Plague of Madness

Here are 44 young people – themselves at little or no risk from covid - whose lives have been wrecked by the gross mismanagement of this epidemic. 

Their stories, against all other young people similarly affected, represent the tiniest tip of the iceberg.

The overall thread, which runs through all these stories, is one of hopelessness, helplessness and fast declining mental health.

Given that they need not have been treated in this way, this is an international tragedy of massive proportions.

Sara-Besme Shabib, 21

Former student in Munich, Germany

Everyone graduating should get a voucher for a burnout clinic

The past year has turned my life upside down. Until recently I went to college, but coronavirus made me lose hope for my Abitur (school-leaving qualification) and I dropped out. It was my dream to study chemistry. But under the current conditions, I just don’t have the head for it. My life sometimes feels bleak, with no prospects.

Alexander Young, 20

Actor working in a pub in Dunfermline, Scotland

My mental health has rollercoastered during this whole ordeal

My job at a pub was a good gig until Covid hit. I'd been working with that pub chain about 20 hours a week while a student. With my student loan and my furlough money, I was doing OK while college continued online. However, my course finished in June 2020, so the student loan stopped coming in.

Andrea Coghe, 17

School student in Carbonia, Sardinia

The biggest challenge for my generation is to find the power to fight for our future and our careers

Before the pandemic, I was a dreamer, usually happy, and I always thought that my future could be amazing – with travel, wonderful experiences, a lot of friends – but now I don’t believe in a good future.

Merel Hol, 21

Master’s student in comparative literary studies at Utrecht University, the Netherlands

My voice as a struggling young person is absolutely not being heard

I used to be active in student communities, had many friends and something to do almost every evening. But my life has basically come to a standstill. This means I feel empty and hopeless most of the time.

Mounir, 20

Business student in Venice, from Morocco

My generation is growing more and more connected and educated, and that gives me a lot of hope

It was my first year away from family and home. I was excited to study in Europe, but once the pandemic happened everything crumbled.

Clara González Espelt, 18

High school student in Barcelona, Spain

This has taught us to love what we have

My mental health has also been dreadful since the pandemic started. I live in a small flat and my family is quite large, so being locked in there for months wasn’t the best experience. Also, in the beginning none of us had our own computer, so we had to share and lose online lessons sometimes.

Ben Morris, 20

Broadcast journalism student at Winchester University; lives in Swindon, UK

My family were certain that if I caught the virus, that would be the end for me

The pandemic started two-thirds of the way through my first year of university. I was very happy and had loads of friends. Then the lockdown hit and we all had to go home. Due to my disability, which is spinal muscular atrophy type 2, me and my family were certain that if I caught the virus, that would be the end for me.

Ava Ayala Rosenbaum, 23

Teacher of English at an elementary school in Madrid, Spain

At least we don’t have to wait until midlife for our existential crisis

In my pandemic life, I fill time being “productive”, so I can go to bed feeling like I have accomplished something, only to wake in morning asking myself, “And now what?” For all of the journal entries I write and the scarves that I knit, I’m acutely aware that I am just filling time. And I keep asking myself, “Is this all there is?”

Olivia Grace Smith, 16

School student in south Yorkshire, UK

As young people, we are constantly pushed to the back of the queue

There will be remnants of this pandemic that scar us for ever. Mental health, luckily, is increasing in awareness, but we need effective, preventive measures to help young people, instead of waiting for them to get to breaking point before being able to access help.

Justin Liu, 22

Graduate and works part-time in a grocery store in Oxfordshire, UK

If it sounds like I'm furious, that's because I am

Before graduating from university, I thought that I would live a life of brutal independence. I would prove to the world that I didn’t need help from anyone. I have been applying to jobs non-stop after graduating, with no success. Being rejected from so many makes me question my own worth.

Mariska Faasen, 17

High-school student, the Netherlands

It’s unfair. We will have to solve all of this but we have no say

I cannot think of the current situation without instantly getting mad. It’s not that I think I am falling behind in doing “teenage stuff”. It’s the unfairness.

Mickaël Rochat, 21

Student of international relations in Paris, France

I am part of a sacrificed generation

I feel like I am part of a sacrificed generation. I’m still stupefied by the idea that our universities had to close for almost a year, reduced to finally welcoming us only one day a week, leaving us alone in front of our screens in sometimes cramped spaces – I live in 11 sq metres.

Inara, 17

School student in Manchester, UK

We recognise an issue in one place is an issue everywhere

I have felt like I have impostor syndrome because I was one of the class that got predicted grades for GCSEs. I question whether I could have done that well in my exams. Having never sat an official exam I am now so anxious about my A-levels.

Ruaidhrí Ó Conaill, 24

PE and Irish secondary school teacher in Cork, Ireland

Some pupils were working off their smartphones, at the same time, we are trying to combat smartphone addiction in their generation

Working in a school I have seen first hand that the Irish education system needs to modernise and address the digital gap.

Isabelle Koch,, 22

Management and technology student in Freiburg, Germany

My generation, who should lead Germany into the future, is ignored

Before the pandemic, I would have said that making the right decisions was our biggest problem. Almost too many paths were open, too many opportunities to be seized: we had a fear of missing out. The pandemic turned that around.

Shashank Palety, 25

IT student and part-time worker in Düsseldorf, Germany

We will inherit a weaker economy, a warming planet and a glaring tax bill

My journey of learning and exploration was, sadly, brought to an abrupt halt. I had moved to Germany in autumn 2019 to pursue a degree in IT. Throughout lockdown, I have missed being able to go to university, socialise with friends, see colleagues at work, my dance classes, going to the theatre and short city trips.

Mark Lehman, 16

School pupil in South Shields, UK

My eyes have been opened: the system is failing people like me

Months of isolation have led me to start to see the politicisation in every aspect of my life. From school to the inequalities and disadvantages I am facing, it all roots back to politics and the government.

Angela Cucovei, 21

Bookstore assistant and trainee teacher in Chișinău, Moldova

The restrictions brought me closer to the people I love

Moldova must be the only country in Europe that hasn’t provided any economic support to citizens and small businesses, so the “normality” we wanted to return to has not quite proved to be what we had hoped for. I started my job in February 2020, but a month later, bookshops shut for almost two months. Book sales dropped significantly as people have become poorer.

Julia Letteier, 23

Hotel management trainee in Ticino, Switzerland

I feel I am losing time I will never recoup

The year was dominated by insecurity. My industry was one of the most affected by the restrictions, so we had to adapt really quickly to the decisions from our confederation, just to stay in the game. Then in January 2021 everything shut down.

Nabrissa Badu, 17

School student in Hertfordshire, UK

We need new ways to find work experience

Covid has instilled a lot of fear in young people, not just about the dangers of contracting the virus but also the idea that this could be our “new normal” when we have experienced only a minute part of what the world has to offer.

Cameron Dorling, 22

Laundry worker in the hospitality sector in York, UK

A zero-hours contract is a horrible way to live

The past year has seen the complete destruction of my personal finances. Being put on furlough and being told that the hours I would get paid were based on hours done in January, when our business was nearly idle, was a massive income loss for me.

Daniel Pye, 23

Teaches English, from UK; lives in Bydgoszcz, Poland

Living in Poland I saw how disappointing the EU response was

I was doing shifts in Aldi as a key worker in the UK during the first lockdown. During this period, I was closer to my family than I have been in years. Once the first wave was over I was let go from Aldi, and the local jobs market was completely barren.

Saga Jonsson, 18

School pupil and waitress in Vaxholm, Sweden

Every moment with the people you love needs to be valued

It’s very hard to write with your eyes full of tears, so I will do my best to hold them back. On 29 March last year, just when coronavirus had come and the government decided we should stay home, my mother got a call to say Grandma didn’t feel very well, and later that night they took her to the hospital. Two days later, she passed away from Covid-19.

Oskar, 17

School pupil in Berlin, Germany

My friendships are more important to me now than ever

Suddenly, our school closed and we were stuck in homeschooling. My year was most unfortunate as the teachers were told to focus on higher and lower years, but not us. My best friend’s birthday was also exactly a year ago and I wasn’t able to spend it with her for the first time.

Sunaina Mathapati, 17

Studying for A-levels, west Yorkshire, UK

Our whole generation has been pushed aside as a problem to deal with later

The immense loss caused by the pandemic makes you value your family a lot more. I have family members in another country and a grandfather who has dementia and it’s heartbreaking to not be able to see him for almost a year now.

Anete Strupule, 22

Studying for a master's in environment and sustainability, Latvia

We are heading towards a future that feels abstract and apocalyptic that the only hope is that my generation will find the power to fight this battle

I appreciate human interaction now more than ever. Life before the pandemic was so exhausting. This constant need for running after something without really knowing why was so deeply rooted in my day-to-day life that it took a global pandemic for me to realise how horrible it was to live that way.

Jamima, 22

Physics student in Germany

Every issue we face comes back to climate

Inequality, poverty, international and intercultural relations – every issue we face ties to climate change somehow. This is my generation’s biggest challenge. Nothing makes me dread my future more than the fear of what is to come, if and how this generation and the one after it actually have a life worth living. And I so often feel like we have already lost that battle.

Lukas Chalupa, 23

Architecture student and assistant from Czech Republic; lives in Newcastle upon Tyne

We are being radicalised into incompatible camps unable to ever reach a common ground

My generation is absolutely awful at addressing any major issues. We recognise problems such as wealth inequality, coronavirus or climate change. But rarely ever do we actually go in depth into their causes; we just jump straight into rushed “solutions”.

Sabina Bebcakova, 19

Final year of high school in Slovakia

We should stop staring at our screens all the time

Since lockdown I realise there are only a few people who are my true friends, that family life can be tough and that I have to look after my mental health.

Anthony Pansard, 22

Final year at engineering school in Paris, France

If a direct hit like this can't make us change, I worry that nothing can, fast enough.

I’ve been lucky. I was living in Australia with a friend during the first lockdown, and it was much better than in Europe. When I came back to France, with bars and restaurants closed, there was no point going to Paris for university.

Nicoleta Ghiță, 22

Actor in Bucharest, Romania

I thought of the worst. I thought a war was imminent

I used to work as a cook but joined a Roma feminist theatre group three years ago. This caused me big financial worries during the pandemic, as the Romanian government offered no financial relief to the independent arts sector.

Antje Fischbach, 23

Osteopathy student in Munich, Germany

We underestimate the strength this will give us in the future

It often feels like we are not being heard and, above all, that we are not being taken seriously. Sometimes that causes anger and despair to break out.

Andrea Carta, 22

From Sardinia, Italy; music student in Rotterdam, the Netherlands

Our lives and our planet are more important than money and career goals

It has been shocking for everyone. As young Europeans we grew up with the illusion that we could become anything, that we need worry only about ourselves and our dreams. But now we’ve been shown how things can suddenly derail our future.

Natacha Said Azali Ben Ali, 25

Studying for a master’s in educational science. Postal worker in Montreuil, Paris

Students should be given a universal basic income and free mental health support

The pandemic hit me hard money and health-wise. I had been babysitting and giving private lessons to children before Covid, but as parents were working from home they didn’t need me.

Matthias Montesano, 21

Night bartender in Turin, Italy

Use this as a warning sign: change the way we live, stop the hyperconsumerism

My sector was one of the hardest hit by the pandemic. I found myself unable to work for a long time and it was like losing an important piece of my life. At the same time, I have tried to keep going – studying hard, trying to concentrate, albeit with some difficulty.

Giorgos Stamatis, 18

School leaver in Greece

Hope can get us out of this: we are stronger than this

Lockdown ruined all my plans and affected my psychological health. I was an active athlete, interested in theatre, music, school, friends, family and current affairs but I wasn’t able to do most of them. And now I’m really anxious about my final school exams because they will determine if I will go to university or not.

Claire-Lyse Thomann, 18

School leaver in Rennes, France

Does it make sense to bring children into this world?

As long as I can remember, the Bac [exam] was the holy grail, the thing that dominated our future, making us think, “One day, it will be my turn”. It’s frustrating to know that no, it will never be our turn. I don’t even know if my degree will have any value.

Patrizia, 20

Management student and unemployed bar worker, northern Italy

We have to get rid of individualism and centre our lives in community

On the first day of the first lockdown, in March 2020, I was supposed to sign a contract for a part-time job in a bar, to help my parents with my tuition fees. I never signed it and I haven’t found another job.

Gwendolyn Amey, 15

School student in Rennes, France

Our generation has so many issues to face, so many revolutions to lead

Mental health is the first thing that comes to mind about this pandemic. A very close and dear friend to me was diagnosed with depression recently. I, too, have been affected mentally, without even realising.

Vova Kvasnitskyi, 17

Studying linguistics at university in Chernivtsi, Ukraine

Our generation will be absolutely different from previous ones

Dad is a truck driver who goes all over Europe, so his work dried up at the start of the pandemic. I was flabbergasted by the closure of the European borders. My mum had no work for a couple of months either, which was really a big stress. Now my dad is back on the road.

Emilia, 16

School student in Wiltshire, UK

I have become a lot more aware of the world around me

Despite the virus pulling back the curtain that hides inequality, injustice and inadequacy, I look around and feel as though no one has learned anything. I feel powerless, as I still need to get through school, but the adults that I rely on to look after the world are doing nothing of the sort.

Mafalda Vilela, 23

Student, from Portugal, living in Paris, France

This time has awakened us to inequality – whether George Floyd or the situation in Palestine

I loved my job as a receptionist at a youth hostel, but we were all let go in March 2020. I'd moved from my home city of Lisbon in July 2019 to do a master’s in psychology.

Davide Di Staso, 23

Master’s student of eGovernance in Estonia; from Italy

It’s the uncertainty about the future that hurts the most

Young people are less at risk from serious disease, but it’s our future that was most impacted. I was disappointed with catchy headlines about young people spreading the disease, did little to describe the sacrifices we made.

Kai, 18

Sixth form college leaver, Bristol, UK

I don’t feel confident about the future of the world, and our country, as wealth inequality is growing

Billionaires have grown richer while many people have lost their jobs in this lockdown. The people that control extortionate amounts of wealth are the same people polluting the world.