Dear Teenagers,
Quarantine was never meant to be easy. Conversely, it wasn’t conceived as a means of suppression or punishment either. Quarantine is, however, a necessary step that must be taken if we are to ever get a grasp of this vast pandemic.
This quarantine was put in place to help “flatten the curve” and reduce the impact that COVID-19 will undeniably have on all of our lives. Flattening the curve refers to reducing the inflow of infected patients to a manageable number in order to help medical personnel treat each patient to the best of their ability. It also works to ensure that hospitals and other medical institutions have the necessary amount of supplies needed to tend to infected patients.
These drastic measures are absolutely necessary when we are facing such an unprecedented crisis, yes, unprecedented. This is not the common cold and this is most definitely not the flu.
While quarantine is supported by roughly 74% of registered voters and ostensibly a majority of people reading this, it still feels as if those who are not in imminent danger continue to search for everyday normalcy where none should be found. I’m talking about me and every other teenager. As a low risk demographic, we have little to lose and our desire to have fun and socialize is not dampened in the slightest. I struggled with the shelter in place order for weeks; feeling as if I had missed out on so much. I hid behind the excuse that “teenagers will be teenagers” and assumed that was a viable excuse to exempt myself from a global pandemic.
Slowly, I came around to the realization that my age did not denote how much responsibility I carried. I have a license to go wherever I want and will be a registered voter come November. I carry as much responsibility as any adult to give medical personnel and older demographics a fighting chance.
I do my part to help others by staying home. I won’t lie, sometimes the overwhelming desire to just leave my house and hang out with my friends can be scarily powerful. When I am on the brink of grabbing my car keys and driving off into the sunset, I stop myself and think of my grandma who lives just across the street. Would I be able to forgive myself if I brought home a deadly virus to a woman I love so dearly? No.
I recognize that we don’t all live in such near proximity to elderly loved ones and under the fear factor that comes with it. However, we are all still tied together. To my peers: I would hope that you understand that we are all small pieces of a much larger picture. We are members of a community far more vast than some friends or a party. We are all parts of a living, breathing community and as members of this great thing, owe it to one another to give EVERYONE the best chance at life.
By Claire Geiger
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