[dramatic music]

(Describer) Titles appear over computer generated images of the rotating earth and the Covid 19 virus. Barbara Harrison Media. Kids speak out. Today.

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(Describer) Coronavirus. Covid 19. A floating medical capsule spills its contents.

(Describer) Title: Episode 8.

Hello and welcome to "Kids Speak Out." I'm Barbara Harrison. It's conversations with kids across the country and around the world on things they're dealing with these days, talking about these days. We've got a wonderful panel of kids. We'll introduce you to them in just a moment. But first, let's say hello to our very special guest, Dr. Joshua Weiner. Josh, welcome, thanks for joining us. Thanks, Barbara, it's really a pleasure to be here. I'm looking forward to a great discussion. We've got a wonderful gallery of high school and college students. Let's meet them right now. Hi, my name's Tom, I'm 17, from Stratford-upon-Avon in England. Hi, my name's Katherine, I'm 14 years old and I live in Florence, Italy. Hi, my name's Lulu, and I'm from Yorkshire, England. Hi, my name's Pedro, I'm 17 years old and I live in Vancouver, Canada. Hi, I'm Rachel, I'm 19 years old and I live in Shanghai, China. Hi, I'm Johanna, I'm 18 years old, and I'm from Takoma Park, Maryland. Hi, I'm George, I'm 16, and I'm from London, England. Hi, I'm Brooke, I'm 16, and I'm from Sausalito, California. Hi, I'm Charlotte, I'm 17, and I'm from Stratford-upon-Avon, England. Hi, my name is Miles, I'm 17, and I'm from Kensington, Maryland. Hi, I'm Alexander, or Alex. I'm 18 years old, and I'm from Sao Paulo, Brazil. Well, it's so great to have all of you with us, and all of us are probably feeling a lot of the same anxieties, fears about the future, but maybe for you guys even more, because you're in a really different place than most people who are teenagers and young adults have experienced. I certainly never went through anything like this when I was your age. And this is usually, for kids your age, the most incredible time of your lives because you just think the world is your oyster and you can only go forward. Anybody feeling like they're kind of stopped in their tracks where they are right now?

(Describer) Miles.

So, I already just feel frozen 'cause there's nothing I can do, I feel powerless in this entire situation just watching my life get unraveled before me. Last night was supposed to be my prom that I've been looking forward to all my life and I just had to stand still the entire time and just watch everything unfold and sit in my room. Well, and you're a senior in high school, right? So I'm curious with you guys, what have you guys found to be the most helpful thing to sort of get you through this period of time? Is it just sort of connecting with your friends and talking with them, or do--have you come up with some other way that you're really trying to manage? Sort of all this time and uncertainty and lack of schedule, et cetera.

(Describer) Tom.

I think we're very lucky that we can kind of go with all this technology, you know, we're using. We can video call and all that kind of thing. And whereas, you know, some people might not be able to necessarily do that, so I can still see my friends every day whereas before, you know, it's not quite the same as being in person, but I think we're quite lucky to still be able to do that.

(Describer) Lulu.

I would actually say on the flip side of that that actually having technology makes it kind of overwhelming 'cause you've got a responsibility to talk to all of your friends all the time because you can and because you're doing nothing else. I think Rachel had something to say. I wanna--I think, for me, social media has been really overwhelming because, um, in a regular day, a lot of people will be posting a lot of different things, but right now, there are not that many things to post for people. But for me, I am able to go out and it--it seems normal for me to post on social media, but I do feel a lot of pressure that, um, I feel really guilty about it because I know a lot of my friends are stuck at home and they don't, uh, they're not privileged enough to do that--like, what I am able to do. So in that sense, I think there's a lot of pressure to be really low-key about everything you do. The one thing that I've noticed with a lot of my patients is even if they're in high school or college, particularly for the high school kids, really, their days have been condensed for many of them. So what normally would take a whole day is now only taking a few hours, or maybe depending on the school's district, they're just getting rid of some of the non-essential classes, so to speak, some of the specials. And so I think that there's a lot of down time that a lot of kids are having that at least I'm hearing from my patients. So I'm curious whether these are things that you guys are experiencing as well.

(Describer) Johanna.

Yeah, going back to what Lulu said, especially with social media and just electronics, it's so nice to be able to communicate with my friends, but I spend hours just on my phone, on Instagram, on other platforms, honestly just looking at memes and other things that really should not be taking up as much time as it is already. Johanna, I know that your life has changed quite a bit. You had planned to be in New York this year. You want to tell everybody about that? Sure, yes, so I was in the process of moving to New York. I was looking for a modeling agency and also looking for a hostess job at some restaurants. My resumes were in, I was already getting called back. I had just signed with an agency, and a week later after working with them, I had to return back home because New York is one of the main spots that corona is hitting. So do you feel like that just curtailed the beginning of a career for you in modeling? I don't think so. I personally think that in the next few years, I'll still be able to do it. Anybody else have a story of, uh, what they were expecting to be doing right now and, uh, not able to do it and then that's part of the frustration of this period?

(Describer) Miles.

Yes. So, um, I'm in an honors choir and in school every year, we go on this really special trip to Disneyworld where you get to work with all these professionals, and it's something everyone's looking forward to, but got canceled. Wow, and--any talk about how it's gonna be, uh, rescheduled? It's unfortunately not, and we're unfortunately not getting full refunds for the trip. So how much of a difference do you think it makes for you guys, just sort of knowing that at least even though these opportunities are getting canceled and you're disappointed, obviously, about that, just knowing that so many other kids out there are in the same boat?

(Describer) George.

I think it's quite important to realize that, um, that everyone is in the same boat, but it creates new problems because if you think about it, the kids who are better online-- so there are online courses that you can take and things like that which you can add to your resume as opposed to what I personally prefer to do which is going to universities, doing work experience. So it--I think it will really, um, bring to the forefront the kids who can really adapt to the sort of online teaching who can really promote themselves through that as opposed to promoting themselves through things that they've done.

(Describer) Tom.

I guess a worry is that, like, what you look for when you're doing all the work experience and that kind of thing is something that kind of sets you apart from other people. Maybe that's not what we should be looking at right now, but when you, you know, think about further education and university, that's what you want, and the coronavirus has kind of meant that we can't do that a lot, so I've lost the opportunity to go to, um, Wisconsin in the U.S. to study food and security for two weeks. And that's gone now completely, so I don't really know now what I'm gonna have on my resume that kind of sets me apart from other people and makes universities want to have me, I guess. So it's been quite difficult

(Describer) Charlotte.

knowing that all of your opportunities have kind of been stopped in their tracks and you can't actually do anything that's gonna benefit you in the future right now. How much of a difference does that really make for you, or do you say, "You know what, I don't really care, "it's what's affecting me, "doesn't matter that everybody else is kind of in the same boat"? -Um, it's that the-- -I think-- Oh, sorry.

(Describer) George.

I think it's quite important to realize that, um, that everyone is in the same boat, but it creates new problems because if you think about it, the kids who are better online--so there are online courses that you can take and things like that which you can add to your resume as opposed to what I would personally prefer to do, which is going to universities, doing work experience. So I think it will really, um, bring to the forefront the kids who can really adapt to the sort of online teaching who can really promote themselves through that as opposed to promoting themselves through things that they've done.

(Describer) Tom.

I guess a worry is that, like, what you look for when you're doing all the work experience and that kind of thing is something that kind of sets you apart from other people. Maybe that's not what we should be looking at right now, but when you, you know, think about further education and university, that's what you want and the coronavirus has kind of meant that we can't do that a lot, so I've lost the opportunity to go to, um, Wisconsin in the U.S. to study food and security for two weeks. And that's gone now completely, so I don't really know now what I'm gonna have on my resume that kind of sets me apart from other people and makes universities want to have me, I guess. Yeah, that's interesting, I guess maybe you're thinking that you would've been special because you would've had this opportunity and now everybody's not gonna get to do anything. So you feel like even these kids who maybe would've been slackin' off a little bit not doing anything over the summer, they get the same credit as you do. You don't really get to identify yourself as being somewhat special or a little bit more motivated than some of these other kids, is that right? Yeah, yeah, I'd say that--that sums it up a bit, it's just a--it's just a real shame that it's kind of all come tumbling down.

(Barbara) There are so many things happening in the world today that you want and need to talk about. Speaking out is a privilege and a responsibility. When you see something, sometimes you wanna talk about it, ask a question, share an opinion, and hear those of others. It can help us to build a better world. "Kids Speak Out." Brooke, what about you? Yeah, it's sad because me and my friend were hoping to plan a trip to Spain with her family and, uh, yeah, that's canceled now. But I mean, I guess all we can do is just try to make the best of it. Josh, do you think that, um, that kids--young adults, the ages of our gallery today, hold a lot inside about their anxieties at this time? Yeah, I mean, look, I think that everybody's personality's a little bit different. I think the people who would normally be holding things inside are probably still holding things inside a little bit right now, maybe not talking about stuff. I think, though, in some ways, because there's-- as we've already heard, people are online with friends and everything, and I think because there's this shared experience, right, it makes it a little easier to talk about, I would think-- and I'll be curious to hear what everybody else has to say-- but I would think that because everyone has this shared experience, it gives you something to talk about and it opens the door to everybody talking about how they're bored or how there's nothing to do or how they're worried about their future or they don't have certain job opportunities that they thought they'd have or how their brothers or sisters are driving them nuts. Or for college students, the big complaint that I keep hearing is how it's just really hard because they're used to being independent and now they have to come home. They wanna have their independence, but they don't have their independence because they're locked in their rooms or their homes, and they still have to deal with their parents kind of treating them like younger kids. So I think--but all in all, I'm curious whether you guys feel like you are able to express yourselves and having this common experience, maybe in some ways, helps bring you a little closer or makes it easier to communicate with your friends. Does anyone feel that way, or not really?

(Describer) Johanna.

I definitely think that with me and my friends, it's been giving us a lot more conversation topics, and I'm really grateful that I'm able to discuss our problems and today's problems with my friends. We've been sending one another podcasts on an outlook of the next few years to really help all of us get a good idea of what we're in for. Katherine, you are home, uh, in Italy, and are you-- do you have siblings? Yeah, I have two younger sisters. So how is it being, uh, at home more than being out these days as a--as a teenager? It can be, um, stressful to be cooped up with them, but overall, they're really just great companions and it's--I would-- I can't imagine if I were an only child. They're really--they keep me company, it's great. Josh, you have kids, you have two children who are home together now, I guess home for the-- studying at home. Are you--are you finding that they get along? Are they liking each other more or less? Well, so even though I'm a child psychiatrist, you'd think I'd have these perfectly behaved kids, right?

[chuckles] No, not the case, guys.

So my kids, unfortunately, have a tendency to argue with one another, but actually, what we've noticed is that they're getting along better. And I think it's just because they feel like they have no choice. So it's really been nice for my wife and I because we're thinking, "Hey, maybe this'll continue after coronavirus passes." So at least in our case so far, it's been a positive for our family in that regard. Alexander, do you have siblings that you've had to reunite with now that you're back in Brazil from college? I don't have any siblings, so in my experience, at least, I've been very reliant on Zoom calls with friends. My high school friends and I, we have, every Thursday evening, a two-hour Zoom call. And since we're all in college, we've nicknamed it "Office Hours." And I also have nightly calls with other friends, but it's made me very reliant on technology to really feel like I'm connecting with people.

(Harrison) There are so many things happening in the world today that you want and need to talk about. Hi, my name's Colm. Hi, my name's Katherine. My name's Lulu.

(Harrison) Speaking out is a privilege and a responsibility. Things on campus aren't happening. So as long as, like, we're together...

(Harrison) For more information, go to www.kidspeakout.me. And you were able to rediscover your high school friends when you had to go back home to Brazil. What about staying in touch with your college friends from Amherst? That's been pretty much on a daily basis speaking to them, but at the same time, I think the element of solidarity and that conversational topic we all have in common that Dr. Josh mentioned, it-- after the first week or so, it kind of becomes repetitive in a way and we really find that it's harder to find things to talk about when we're not meeting up at the dining hall to go to meals or things on campus aren't happening anymore. And so we don't have that shared experience of going and watching a speaker at an event or going out on a weekend. But I'm curious whether you guys feel like your social life has really taken a hit or whether you feel like it really hasn't been that bad. I don't know whether we can get a show of hands or something like that, but I'm curious. Who--who thinks that their social life has really taken a major hit with this?

(Describer) Many of them raise their hands.

[laughs] I'd say everyone.

It looks like the majority of people.

Me too. [laughs]

So you clearly don't feel like having technology as a way to communicate with each other is really cutting it-- it's just not the same as obviously meeting up face to face. Charlotte, you got something you wanted to chime in on? I was just gonna say that having technology is both, like, a blessing and a curse. 'Cause obviously, it's, um, being at school every day, like, you see, you know, I've got a year of a hundred odd people, so you see, you know, upwards of a hundred people every day in school and you speak to some of them, you know. But with technology, it's kind of brought into the forefront how many people that you wouldn't speak to if you didn't see them every day. The college students here maybe have, like, a different perspective than being in high school 'cause we've gone through sort of saying bye to all your high school friends. And at least in my case, all of my closest friends from high school all went to school in the U.S. but far away from each other, so we got very used to having to communicate through FaceTime and WhatsApp and those kinds of things, like, not being able to see each other for three months, four months at a time and just using social media. So I got close to-- or I got used to and sort of accustomed to having to communicate with people this way. So that's why I didn't raise my hand in the social hit 'cause at least for my high school friends, we've sort of done this already. It's a little bit weird 'cause now we're all, like, 20 minutes away from each other and we still have to do it. But we're kind of used to it already in a sense, even though it was-- now it's sort of--I mean, it's very different, but, um, it's nice to have. We're already kind of used to it, I guess. You know, one of the things that I see frequently is, for particularly the age group of all you guys, is the elements of social anxiety-- just getting really nervous, worrying about what to say, whether you're saying the right thing, rehearsing what you might say. And so I know that that can be really challenging for a number of kids. In fact, it's prob-- it is the most common anxiety disorder for people your age. And I'm wondering whether you guys feel like that's-- whether it's an issue for any of you and whether you'd feel like, in general, just your anxiety is lower communicating over social media or whether it's a little bit higher and a little bit more-- This quarantine time, um, it got worse over text and FaceTime. I've just--

(Describer) Pedro.

(Joshua) You mean your... anxiety has some elements of social anxiety have gotten worse? It's gotten worse because I-- not seeing them face to face, it kind of dehumanizes the whole interaction and it became just really weird. I can't--I can't really connect with the other person. So I get a lot more nervous when I'm talking to new people especially through the phone. And, well--I know that most of my friends, at least here, we all struggle talking on the phone because I don't know why, but we do. So it--it's just gotten a lot worse, really. I think it's harder for guys, don't you think, to talk on the phone? Where you girls, uh, has learned very early how to have these long conversations with friends, but I don't think guys use the phones as much as the-- Well, I don't--I don't think people--kids, I don't think kids really use the phone that much, but what I believe is, you know, at least not for phone calls. They're just texting with one another or Snapchat or whatever, but the thing that I think is the reason that most people have anxiety when it comes to phone calls is because those--those silences can become magnified. And I think a lot of people get nervous with silences. They feel like something's wrong, that there should be this continuous back and forth, and if you're really connected with somebody, there should never be a shortage of things to talk about, which is actually kind of ridiculous when you think about it. But it's--it's hard. I mean, I remember feeling that way when I was your age and I-- honestly, I still get a little uncomfortable with silences. And I personally do get a little more nervous with phone calls than I do with other forms of communication. But I think that's really a challenge. And actually, when it comes to that, one of my best pieces of advice for people is to just say to somebody, "Hey, let's just be on the phone "or let's just be on video with each other "while we're doing our usual thing. "You can be playing on your video game "or you can be drawing listening to music, and let's just hang out together." And just say, "If we talk, we talk, if we don't, we don't," so that we're-- that way, at least there's not this pressure that you have to have this back and forth that's continually happening. That's a good idea, actually. Miles, you wanted to say something. What were you gonna say? Yeah, so I've actually been doing that a lot. So when I've been on FaceTime and stuff with my friends, there's been periods where we just, like, stop talking and we'll just be on our phones. But as long as, like, we're together in a sense, it feels like we're more connected. 'Cause like, for me, texting, it's easier for me to communicate 'cause it doesn't feel as real. It almost feels like I'm just thinking my thoughts so I'm less guarded. But with texting, it also gives me way more anxiety 'cause everything I say is on a record. So, if you really think about what you say when you're in person, it does not leave a record of what you're doing, in a sense. Well, that's an interesting thought. You don't wanna go on record with something that typed, right? And I agree with you. That's probably a good idea. Brooke, what do you think? Yeah, so me and my best friend, we FaceTime every day and each day, we notice it just gets shorter and shorter and we don't have much to talk about other than what we had for dinner and what we had for lunch and small talk, whether we're annoyed at something. It's a lot of complaining, I noticed, it's just all complaining throughout the day. Lulu, how about you? Are you doing much socializing with your electronics? It's hard. I don't FaceTime people a lot because I find it quite a lot of pressure to constantly feel like I've gotta be FaceTiming someone new every time. I have a few friends who I talk to regularly, but I text a lot of them 'cause it's easier, and you can kind of, like, leave messages and not feel so pressurized to have long and deep conversations when there's nothing really much to talk about at the moment, and everyone's kind of going through the same thing. I think oftentimes what I've found over the years is that actually, if you talk to your friends about how you don't have much to talk about, that generates conversation. Josh, any final words that you want to give everybody? Obviously, hang in there, find the support from your friends and family. This, too, will end, everything passes, and life will get back to normal at some point. Try to make the best of the time, and hopefully you can actually have some positive experiences that come out of this. Well, we've had a great conversation today. I wanna thank everyone who joined us. We've got a lot more to learn from this group, so we're planning to do a part two. We hope you'll come back for that. Dr. Josh, thank you very much, and we'll be expecting you to join us as well. And until then, all of you out there, you can find out everything that we're doing and how you can join in by going to our website kidspeakout.me. Have a great week, and we'll see you next time.

[dramatic music]

(Describer) Titles appear over computer generated images of the rotating earth and the Covid 19 virus. Barbara Harrison Media. Kids speak out. Today.

♪

(Describer) Coronavirus. Covid 19. A floating medical capsule spills its contents.

Accessibility provided by the U.S. Department of Education.