Socializing During Covid

socializingduring covid

In the past on her birthday, junior Akosua Danso could always expect a few rushed but enthusiastic exclamations of “Happy birthday!” when she passed her friends in the halls.

However, due to COVID-19, she barely even saw her friends on her birthday this year.

“I have interacted with a lot of the friends that I see only at school,” Danso said. “Most of my friends actually missed my birthday.”

For many students, socializing and finding a place among their peers are critical parts of their high school experience. However, in the age of COVID-19, meeting with other people in-person can be dangerous. As a result, students have become more creative in how they interact with their peers while still staying safe.

Some students have been able to adapt to COVID-19 by taking to the internet.

“Even before, my primary means of interaction with my social group was online voice and text chats, so there is not very much of a difference in that regard,” senior Theo Weiss said. “I don’t really meet anyone new, but that also remains pretty much consistent.”

In regards to communicating, Weiss said that they usually use programs like Discord, which allows people to voice chat and play video games together over the internet. When it comes to seeing others face-to-face, they sometimes meet with their friends in-person while following social-distancing guidelines.

“The guidelines that I follow for a small group are to wear masks at all times, follow social distancing policies when possible and not eat or drink anything when near others,” Weiss said.

Meanwhile, other students have noticed COVID-19 more negatively impacting their relationships.

“COVID messed up my social life,” Carrillo said. “[I] don’t talk to some people because I

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Students struggle to balance staying in touch, being safe

FEATURE

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haven’t really interacted with them since the start of quarantine.”

Some students have expressed frustration at seeing their peers not take safety precautions as seriously as others.

“Whenever I see others being irresponsible, I’m just disappointed,” Danso said. “They only have to wear a mask and stay away from people to help.”

According to Julia Marcus, an assistant professor of population medicine at Harvard Medical School, safety during COVID-19 exists on a sliding scale instead of a binary.

“We have been thinking about social distancing in this all-or-nothing way,” Marcus said in an interview with Time magazine. “People are already making choices every day around how to navigate risk… A harm-reduction approach would give them the tools they need to reduce risk as much as possible.”

Marcus goes on to argue that expecting people to not socialize in-person at all for the duration of the pandemic is unrealistic. Instead, Marcus said, following social-distancing guidelines and wearing masks can make social time as safe as possible while still allowing people to see their friends.

Meanwhile, for some students, watching others socialize without following guidelines reminds them how long the pandemic has lasted.

“It is irritating to think about how the whole situation could have been prevented by simply following lockdown orders in March and April,” Weiss said. “People not wearing masks are putting more people in danger than I think they realize.”

Weiss, like many students, is willing to take those extra precautions to socialize.

“I feel relatively comfortable hanging out with a small group of friends,” Weiss said. “We wear masks and follow social distancing to the best of our ability.”

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