The coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, was not a serious matter at first to teens. Teenagers didn’t think much of it, thinking it could never affect them. As memes and TikToks circled around the internet, COVID-19 slowly made its moves on changing the lives of the whole nation of America. Soon, the dream of school being cancelled would come true, but with it, a huge price would be paid.

Everything was normal. The virus was in China, far from spreading to America, except not for long. On January 21, 2020, the first case of the virus was confirmed. Life went about normal, besides, it was only one case, right?

The week of Spring Break is when things took a turn. Right before the ending of the luxurious week-long break, school districts began to cancel school. Along with them, LCISD followed and cancelled school for 1 extra week. To students, this meant an extended spring break. However, with the ever-so-growing virus, that wasn’t the case.

While students began to be glad for the extra week of relaxation, the world slowly began to change around them, making this celebratory moment only temporary. Slowly one by one, everything that was loved began to shut down. It started with cancelling school events and competitions, putting sports and fine art seasons to an end way earlier than expected. However, the closures didn’t stop there.

The Houston Rodeo was shut down, then major sports began cancelling their seasons, and all Broadway shows were put to a halt. Anything that produced large crowds was shutting down. To teens, it seemed and felt like the world was coming to an end; it didn’t feel real.

As everything began to close and people were advised to self-isolate themselves, panic ran in. It started with toilet paper, then spread to every single product in the grocery stores. If I didn’t know a pandemic were happening, I would think either an apocalypse were happening or all the grocery stores were going out of business.

However, teens have found ways to cope with the sadness, panic, and self-isolation caused by the virus. Through this time, COVID-19 memes and Tiktoks have increased. Teens created songs about the pain COVID-19 has caused. People who had their seasons torn away from them share their sadness through social media as people who could relate shared their grief in the comments.

As cities became quarantined and other Houston districts shut its doors of campuses until April 13th or longer, families have been brought together. The media and news can sometimes be covered with the negativity of the virus, but among the negatives, there are definitely positives to the situation. Families are taking walks and bonding in a way that typically wouldn’t happen otherwise. Sidewalks are covered in chalk to pass by the time and for others to enjoy.

Although being quarantined has been a difficult time for all ages, and COVID-19 has created fear and panic, it is important to stay calm. Enjoy the time off, and extra time with families. Take care of your mental health and enjoy the activities that used to be impossible to do while school was in session. However, don’t forget about school completely, as online school is rolling. But, in general practice social-distancing, and most importantly, wash your hands!