2020 has been a year to remember and not so much in a good way, hopefully 2021 is something that we can look forward to. Some things that have happened in the past year are Black Lives Matter movements, Virtual learning, Covid-19, mandated masks, Covid-19 vaccine, Election 2020, and so much more. This past year has had its ups and downs but definitely more downs than ups.

How has Covid- 19 affected teenagers? Covid has affected teens in so many ways but we have to trace Covid back to the beginning and learn about its history before we can do anything. Covid was first diagnosed in December of 2019, the following month scientists traced it and called it Covid-19. It is highly contagious and can be spread through a cough, sneeze, laugh, touching the nose, eyes, or mouth. Most teens are lucky to not have as high of health problems as the young or as the old so we are more able to fight the disease. The elderly and the young are not as lucky as their bodies are weak, which is why people are so cautious. School is another major part of Covid, most schools had to shut down because of the virus, and the ones that are up and running now are on a hybrid schedule where half the students come on one day and another half come on another day and they rotate every week. Social distancing and quarantines have been put into place where you have to stay 6 feet apart in order to be less likely to catch and spread and if you do get symptoms it is a 10-14 day quarantine within your house. Teens have really been affected with having to take care of younger siblings or make extra money and trying to stay on top of all their schoolwork, it's been really stressful. 

Everyone had been praying for a vaccine but now that we have one, what is stopping people from taking it? Scientists have discovered a covid vaccine but so many people are afraid to take it because they don’t know what it will do to people or how it will affect their bodies. In the Gale article, only about 12% of American’s have taken the vaccine. Most doctors and scientists say they don’t even know 100% what the vaccine will do or what’s in it. If anyone were to take the vaccine who would need to take it first? The elderly? the Healthline? babies? teens? adults? Covid-19 has mutated so much and found so many different patterns that I don’t know how long it will take science to catch up but I know that the vaccine they have now won’t last long because there is going to be a new mutation out of it will just get worse again. There was a news report the other day stating that cold weather can calm down the disease so I wonder how many people are going to turn the heat down in their home. I think the new vaccines could be good for people that want to take them but until we know what they can do and what’s all in it I don't think we should take it for the moment.

Virtual learning has been quite a challenge. Having to go from going to school and having that time with teachers and being taught and paying attention only 2-3 days out of the week and having to go online and work from home the other days. I mean don’t get me wrong the sleeping in is nice but I hope this doesn’t cut into summer and I am a person that needs that one on one time and I need that person in front of me teaching otherwise I'm not learning. The student health stress rate has risen 52% from going to virtual learning and that can do with home factors to not just school work like extra jobs, taking care of siblings, parents, grandparents, etc. Schoolwork can be very challenging and I wish some teachers would understand and give a little break for the ones working at home, everyone is going through a lot. While doing the hybrid schedules are protecting both faculty and students that is the only positive to it, because if teachers want the harsh truth their students are most likely cheating. Virtual learning was a wreck last year. We had no time to prepare but things are different this year and they are a little better. Virtual learning otherwise for students I would say is and will always be challenging for some.

2020 has been a year to remember and not so much in a good way, hopefully 2021 is something that we can look forward to. 2020 could have taught us some good lessons though and put us to a good test. Covid-19 won’t be going away anytime soon but it's how we handle it and stop it from spreading like wearing a mask or social distancing that can make all the difference. What will 2021 hold? Can something like this happen again? Will life ever return back to normal? Was this predicted in the past, and can something else global like this be predicted for the future?