COMMODORE MEDIA GROUP

Teenagers entered a summer unlike anyone has ever experienced. For many teens, summer provides time to hang out with friends, take trips, earn money, and get a little freedom. During this summer everyone was trying to figure out ways to cope with the effects of COVID-19. Teenagers normally find a summer job, so they can earn a little money, but there weren’t many places open for anyone to have a summer job. At the beginning of summer, Mississippi was put on lock-down, almost everything was closed except grocery stores and gas stations. The lock-down was the hardest for teenagers. All places for teens to go like your basic hang out areas for teens were either closed or had limited openings like pools, movies, restaurants, etc. Many teens’ parents got laid off from their job due to this pandemic, so even when companies did open back up not many were able to do anything.

“I was really sad that I wasn’t able to see my friends this summer. There wasn’t much for me to do. I started writing and keeping up with my everyday life. I did my basic morning routine and ate breakfast and got started on my virtual assignments. I would socialize with friends virtually either through Face-time or text message. I and my family would just get out of the house whether it be just a drive down the street or a trip to the store, we just enjoyed being away from home from time to time. I got to spend more time with my family and that excited me. This pandemic had a negative and positive impact on her life” said Jamiya Freelon.

During quarantine, I got tired of looking at the same room, so I decided to redecorate my bedroom. I painted my bedroom walls from purple to white, I got a new bed, and I got new decorations for my room. Many of my room decor ideas came from TikTok. I kept myself occupied due to TikTok and my siblings. TikTok became my best friend, I flipped down my stairs making a TikTok. Yes embarrassed you say, but at least my goofiness kept me sane. TikTok blew up this summer due to many not being able to go anywhere.

This summer was not your usual carefree summer because of masks and social distancing. Many teens didn’t just have their typical summer with friends canceled. Many had plans to spend their summer practicing for sports and or playing sports which were either delayed or canceled. Sports mean a lot to many teens, so with the delay or cancellation of sports I know many weren’t too happy. During summer some teens look forward to playing summer sports with traveling teams. No one was able to go back to sports until the middle of summer and even when they were able to go back things weren’t the same as they used to be things were different like football boys could only workout, no contact or anything. Many AAU basketball teams weren’t having a season anymore and some were.

Mariah Reed said, “I felt pretty sad. Gyms weren’t open due to us being on lock-down. I practiced and worked out every day, but it wasn’t the same. Basketball is everything to me, I feel as if basketball motivates me. Basketball keeps me positive, I can let my anger out on the court. Without basketball, I wouldn’t care for many things like I do now. The delay of AAU basketball made me feel some type of way then when it started back we didn’t play as many games as we normally would. COVID-19 had a negative impact on my summer.”

COVID-19 has had both a negative and positive impact on teens’ summers. Some figured their way around this pandemic and still found ways to enjoy themselves others were bored and hated that they couldn’t enjoy their summer like they wanted to.