I’m going to discuss something I haven’t touched on before, and it’s been traveling around in my head for some time now. I know I can’t be the only one who’s wondered about this. It has always felt that what our children went through and felt during those turbulent years was never fully acknowledged. Think about it: one day, they’re planning sleepovers, prom, and graduation. The next day, they are told they can’t leave their house for “2 weeks,” and if they do, they better mask up. I’m stating for the record: I am not talking about conspiracies or my views on the vaccine, nor will I respond to those. This is about what our children went through and the ripple effect I watched happen. I had the opportunity to have a conversation with a young lady about her personal experiences during the pandemic since she was in school at the time. I asked her to tell me what she felt and what she remembered the most. I learned she was at the tail end of middle school, going into high school, when masking and the various mandates went into effect. At first, it was just the basics she was telling me, like a person would when asked how their day went. As she kept talking, though, I watched her expressions and her body language start to shift. At one point, she crossed her arms together and ended up hugging herself, and stayed like that for the rest of our conversation. Then came the use of sarcastic humor. The kind people often use when talking about something difficult or painful, but don’t want to get emotional about. I’m not attempting any in-depth psychological interpretation for every micro-expression or movement I saw. I’m not an expert in any field, but I could see her; I know what I saw. Something was still left behind, not the same as the haunting of a traumatic incident, but not nothing either. She opened up about her struggles of having to teach herself sometimes with the assistance of Google and the constant frustrations of not being able to raise her hand and having a teacher come over to help. Her grades slipped from a 3.7 to 1.3; this was quite upsetting to her, and I don’t blame her. Could you imagine watching your hard-earned grades drop like that? That, all on its own, is a huge hit mentally and emotionally for a student, to be doing so well and watch it slip away. She talked about how students took advantage of online classes, learning how to trick the settings to look like they were active but instead were watching TV or playing video games. As more weeks of mandates kept getting added many students became overly disruptive and generally a pain in the ass. With the accountability structure gone, why would we expect anything less from kids? Some of the more distressing things she told me were how friends were separated from each other based on their last name when they started school classes again. Everyone had to line up 6 feet apart; no sitting next to each other, eating lunches together, venting, playing, whispering, hugging, or holding hands. They were always lined up in sync with the mandates while their smiles were hidden away for years. Only the eyes were seen, and our eyes show our sorrows. The worst for her was when she would get called by the office, told to grab her things, and to leave. Because an anonymous student sitting 6 feet away from her tested positive. She told me how this happened one time, moments before an important test, she begged them to let her take it, but they said no and sent her home for two weeks. She never did end up taking that test. This is just a very brief sample of one young student’s experience, and it left an impression on her that I don’t believe will ever go away. We now have a nation (primarily young, but all ages have been affected) of people who don’t know who they are and believe every emotion they feel has to be validated by everyone around them. While there was already a lot that contributed to this pressure point finally boiling over, COVID-19 was the final trigger that needed to be pulled. The world was thrown into pandemonium, not just for 2 weeks but for years. The constant fear of getting sick, death tolls around every corner, planning out even the smallest errand, socialization taken away, watching parents' jobs be threatened, watching them lose jobs, and vaccine mandates that some did not want to be a part of. Our children witnessed this for years, their minds absorbed everything. End of part 1. I will be following up on part 2 by talking about trauma responses, groupthink, social contagion, PTSD, and more. © Jane Isley Sources: (1) Mind.org (2) U.S. Dept of Veterans Affairs; PTSD: National Center for PTSD; Common Reactions After Trauma (3) Mayo Clinic; Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (4) PubMed Central (5) Henry Ford Health: Why Is TikTok Giving Teen Girls Tics? (6) Verywell Mind; How Groupthink Impacts Our Behavior

To read part one, click here. In that article, I began exploring the subtle but lasting impact the pandemic had on our children. Since then, I’ve had the opportunity to speak with a young woman who was in school when COVID first hit our nation. Listening to her experiences, it quickly became clear that the disruptions, isolation, and constant fear left lasting marks that she still carries today. This second part delves deeper into the psychological and social effects of those years. I propose that our country and, specifically, our children, have gone through a trauma. I suspect that nearly everyone went through something that they never thought would happen to them. Then layer that with the constant warning signs everywhere, being treated like a walking contagion, apps that connected you with infection rates in your area giving out alerts, businesses going out, non-stop social media posts, death tolls up on every news station, and being blocked from even participating in holidays, birthdays, weddings, or funerals. I don’t think I need to go on. Our entire country came to a screeching halt. Now, let’s add another layer to that trauma that our children went through. Mandatory Masking. While I get the purpose of needing to mask up when sick, we all know this did not pan out as well as we were all told it would. I’m not here to go into that side of things; just pointing out that it didn’t work as well as planned. We went well past the 2 weeks we were all told. We were required to wear masks far longer than any of us expected. So we have people experiencing a high level of constant fear and stressors now, also being required to cover their faces. So here are my connect-the-dot moments. Traumatic Event- “Trauma is when we experience very stressful, frightening or distressing events that are difficult to cope with or out of our control. It could be one incident, or an ongoing event that happens over a long period of time.” (1) “Covid-19 has destroyed and remoulded me into someone I am still trying to figure out. It has completely changed my outlook on life and it has broken a part of me which I am still working hard to heal, with the help of my colleagues and loved ones.” (1) Here are some of the common reactions after a trauma. (2) Losing hope for the future Feeling distant (detached) or losing a sense of concern about others Being irritable or having angry outbursts Getting easily upset or agitated Blaming yourself or having negative views of oneself or the world Being unable to trust others, getting into fights, or trying to control everything Being withdrawn, feeling rejected, or abandoned PTSD- “Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that’s caused by an extremely stressful or terrifying event — either being part of it or witnessing it.” (3) “Post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms may start within the first three months after a traumatic event. But sometimes symptoms may not appear until years after the event. These symptoms last more than one month and cause major problems in social or work situations and how well you get along with others.” (3) Here are a few common symptoms. (3) Severe emotional distress or physical reactions to something that reminds you of a traumatic event. Negative thoughts about yourself, other people or the world. Ongoing negative emotions of fear, blame, guilt, anger or shame. Feeling detached from family and friends. Irritability, angry outbursts or aggressive behavior. Social Contagion- “the spread of behaviors, attitudes, and affect through crowds and other types of social aggregates from one member to another. Adolescents are prone to social contagion because they may be especially susceptible to peer influence and social media.” (4) “Given their developmental stage, adolescents are a population prone to social contagion not only because they may be especially susceptible to the influence of social media [9], but also to that of their peers” (4) Group Think- “Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon in which people strive for consensus within a group. In many cases, people will set aside their own personal beliefs or adopt the opinions of the rest of the group. The term was first used in 1972 by social psychologist Irving L. Janis.” (6) Here are some of the signs to watch for with this phenomenon.(6) Illusions of unanimity lead members to believe that everyone is in agreement and feels the same way. It is often much more difficult to speak out when it seems that everyone else in the group is on the same page. Unquestioned beliefs lead members to ignore possible moral problems and not consider the consequences of individual and group actions. Rationalizing prevents members from reconsidering their beliefs and causes them to ignore warning signs. Stereotyping leads members of the in-group to ignore or even demonize out-group members who may oppose or challenge the group’s ideas. This causes members of the group to ignore important ideas or information. Direct pressure to conform is often placed on members who pose questions, and those who question the group are often seen as disloyal or traitorous. Here’s something personal I’d like to bring up. I do not know how many remember this, but a while ago, there was a concern, for lack of a better word, when teenagers started showing up at the doctor’s office because they developed Tics/Tourette's syndrome symptoms. It made the news for a while, and doctors learned that these teenagers were watching influencers who truly had a Tic disorder or Tourette's syndrome and then were starting to mimic them; their brains did this to them. I remember this and watched it play out because my daughter truly has Tourette's syndrome. I will be honest, it was saddening and also frustrating. No one knows the hell Tourette syndrome can actually be, and here are kids being so influenced by stuff online that their brains literally started copying them. “Then, because they’re watching these videos so often, their brains start to mimic the tics. “What these teen girls have are called functional tics — it’s a functional neurological disorder,” says Dr. Danoun. “We’ve seen this before in children who have parents or siblings with seizures.” (5) “Functional neurological disorders are often associated with anxiety, depression and/or trauma, so people with these mental health conditions may be more susceptible to developing functional tics.” (5) Why am I dropping all these definitions? I know it’s not as cut-and-dry as these definitions, but we have a problem. When I see reports of teens developing tics just from watching too much TikTok, we have a problem on a much larger scale in our country if that can happen to our children. I can see that there’s a large population suffering from trauma, and they are all reacting quite loudly and rudely; they are reacting as if they experienced a trauma. As a survivor of trauma, I can see and recognize these actions, and I can understand them internally in a way those who haven’t experienced trauma cannot. Take all these conditions (there’s more btw, but I stopped) and throw in a couple of years of masks, fear, isolation, and trauma to young children, teenagers, and adults. You can not convince me that they came out unscathed. I am 42 years old, and I have never seen a reaction so substantial, forceful, and potent in this country until the mandates went down and people went back to “normal” lives. I know I can not be the only one who saw this. © Jane Isley Please consider supporting my work; all donations go to running this publication. Sources: (1) Mind.org (2) U.S. Dept of Veterans Affairs; PTSD: National Center for PTSD; Common Reactions After Trauma (3) Mayo Clinic; Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (4) PubMed Central (5) Henry Ford Health: Why Is TikTok Giving Teen Girls Tics? (6) Verywell Mind; How Groupthink Impacts Our Behavior

The Olympics definitely went off with a bang this year, but what I’m seeing from some Christians is even more deeply concerning. Screenshot from YouTube video “Symbolism Explained: The Olympics Opening Ceremony is Worse than You Thought” by Jonathan Pageau. Used under fair use for commentary. Many are defending this, claiming it wasn’t really a Last Supper parody, that it’s just “artistic expression,” it was only about the god Dionysus, not Jesus, and that people need to calm down and be more inclusive. Basically, we’re being gaslit into thinking outrage over clear moral violations is overreacting. The harsh truth is, it doesn’t matter whether the parody intentionally referenced the Last Supper or not. The point is: the excuses being given to justify this as “okay” are meaningless in the face of what was actually presented. The point is what it openly promoted: the LGBTQ+ community, drag queens, the feast of Dionysus (the god of wine, fertility, and revelry), sexuality, gluttony, drunkenness, and immodesty, all in front of children. It normalized a culture of blatant sexuality, sensuality, and revelry under the guise of “art,” making a spectacle out of behaviors Scripture clearly condemns. If you call yourself a Christian and support this, it’s time to reevaluate your faith, and I mean that quite literally and seriously. It’s not about being judgmental; it’s about aligning with the truth of God’s Word. The Bible makes it clear: there is no middle ground when it comes to defending behavior that glorifies sin. The only “middle ground” some claim is a false one, designed to allow people to live however they please while excusing what Scripture forbids. Stop defending this monstrosity of an “artistic” expression. There is no place for it in Christianity. It is a stark reminder that the world will continue to push boundaries, but our faith calls us to stand firm, sober, and vigilant. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” 1 Peter 5:8 © Jane Isley Consider supporting my work; all donations go to running this publication. Image Source: The Symbolic World by Jonathan Pageau

Akunna James-Ibe is a writer who works as a medical doctor on the side—but most of the time she is a Christian who earnestly seeks to attain her full stature in Christ through Christ everyday. Amongst other things, Akunna loves to read, sleep, sing, sleep, and learn new things. She also has broad interests ranging from the arts to the sciences. You can find her on Medium, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X, or just good old Google as Akunna James-Ibe.