Young people in the pandemic: “Someday it’ll pop”

Still unvaccinated and restricted – young people’s discontent in the pandemic is growing. Many felt that the best time of their life had been lost, said youth researcher Schnetzer in an interview with tagesschau.de.

tagesschau.de: Hamburg, Berlin, Karlsruhe – in the past few weeks, thousands of young people across Germany have met again and again in the parks and green spaces to celebrate – often without complying with the Corona rules. Do you understand that?

Simon Schnetzer: Yes, I understand that very well, because the young people have been deprived of all retreats in which they would otherwise come together socially. And this is not just about places to party. It’s also the schools or universities, in other words, all the places where you usually get together with other people, work, have a coffee or flirt.

And now the question arises where these young people can go. It is not a luxury to meet other people, but a basic need. Politics, municipalities and society have not created any substitute spaces for this need. And if the parks are the last remaining spaces for young people, I fully understand that this is where they meet.

tagesschau.de: But aren’t the older ones right when they tell the youngsters that they sometimes have to go without celebrations and friends for a long time?

Schnetzer: I do not think so. Everyone just has to ask themselves what they would have done if they had been restricted for more than a year at the age of 16 or 18. Most of them would have gone to the barricades. And that’s exactly what young people are doing at the moment – albeit in a very gentle way – and older people are surprised because they can no longer put themselves in the shoes of young people. Simply because most of them have already been vaccinated and tend to forget that tough restrictions still apply to others.

tagesschau.de: What has the pandemic done to young people?

Schnetzer: The corona crisis has affected young people at various levels. On the one hand there are the social restrictions, i.e. the 18th birthday that you can’t celebrate with your friends, the graduation or the first semester party at the university. The young people who are currently in this phase of life are having the best time of their lives.

At the same time, however, the young people also feel the psychological consequences of the pandemic. Some have gone into psychiatric treatment, others have put on a lot of weight or have physical problems from sitting at home all day. In conversations with parents I often hear that they can no longer offer what their children need now. If young, sometimes pubescent adolescents have to sit at home for more than a year while they would actually like to party or just spend time with friends, at some point the family can no longer compensate.

tagesschau.de: What do young people miss most?

Schnetzer: Your friends, the light-heartedness and the freedom to just go out again without having to worry. But for them it’s not just about their private fun. Many also miss the security in school and at work. Many are planning an internship or a stay abroad, others do not yet know how their studies will continue, or where and whether the next exams will be written.

tagesschau.de: Who does the youth blame for their situation?

Schnetzer: Basically, her anger is directed against politics because she neglects the interests and needs of young people. Politicians have lost a lot of trust by consistently giving priority to other interests instead of listening to the young and taking them into account.

tagesschau.de: Have young people been forgotten in the fight against the pandemic?

Schnetzer: I don’t think they have been forgotten, but the needs of young people have been deliberately placed at the back of the priority, which is much worse. Politicians thought that with the increasing number of vaccinations they could simply sit out the issue. But if the incidences rise again because of the delta variant, then the adolescents who have not yet been vaccinated fall back into exactly the same hole of loneliness and isolation as before.

“The feeling that politics don’t care about them”

tagesschau.de: In your study “Youth and Corona in Germany” many young people have told them that they feel increasingly unfairly treated. Why is that?

Schnetzer: The young people feel that they don’t care about politics. They have now pulled themselves together for more than a year and a half, showing solidarity with the elderly and the risk groups, but no one has ever asked what could be done for them. While things are returning to normal for many age groups, there is still no step forward for young people. And if the politicians and the authorities cannot think of anything else than to forbid these young people, who are hungry for freedom, from the last place of retreat in the parks, then they will lose their patience and at some point there will be a bang.

tageschau.de: What does that mean?

Schnetzer: That the pressure in the boiler rises. A generation that has made the experience that you can make a difference if you take to the streets will revolt sooner or later. The only thing missing is that certain spark that kindles this mood. These escalations in the parks over the past few weeks could be that spark. And if politics does not enter into a dialogue with the young people now in order to find a common solution, then the young people will no longer allow themselves to be offered.

“Instead of seeking dialogue, politicians send the police”

tagesschau.de: But riot and violence cannot be a solution either …

Schnetzer: No, definitely not. But the young people didn’t go to the parks to riot, they went to the parks to regain their freedoms because they realized that politics still didn’t get it. And instead of talking to them, politicians send the police and take away their last place of retreat. And in this tense situation, the mood could soon change and turn into violence.

tagesschau.de: What could a solution to this conflict look like?

Schnetzer: Instead of driving young people into criminalization, the municipalities should make offers and give them a space in which they can legally pursue their needs. Places where the authorities can see that everything is going well. One solution would be so-called safe spaces, i.e. places where controlled celebrations are possible. These could be town houses or festival halls in which there is an infrastructure for corona tests and in which those responsible make sure that the corona rules are adhered to. That would be a start and, above all, an important signal to young people that they have not been forgotten and that their needs are taken seriously.