Teens of the 21st century have a distinctive type of stress due to the current pandemic guidelines and lifestyle.

People have had a unique lifestyle since March of 2020, when Covid-19 stormed into the lives of people all over the world and soon was declared a pandemic.

High schoolers have had major changes in their school years; something that they never expected. 

Many students are very familiar with quarantine; regulations have shifted greatly since the beginning of the pandemic, but currently the guidelines for quarantine require about a week out of school, depending on your individual situation.

Quarantine affects everyone differently. Students have differing classes, teachers, Internet connections, and workloads that can affect how their quarantine period goes. 

“School alone is stressful. School on quarantine is much worse,” said Kota Amos, sophomore.  

On quarantine, people have to isolate. “I feel like it [quarantine] provided a break from normal school, and it was not what you’d expect,” said Tristan Hernandez, a tenth grade student. “When I came back to school, I was able to start over with a fresh mind.”

Some people came back from quarantine actually feeling refreshed from their break from school and all of its work. There are positive mental health aspects after taking a physical break from coming to school. “It gave me the time to be still,” said Sarah Williams, a tenth grade student. “And it forced me to sit down and rest,” Williams said.

“I guess since I was in quarantine, I was able to focus on myself,” said Cali Perry, a ninth grade student.

When students come back from their quarantine, many are expected to just get all of their work done while also completing current assignments. It can be quite stressful to attempt to catch up on all of one’s work when being bombarded by teachers for tests and late assignments.

“The workload was really large. There were lots of papers, notes, things they just didn’t give me during quarantine,” Perry said. “I was more stressed. And there were so many expectations when I came back [from quarantine].”

“I was very behind,” Williams said, “I had to spend more time on my school life rather than my social life.”

Quarantine forces kids into a limited social life. Many felt that they were alone, so they enjoyed coming back and being able to see and talk to others again.

“I missed talking with people,” said Perry, “I couldn’t text or talk to people either because they were all at school.”

“I missed socializing, and seeing people.” said Williams. “Things were a lot better when I got back though; there was a more sense of normal.”

There can definitely be a lack of normal when secluded for any period of time. Good mental health during quarantine is difficult.

“It was worse [my mental health], but it got better as it went on and I got more used to it,” said Williams.

“My mental health was bumpy,” said Perry. “I was okay until my work started piling up.”

Some things are lost forever because of quarantine.

“I feel like I missed out on starting out high school, I didn’t get the full first month experience,” said Perry.