THE COVID-19 GENERATION

How young are stepping up and looking to future

ALL generations have been affected by the coronavirus outbreak – but for young people, the pandemic will shape their lives for years to come.

The next generation have seen their schooling disrupted, job prospects upended and social lives put on hold. We wanted to ask young people what they thought of Covid-19 and how they had responded to such an era-defining crisis.

In today’s Daily Mirror we publish a special supplement – Our World Interrupted – in which they give their answers. The results may surprise you. Like the rest of the country, they were asked to do their bit and, like the rest of the country, they responded.

Teenagers such as Billie Jean Harris, 17, and Sophia Badham, 18, write about their experiences volunteering. Michael Bryan, 18, is working on an app to detect the virus. Then there are the extraordinary teens working on the front line in the NHS and care sector. We talk to Lucy Cumming, 19, a first-year student nurse working 12-hour shifts, and to the amazing care home assistant Kia Tobin, 17, who melted hearts when she gave resident Ken Benbow a cushion with a photo of his late wife, Ada.

This has been a time of anxiety for many teenagers. They write about their concerns about going back to school and their fears about trying to get a place at college. They also look at the economic impact of coronavirus amid warnings that youth unemployment could rise by more than 600,000. They talk candidly about missing their friends and the toll the crisis has taken on their mental health. As young people from around the world share their experiences of life under Covid-19, what shines through is their optimism. They have been denied a summer of proms, festivals and backpacking but they have kept themselves entertained, having fun on Tiktok and watching wildlife in their gardens.

Mirror Editor Alison Phillips said: “In recent years, many have been quick to dismiss today’s young people as a ‘snowflake generation’. But the way in which thousands of youngsters have selflessly stepped up to play their part during coronavirus should put paid to that myth for good.” Contributor Esther Bird, 14, said: “We have the enthusiasm, energy, curiosity and invention to help think of ways out of this crisis.”

You can read all about them in today’s special Nextgen edition.

ABOVE & BEYOND Carer Kia Tobin with Ken Benbow

ENTHUSIASM Teen Esther Bird

BRAVERY Nurse Lucy