What's it like for Gen Z? Teens talk growing up with COVID, divisive politics and violence in D.C.

AMHERST — Their parents' generation experienced the fall of the Berlin Wall, the brutal beating of Rodney King by police, Operation Desert Storm, war in Bosnia and the 9/11 attacks. But today's teens are experiencing a lifetime of disturbing news compressed into the span of just nine months and counting. They've been hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, a turbulent election, a deep national divide, violence at the Capitol and the second impeachment of President Donald Trump. Six Steele High School seniors agreed to talk Friday about what it's like for Generation Z to live through 2020 and 2021, the stress it's caused in their lives and the hardships they never suspected they'd experience. Just the setup of the meeting would have been considered bizarre a short year ago: The panel talked via the online chat platform Zoom and all wore masks as they discussed the issues weighing heavily on their minds. "At first it was pretty easy, because we were all excited about not having school," said Tyler Brezina, remembering back to last March, when the pandemic forced school doors to close, classes to go online and a widespread shutdown of businesses. "Obviously it got way worse." Students said they knew returning to school in person this fall would be strange, and the rules would be strict, but they were glad to be back. But they said it's been hard to wear masks the entire school day, miss out on dances and other traditions, go without career shadowing opportunities and always wonder whether already-shortened sports seasons would be suddenly canceled. Kylee McGraw felt the effects of COVID-19 firsthand. She was quarantined after coming down with the standard symptoms: headache, fever, sore throat and lost senses of taste and smell. McGraw rode out the disease at home and didn't have to be hospitalized. For her, it felt like a normal flu. Brezina said he also tested positive for the virus, but didn't have any symptoms. He was relieved when a week later he tested negative. Whether they've been sick or not, the pandemic has dealt a blow to high-schoolers' moral, said Olivia Lopez, who described feeling far less motivated to do well in her classes this year. Classmate Amara Taliano agreed, saying the pandemic has sapped her drive. "COVID is really depressing as it is, and then you come to school — some people already struggle at school. It's a lot of stuff going on at once," she said. Seniors last year were dealt a bad hand, Lopez said. But now she's worried about the chances her own prom may be canceled, and graduation could be unrecognizable. "I feel like nobody's really talking about it because we don't want to get your hopes up," she said. "We're only in high school once," Lopez said. "We're going to be seniors one time. We're going to be 17 and 18 one time. I feel like it's definitely something to talk about when we overcome it, but thinking about it I really wish we had a normal high school career." Kendall Twining said it's hard to accept that the end of her high school career won't live up to the expectations she once had. "That's something you'll always remember in your life," she said. "It's a key memory, and you'll never get to actually experience it." Twining, who wants to pursue a career in nursing, said the college application process has been especially stressful. She was able to visit a couple of colleges in person, but others only allowed virtual "visits," which Twining said made the life-changing, expensive decision more difficult. Lopez said the COVID crisis made her college decision easier. It tipped her toward Lorain County Community College, where she feels she can save money in an uncertain time. Because of the virus, students said their lives have moved more online in the past year. That's both a blessing and a curse. Brezina said he's often turned to social media "because you know you're not alone. Like the Browns players all got COVID, so you know it's not just you, it's the entire world." Classmate Carlie Bertke said there is also a lot of negativity in online posts. Taliano said that negativity looms especially large when major news breaks, such as the Jan. 6 siege on the U.S. Capitol. She said she wasn't surprised by the riot, but found it embarrassing, and she worried that other nations now view the United States "like a joke, a complete joke." There's a great deal of tension about politics at school, she said, especially over the presidential election. "A lot of people have different opinions and it carries over to school" in the form of "arguments and drama," Taliano said. She's also not surprised at all that cases are once more rising in Lorain County, or that it's on the cusp of going purple on Ohio's COVID-19 alert map. Taliano said she wouldn't even blink if the state were to go back into lockdown. "I think we're all just used to it now. Like, we can't be disappointed anymore," she said. "I feel like nothing comes as a surprise anymore," agreed Lopez. "We're kind of just used to everything. Call me crazy." Despite the way the pandemic has affected their everyday lives, none of the seniors said they are planning to get the COVID vaccine, at least for now. "I just feel like there's a lot of questions about it and long-term side effects," said Bertke, specifically voicing a concern that it could affect fertility. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine, in a Dec. 16 memo, said that because vaccines are not composed of live virus, they are "not thought to cause an increased risk of infertility, first or second trimester loss, stillbirth or congenital anomalies." Contact Jason Hawk at (440) 329-7122 or news@lcnewspapers.com.