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GEN Z: growing up during a pandemic

Gen Z is growing up during a pandemic. They have a message for the rest of us
By Madeline Holcombe, CNN

Published Oct. 29, 2021

As the United States has grappled with a deadly pandemic of historic proportions, young people have been watching.

Many were old enough to understand its challenges — yet too young to be making key decisions themselves. But they felt Covid-19's impacts nevertheless as the country weighed central debates: virtual learning or in-person? Masks or no masks? Vaccination mandates or not?

And with another school year underway, young people are once again at the center of much of the conversation. While health experts promote school mask policies and an increase in vaccination rates to protect students who gather in classrooms, some governors have pushed back.

Many young people told CNN they felt helpless while others worried about their mental health. "This pandemic has brought me self-reflection and analysis, but it also was a test on the world and this country, and I fear we are failing," said Ella Stromberg, a 17-year-old from Vancouver, Washington.

Young Americans may not have autonomy over how they attend school, if their families get vaccinated or the policies elected officials implement, but they are observing the victories and pitfalls of those who do.

During the recent Covid-19 surge leading into the school year, CNN asked Americans 16 and over what they've taken away from the pandemic thus far. Here's what they had to say.

What I lost:
From academic success to social life, those who responded said the pandemic took away important parts of their youth.

Ella Stromberg — 17 years old, Washington state:
"The pandemic has caused me to see death all around me, with thousands of people dying everyday, and the realization that I cannot do anything about it besides following the safety guidelines.... I've experienced many nights of wishing I could do something more for those who were affected by this virus, and at the same time, becoming more and more mad at people who are not taking the virus seriously.... I have these thoughts everyday, obscuring me from fully focusing on myself and my education. That's how the pandemic has affected me. Taking me away from what it's truly like to be a teenager in high school. I'm angry, grieving, and just downright scared. As a teenager, I shouldn't be worrying about what I can do for the collapsing world around me. I should be living a normal life. The pandemic has taken that chance away from me, and every teenager on this planet."

Sebastian Fraccari — 17 years old, New York state

School lost its time limits, it was more work and all the time, weekends, after hours, cuz we got the classwork as well as homework and had to complete all the work or we'd suffer consequences.
Julia Mauk — 22 years old, Delaware

The country quite literally shut down on my 21st birthday, two days later I was fired from both of my jobs (due to the university closing), had less than 72 hours to pack everything I own from my dorm that I was being kicked out of and drive 22 hours back to the east coast where I would spend the first half of the pandemic.

Ella's pandemic scrapbook:

We asked our respondents to send in some pictures that they felt best described their pandemic experience. Ella Stromberg, a high school student from Washington state, said the pandemic left her struggling to still be a teenager in the isolation and divide.