my friend, which I find… that quite nice and nice to get a break” (Jeff).
One notable change in young people’s lives were their relationships with friends and family. For some, they felt lockdown had caused them to drift from their friends: “I definitely played a lot less with [my friends]. I don’t know why it was I just wasn’t really enthusiastic enough to play with them. They didn’t really play with each other as well” (Olaf). Whilst some still enjoyed talking to their friends online, most felt that they were drifting from them and found using technology to keep in touch “really weird, almost unnatural” (Bruce).
1.2 School changes. With regards to school changes, participants tended to focus on their experiences of working from home, and discussed how school was different when they returned in September 2020. Most talked about home schooling, specifically how the timings of their day shifted, and they often finished all of their work early: “We could do it any time that we wanted, so that was absolutely amazing. The work was actually kind of fun to do on like your laptop and all that instead of like a loud, noisy classroom” (Elsa); “because I finished at 11 I didn’t really need the breaks, so that was fine and then I just got the rest of the day off” (Olaf). However, for some participants, they felt that they had lost their sense of routine, and almost all participants preferred “the getting up and going to school routine” (Peter). Without the routine of school, some found it difficult to work independently and motivate themselves to do their schoolwork, explaining: “it was quite tough… it would be a struggle to get me to start doing it” (Trevor).
On returning to school, most participants commented on the extra restrictions that were in place: “It’s a bit weird because you have to wear like masks in the corridors and stuff. And you stay in the same classroom all day. You don’t really get to walk around as much in school and stuff” (McEye). Several young people described how school had “changed quite a lot” and felt “strange” (McEye, Alfred) with the new restrictions, highlighting requirements such as having to sit in specific seating plans, wear masks, be in the same classroom all day, have less breaks, be in bubbles, and sanitise all of the equipment. However, all young people recognised that these changes were implemented to keep them safe: “[before] we wouldn’t have to worry about Coronavirus but now we need to be extra careful” (Isabel).