Colman Noctor: The lost generation of covid teens needs our support 

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Teenagers aged between 14 and 17 missed critical social and emotional milestones during the pandemic. They had to leapfrog from play dates and sleepovers, which were largely organised by their parents, to self-organising their social calendar. Many of this ‘lost generation’ continues to suffer due to prolonged lockdowns.

I facilitated several talks with parents in secondary schools recently, and many were keen to hear about ways they can support their children’s mental health as they return to post-pandemic normality. These concerns are shared by teachers and principals who also worry about young people presenting with anxiety and other emotional problems. Many admit they are struggling to know how to respond, given the volume and pervasiveness of anxiety.

Most anticipated that all would return to normal and pre-lockdown service would resume once covid restrictions were lifted. However, this does not seem to be the case in all schools. Teachers report a significant increase in absenteeism which is far more problematic than pre-2020 levels. The origins of these emotional and behavioural issues are unknown, but educators believe lockdowns disrupted young people’s development over that time.

While most covid restrictions were essential, they were not cost-neutral to children’s social and emotional wellbeing. Developmental disruption is not visible at the time but only becomes apparent when the child is tested by their environment. The disruption of normal developmental opportunities like hanging out in an adult-free space and making friends in secondary school was compromised by having to negotiate social distancing and wear facemasks.

Pandemic impact lingers

We need to acknowledge and work with this reality instead of powering through it. I often repeat the phrase ‘just because we have got through something, does not mean we have got over it’ to explain to parents and teachers why the psychological impact of the pandemic will be with us for many years. The pausing of our day-to-day lives through the pandemic has left young people struggling to pick up where they left off. That said, many children have readjusted well to the return to the old normal.

Many parents and school communities associate the losses incurred over the lockdown with academic progress. It’s tempting to focus on the academic and intellectual impact because it is tangible and measurable. However, in my experience, the most significant gaps are in social and emotional development, and this is where we need to focus on rehabilitation.

How do we rehabilitate young people from a social and emotional perspective? We need to offer them opportunities to practice and develop these skills and facilitate spaces for this to occur. While it might be well intended, this ground cannot be made up by filling out wellbeing workbooks. Such books certainly have a role in supporting our children’s mental health, but their social and emotional needs are best met with real-life opportunities.

Many of this year’s Leaving Certificate students, for example, are worried that it is their first time to sit a state exam, having missed the opportunity to sit their Junior Certificate. While they might feel academically and intellectually prepared, the gap in having the experience of sitting a state exam before may make them feel emotionally unprepared for what lies ahead.

This experiential gap is similar to the soft skills young people also missed out on developing. The freedom to organise meetups with friends to hang out and shoot the breeze was hampered. I meet many young people who have an appetite for social interaction but don’t know how to make it happen. They seem restricted to communication via headsets and gaming, and while it’s great to hear teenagers laughing and interacting with their peers while gaming online, playing face-to-face would be far more beneficial for their social skills.

Safe space, healthy risks

Researchers at the UCLA Center for Adolescent Development have outlined core post-pandemic supports. They suggest teens need a safe place to take healthy risks and explore the world and real-world scenarios to build problem-solving and decision-making skills. The environments where teenagers gather need to encourage the development of identity, meaning and purpose. They need to be in communities that support them in building values, goals and group identities. These recommendations are a tall order for any community, but they are more achievable in a real-world setting than in a virtual space.

I believe we need to step up and step in this summer to support this lost generation. Many of them seem rudderless in terms of social opportunities and need help. Traditionally this age group can be difficult to accommodate over the summer period — they are too old for summer camps and too young to get jobs. While Irish college was traditionally an ideal opportunity to develop these skills, it is not a viable option for everyone.

Perhaps communities could consider running summer camps for mid-teens. These could be structured enough to get them together but sufficiently unstructured to allow them to develop social autonomy and offer the opportunities outlined by the UCLA researchers.

Last week I was training an U13 boys football team and before the session started, I watched the lads taking shots on goal, chatting with each other, and having fun. It was an ideal opportunity for informal connection and fun. However, about two minutes later, they were called into the customary huddle, instructed to be quiet, stop messing and listen up as the planned drills for the session were explained.

While observing this, I had a thought: what if we didn’t have any drills today but instead allowed them to have a laugh, shoot for goals, and hang out for the hour? It may not do little to develop their technical footballing ability, but it might have given them an opportunity to practice something more valuable and needed.

I decided not to suggest this as I feared it might be seen as too radical, but it got me thinking: what if we let young people take the lead with the adults playing a supporting role?

Such independent activities need to be introduced carefully. A bit like teaching a child to ride a bike, it is important for the adult to be there to get them started, but equally important to let go, step back and let them off. Communities could explore ways to offer mid-teens an opportunity to meet up together, hang out and develop their social and emotional muscles.

These community initiatives would require relatively little effort but could pay significant dividends to this group of young people, whose lives could be transformed by spending quality time with their friends.

• Dr Colman Noctor is a child psychotherapist