With the outbreak of the coronavirus across the world, our social lives have suddenly become entirely virtual. The majority of states have issued shelter-in-place orders to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus.
But as the nation attempts to slow the rate of infection, many are squirming with boredom, cabin fever and loneliness. For many, shifting to virtual-only communication has been a difficult and dramatic change. But some high schoolers across the Golden State are coping a lot better because, for them, engaging online is business as usual.
That’s in part because much of teenage social life was already happening online, anyway. For example, El Segundo High School seniors Rahma Sudarmadji and Uma Clemenceau were regularly using FaceTime to talk with each other, updating friends on Snapchat and Instagram and posting goofy TikToks long before the global pandemic forced us all to stay inside and opt online.
At first pass, the everyday moments these girls post might not seem like they’re worth sharing virtually — Sudarmadji sent her friends a Snapchat video of her trip to the bank and Clemenceau once posted a TikTok of herself brushing her teeth. But posting the mundane parts of their days, and seeing their pals do the same, makes these girls feel less alone.
Here’s some advice for the rest of us from some of California’s virtual social experts: teenagers.
Ixchel Arista — Oakland High School, Freshman
“Try to stay in as much contact with loved ones digitally or otherwise without exposing yourself [to the virus] … as well as keeping up with your hobbies, if you have any. My grandmother loves crocheting and knitting, so she’s crocheting and knitting some masks. … Stick to your routine, hobbies, without exposing yourself.”
Uma Clemenceau — El Segundo High School, Senior
“I FaceTime my boyfriend and then me and my friends, we’re setting up FaceTimes to do face masks together and just talk. So just, seeing other people, no matter what that means.”
Sometimes Clemenceau and her friends FaceTime, even if they’re not talking.
“It's kind of like having a TV on in the background. It's just a kind of white noise. But it's more than that, too, cause there’s a connection.”
Clemenceau has some advice for the parents of teens, too.
“Let them connect with their friends because that's pretty much all they have right now.”
