There are so many uncertainties at the moment. How long until all young people are back in school? When will friends and families be reunited? What will our new normal be? One thing we do know, thanks to Girlguiding’s research surveying almost 7,000 girls and young women, is how the global pandemic is affecting the lives of girls across the UK.
Girls and young women are particularly concerned with how Coronavirus is affecting their well-being. The health of others is a significant cause for concern – 4 in 5 girls worry about someone else getting sick, much greater than the quarter who find themselves worrying about their own health. I think this speaks volumes for how compassionate young people are.
Thinking back to the start of the pandemic, I did not change my habits due to fear of catching the virus, but rather to protect others. The thought that my lifestyle (being very social, using public transport, travelling between cities) could result in making my grandparents ill, was distressing. Of course, it is natural to worry about loved ones, but when a dangerous, highly contagious disease gets thrown into the mix, low level concern is heightened and, sadly impacts on mental health.
Worries about school closures and what this means for education and grades are also at the forefront of girls’ minds. We know already from previous years’ Girls’ Attitudes Surveys that academic performance is a major worry for girls and young women. In 2019, nearly 60 % were worried that not doing well in exams would ruin future life opportunities, whilst only 1 in 5 received help and support to manage this stress. Now, over three quarters of girls say that uncertainty about school and education is negatively affecting their well-being, 70 % worry that they are falling behind at school, and a third feel anxious at the prospect of a teacher predicting their grades.
All at a time when young people have even lesser access to support networks of friends and teachers. I myself am in a ‘non-key’ year of my education, and still I have worried to no end about my results and what this may mean for my future. I can only imagine what it must feel like to be a school leaver, and to feel like so many years of hard work are down the drain.
So, after reading this, and the full research report, you may be thinking: What can I do? If you’re a young person, continue to voice your concerns, talk about your feelings, and demand to be listened to. Your worries are absolutely valid – do not let anyone try to tell you otherwise. If you’re an adult, please engage with any young people in your life – ask what you and other adults can do better, and advocate for young people’s inclusion in matters that affect them.
I feel so strongly that at this time it’s more important than ever for adults (whether parents, teachers, or decision makers) to engage directly with young people. Coronavirus has introduced an array of unprecedented difficulties into our lives, and for adults to assume they know how young people feel about this without actually asking us about our concerns, is insulting and damaging.
When we voice our concerns, we absolutely deserve to be listened to by those in power. That’s why Girlguiding called for the prime minister to deliver a young people’s press conference, and why we’re infuriated that under 18s cannot submit questions to the Government and advisors. It is also why I am thankful, as ever, to Girlguiding for making sure young people’s voices are heard, even in the midst of a global health crisis.
What is #mycovid19pledge?
The idea behind #mycovid19pledge was conceived in a conversation between a young cancer patient who is currently shielding and the NHS Youth Expert Advisors. The idea was co-produced with the youth members of the Children and Young People’s Transformation Board, the NHS Youth Forum and #iwill ambassadors. It’s impossible to have not heard about COVID-19. Young people may be at home at the moment but this has not stopped them from volunteering, taking up jobs as key workers, caring for loved ones and encouraging their peers online. We are asking you to share your #mycovid19pledge to change this, to highlight the role of young people in this crisis and to give young people a space to share how they are using their time. Your pledge can be anything: to continue self-isolating, be in bed before midnight, to message a friend you haven’t spoken to in a while, or making a commitment to volunteer.
This campaign will run across multiple platforms, including Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to encourage young people to share what they’ve been doing throughout this time to look after themselves, help others and support their community.
What are we pledging?
As one of the youth representations on the Children’s and Young People’s Transformation Board, #mycovid19pledge is to look after my parents (both of whom are key workers) . This time last year, I was busy trying to wrap up the dissertation for my intercalated Global Health degree.
The last thing on my mind when I was revising for my exams, trying to learn the difference between an endemic, epidemic and pandemic, was that a year later, was that I would be in the middle of the largest health crisis since the Spanish Flu in 1918.
It has forced the whole world to pause and perhaps that is what we needed (the ozone layer is definitely thanking us!). The silver lining in this situation for me has been being able to spend time with my parents, which was usually lost in the ‘daily grind’ of hospital shifts and life admin. We’ve been able to eat Iftar together almost everyday (the evening meal which breaks the day’s fast during Ramadan), something I would have been missing if it had been a ‘normal’ year at medical school. We’ve been given time to reset, let go of what isn’t serving us and think about our health. Yet who looks after our carers? This thought led to my pledge of looking after parents who are key workers (working proudly for the NHS!).
In the conversations that we have had with young people, we’ve heard from young carers, those struggling with staying with family whether that be due to the difficulties being trapped inside for autistic individuals, or LGBTQ teens with homophobic families. Many young people sit at the intersections of these groups, many struggling with food poverty, having recently lost jobs or family members to COVID-19. During COVID-19, young people have been very absent in the dialogue but their voices matter. We’re committed to making sure that youth voice is heard in the NHS and the youth sector, we’re doing our bit, be it big or small.
Our message is clear we’re physically apart but with the #mycovid19pledge we’re virtually together, (at least we have one place where we don’t need to worry about social distancing!) You can get involved by sharing your own #mycovid19pledge to showcase what you’re up to at this time, whether it be positive social action, messages of solidarity or self care. Simply record a video, take a picture or tweet your pledge! Make sure to use the hashtag #mycovid19pledge so we can see your pledge.
If you’d like you can even wear a uniform or t-shirt that presents an organisation you’re part of, in your video pledge. Do tag you friends to get involved too.
Below are some examples of pledges for some inspiration:
Hannah – NHS Youth Forum Member
Sonia – NHS Youth Forum Member and NHSBT Tissue Ambassador
Samya – NHS Youth Forum Member and Children and Young People’s Transformation Board Member
Mike – Paramedic and Children’s and Young People’s Transformation Board Youth Member
#mycovid19pledge is to volunteer for the NHS and support my community
#mycovid19pledge is to be in bed before midnight
#mycovid19pledge is to check in on the people that matter to me
This campaign was created in collaboration with young people and the support of organisations such as:
- NHS Youth Forum
- British Youth Council
- Association for Young People’s Health
- RCPCH&Us
- Step up to Serve
- The Scouts Association
- St. John’s Ambulance
- The Prince’s Trust
- CLIC Sargent
- Rising Arts Agency
Want to make a pledge? Open the partnership guidance here but please do be creative and come up with your own!
For the last few weeks the general public had the opportunity to get their voices heard by submitting questions to the daily Coronavirus press conference. This gives ordinary people the chance to hear expert scientific and medical advice on specific problems they are facing during this unprecedented time. There is, however, one thing which can exclude you from submitting a question: you must be over the age of 18.
Recently, Nadia Whittome MP, one of the British Youth Council’s Honorary Presidents, asked the government to explain why young people under 18 were excluded from submitting their questions. The government responded that giving these young people this opportunity would “require further processes and additional protections to ensure that privacy is protected.” In summary, it seems that the government is actively neglecting the voices of young people simply to avoid carrying out some further administrative work.
This is simply not good enough.
Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, young people have overwhelmingly followed government advice. Along with the rest of the country, they have sacrificed social events, experienced financial hardship, and missed out on seeing loved ones. Like everyone else they have stayed at home in order to protect the NHS and our other vital public services, adapting admirably quickly to life within this new normal. However, unlike everyone else, young people who are under 18 are being denied the important opportunity to speak directly to the government about the concerns that affect them most.
With schools closed, GCSEs and A Levels cancelled, and education more of a postcode lottery than ever before, now is the time for the government to engage with young people directly.
Excluding under-18s from these press conferences means that students are denied the opportunity to publicly question the government on alternative arrangements for schooling and exams, and the long term effects of these on employment and mental health. These young people are already facing huge levels of uncertainty. The government should at least allow them the chance to get the answers they so desperately need from the cabinet ministers handling the COVID-19 response.
Additionally, we are joining with other leading youth organisations to request that the Prime Minister hold a press conference specifically for young people. Recent surveys indicate 67% of young people are concerned about the effects of COVID-19 on their education and development, and 39% feel worried about their own mental wellbeing due to the pandemic. These concerns cannot be addressed without direct conversations with experts and ministers. By giving young people their own press conference and by allowing under 18s to submit questions to the daily press conference, the government could signal that it is listening to young people and giving them a meaningful say on the decisions that affect them.
The Chair of the British Youth Council, Amanda Chetwynd-Cowieson, who agrees, said: “Young people remain passionate about seeing social and political change for their communities, and now is not the time to ignore their voices.
“As the government continues to make unprecedented decisions that affect the lives of young people, the government must make attempts to speak directly with young people and address the issues that affect them.”
The British Youth Council firmly believes that in the midst of COVID-19 young people deserve to have answers to their questions.
We are asking the Government to ensure that young people under 18 across the UK can submit questions to the daily Coronavirus press conference and that the government endeavours to hold a young people’s press conference as soon as possible.
Within the uncertainty of our Coronavirus world lies one absolute guarantee: our society will change. As chair of the British Youth Council and someone doing their best to guide a charity through a global pandemic, I fully appreciate how erratic our daily lives have become. The disorientating speed at which we all have to make decisions, and process news contrasts with being unable to socialise or spend time outside, makes everyday feel like a year, with weeks dragging or flying by. So whilst I do not envy the scale and pace that Government decision makers have to compete with, I know I am not alone in becoming increasingly frustrated with the lack of public discussion or focus on how Coronavirus, or specifically COVID-19 will impact young people. Frankly, it is woeful that the generation who will have to endure the economic and social consequences of COVID-19 for the longest have not been consulted or focused on in any top level conversations. Taking three, simple steps could prove to be the fundamental changes needed to ensure that we are all embracing the fact that now, more than ever, young people matter.
Firstly, we desperately need someone to provide focused leadership on how we ensure children and young people (or ‘Generation COVID’) are not left behind when we face our new normal. Each day that schools remain closed, inequality between children widens, and the longer we are rightly following the social distancing rules, the more pronounced the mental health implications could become. An urgent, assured way to address these issues is to appoint a youth minister. We need someone responsible for bringing together experts across all departments and sectors. We need someone to plan how we safeguard the last ten years of social mobility progression. This new, point person would ensure that our plan for returning to education is complemented with research and action, and that we understand how social distancing affects our mental health.
Secondly, now is the time for the Government to be brave and elevate young voices, rather than perpetuating the archaic idea that children ‘should be seen, and not heard.’ This would mean throwing open the doors to young people full of urgent questions and ideas. However, barriers still exist with daily press conferences restricting public questions to over 18’s only. We should unashamedly follow in the footsteps of other world leaders who have specifically held youth press conferences. By empowering young people across the UK to vocalise their concerns, it would give ministers a valuable insight into the mindset of generations who will be burdened by our Coronavirus response. Other institutions, such as the Bank of England, are tackling the pandemic with young people at the forefront, and I highly suspect they will come out of this stronger. For example, the British Youth Council recently partnered with the Bank of England to establish the Bank of England Youth Forum. Members of the forum are currently gathering the financial concerns and questions of young people to put these to the Chief Economist, Andy Haldane.
Lastly, the sooner we all embrace the fact that the ‘pre-COVID’ priorities of younger generations are not going away, the sooner we can start to work across generations to find ways of embedding them into our collective exit strategy. How can we ensure our economy is supported and secure jobs are prioritised? How can we incorporate the environmental targets we cannot afford to drop? When the future of work looks grim for the under 30s, how can society collectively alleviate the concerns of the younger generations, who are often in precarious employment? Many politicians have admitted that our society will not be the same again, so let us try and work towards a society where the overwhelming priorities of the under 30s – such as tackling the climate crisis, and addressing the socio-economic factors that lead to knife crime – are built into the fabric of the new, (hopefully) post-COVID 19 society.
So far, it is apparent that the Government is dealing with the current health crisis as it develops, and the postmortem on how well or not they did this appears to be starting. Yet, I fear our policy makers are already behind in recognising how severe this global pandemic is going to impact the next generations; if we do not start to embed the voices of young people into our decision making structures now, we will be worse off sooner rather than later.
The British Youth Council is calling for the government to address some of the issues that have become more prevalent as a result of the Coronavirus outbreak. Decision makers up and down the country must make provisions to ensure young people’s voices are heard so issues which have been highlighted by the current crisis can be resolved.
Amanda Chetwynd-Cowieson, Chair, British Youth Council said: “Young people remain passionate about seeing social and political change for their communities, and now is not the time to ignore their voices.
“As the government continues to make unprecedented decisions that affect the lives of young people, the government must make attempts to speak directly with young people and address the issues that affect them.”
The youth-led charity stands in support of all of the key workers across the UK, particularly those working for the NHS, striving to provide essential services and keep us safe. Early indications since the global spread of Coronavirus, suggest the inequalities faced by Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people across our health service remain an issue. The British Youth Council continues to believe health care settings should remain a safe, suitable and youth-friendly environment where possible. The current crisis has highlighted the ways in which chronic underfunding has led to inequalities in access to health care. Young people in insecure work and those who are socially and geographically isolated remain a concern for our members. We can not forget to address these issues of access and inequality in the wake of Coronavirus.
The crisis has further highlighted the need for increased mental health support for young people. The British Youth Council calls on the UK Government to create an open door policy within Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services. This approach would ensure that young people experiencing a mental health crisis can always access the support they need. We call for mental health support which is age-appropriate, youth-friendly and accessible both locally and nationally for 16-25 year olds.
Further to the vital work of our health service, in recent weeks there has been a huge uptake in applications for Universal Credit. In the last two weeks of March, almost a million people successfully applied for Universal Credit. Families will be facing extra financial burdens at this time with children out of school and changes in employment for parents and young people themselves. The British Youth Council believes that now is the time for the UK Government to increase support for child benefits and increase the rate received for younger children to the same rate received for the oldest child. Raising the child benefit level for the younger children in a large family is a simple and direct way of increasing vital support at a time of increased financial strain. This is particularly pertinent because larger families are more likely to be in poverty. Young people and families who have been placed under additional stress due to Coronavirus require this additional support.
We believe all of these issues could be more easily addressed if the government created a Minister for Young People. The creation of this ministerial position would ensure that someone within government was always seeking to bring youth voice into policymaking. We call on the government to immediately appoint a Minister for Young People who will be able to listen to the voices of young people and take real action to address their concerns.
The British Youth Council continue to closely monitor developments relating to the spread of the Coronavirus, taking particular interest in the advice issued by the World Health Organisation, the UK Government, and Public Health England.
The health and safety of young people, our staff and volunteers remain of the utmost importance to the British Youth Council and we will continue to ensure we have considered any risks to our activities. With this in mind, we are undertaking proactive decision making about all our upcoming events and activities and will be redesigning our work to be delivered digitally wherever possible to ensure some continuity for young people.
The country is currently facing unprecedented circumstances, however, it remains important that we continue to empower young people to create social and political change.
A spokesperson for the British Youth Council said: “We are committed to ensuring that young people across the UK to have a say, however, it is imperative that we take reasonable and proportionate steps to mitigate the to risk young people, our staff and volunteers.
“It is still imperative for young people to continue to have a say on the decision that affect their lives throughout the period where possible.
The British Youth Council will give any further updates regarding its events, residentials and activities on our below
The youth-led charity also acknowledges the hardship people will face during this period and calls on the government to ensure young people and families facing the most difficulty are supported to the fullest extent possible.
Other announcements
During this period we will keep this article updated within any new announcements:
The British Youth Council would recommend following the advice of Public Health England.
- #YouthWorkSupport is now live and accessible for our sector to access. The site has been developed to provide a SINGLE point of access for information for youth workers and those working with young people. Some resources have been rapidly developed by both teams at our organisations as well as by partners. A massive collaborative effort to support our sector to meet the challenges young people will face over the coming weeks and months due to COVID-19.