Monday, May 18, 2020

Teenagers in the Time of Coronavirus

Teenagers in the Time of Coronavirus


Being physically and socially isolated through the coronavirus crisis is not easy for anyone. The bitterness of isolation has affected teen lives and young adults more than any other age groups. Communication with friends and family, connection with peers, and physical activities are essential for children, teens, and young adults. It is through social activities that they will develop healthy body, emotional intelligence and strong personality.
While starting and keeping close friendships is critical in the process of growing up, it is also important to develop social and emotional growth. These skills provide them the abilities to be prepared for more challenges in their future tasks.  
It is crucial to young adults to learn through social life the skills to cooperate, solve conflicts, and understand each other’s needs. It is also important to learn about themselves; their uniqueness, their ability to give and be given, to have fun and make others laugh. 

Most of the teens now are spending a considerable amount of time on TikTok, Instagram, FaceTime, video Games, watching films, YouTube with memes for hours with enormous fascination and obsession. A new phenomenon called youth Culture has brought a concept in which teenagers design a subculture with certain norms, interests, behaviors, vocabularies, clothes, fashions and beliefs that differ from the culture of older generations. The new teenage culture in digital age is someway foreign to those born before the millennium.  Film series such as Normal People, Sex Education, Everything's Gonna Be Okay and many more, are recently bringing the phenomenon to light, by analyzing and studying this particular culture through their eyes. 

Having this in mind, focusing on how different age groups deal with isolation in the time of Coronavirus quarantine, I interviewed a brilliant fifteen-year-old “Kian”. A teenage boy of so many different talents. “Kian” is indeed an extraordinary individual, reflective and profound since his childhood. I have always admired his imagination, creativity, poetic perspective and intelligence.  I must admit that I have been in awe of his achievements all these years as a writer, photographer, actor, dancer and music lover. But this current two months during the quarantine is an exception. He wrote two graphic novels, three screenplays and took large number of photos since March 15.

“Kian” wakes up every morning, fixes his breakfast, helps his parents, participates in zoom classes, faceTime’s with his friends and then works on his scripts as he acts out each character he creates. Great in writing dialogue, significant in sci-fi genre, he forms a theme with conflict in situation and characters, with interesting humorous atmosphere and colorful language.  

Title: From the collection of: Worm's Eye

Here is my interview with him:

Q- How would you like to introduce yourself to those who do not know you?
Kian: I hope I can be one of those people that can help find someone a new place in this world.

Q- How old are you? What are your interests in life?
Kian:  I am 15 years old. I would someday like to become a filmmaker or a photographer.

Q- How do you describe yourself  living in the time of corona quarantine as a teenage boy? How do you describe the situation?
Kian:  I have mixed feelings during the quarantine. I feel lonely since I cannot have physical contact with my friends. Most of the time, they are not available to FaceTime. I also feel like I get a lot of stuff done considering there is a lot of time to spend in quarantine.

Q- How was your first reaction about the deadly virus and the global lockdown?
Kian: At first, I thought that was the time when the world would finally end. But when I heard the doctors were doing everything they can, I found that there was hope that things can get better one step at a time.

Q- How do you see the effect of the pandemic on human’s life? Any predictions about the future effects?
Kian:  I think people will be more cautious around the environment by washing our hands more often and limiting physical contact.

Q- Describe how your life has changed through the experience of isolation?
Kian:  It’s been more quiet now that it’s just me and my family. I have to take care of myself and my family more often by doing chores such as washing the dishes, taking out the trash, doing me and my family’s laundry, etc.

Q- What do you do with your time?
Kian:  I like to play video games, but I’m dedicated to writing stories.

Q- Describe the positive and negative sides of this situation.
Kian:  The good thing is that I can spend all the time you’d like. But the con is I can’t spend time with people other than your family physically.

Q- Did the lockdown/isolation change your perspective of life, of yourself and of those you know?
Kian:  Yes. It has made me more aware of people and everything surrounding us that has a purpose to be in this world.

Q- what are your dreams about tomorrow?
Kian:  I dream that tomorrow, my daily goal(s) can be achieved.

Q- Do you remember your dreams at night? Any interesting dreams you have had recently?
Kian:  I remember most of my dreams and get inspiration from that dream and apply it to my stories.

Q- You write screenplays and you do photography. Talk about your experiences. How do you make a distinction between the two artistic genres/mediums? I would like you to elaborate on the form of writing for film/tv ( Sci- fi) and creating poetic moments in photography ?
Kian: Photography helps me deal with stress. I like to take different angles or filters to get my mind off of other things. Writing helps me feel active and creative.


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