2020 was a difficult year for everyone. Over a million people across the United States lost their jobs due to the virus. During this virus, we had numerous events happen that I would include in a 2020 “starter pack”. Things like the world shutdown when everyone had to quarantine for a certain number of weeks and even months. During this shutdown, teens' mental health went extremely low for some. I know a lot of teens who have struggled with mental health during this feeling isolated and lonely. Another thing I would add to this starter pack is the social justice issues and the protests across the United States. For my 2020 starter pack, I would say the 3 most important things are the world shutdown, teen mental health during it, and the social justice issues we had.
One of the 3 things that I included in my 2020 starter pack was the world shutting down due to COVID and how it affected people around the world. This was a huge major event in 2020 that led to several things. Schools, workplaces, etc. all shutting down due to COVID. All of this led to people losing jobs and losing loved ones. Back in April, a report came out that “an unemployment rate of 14.7%” (Soucheray) had occurred which hadn't seen the Great Depression. 14% of America unemployed had a huge impact on our economy. The economy took a huge hit with this pandemic and it will take a lot of time to heal from it. All of this hurt America and its people and is a major part of 2020 as it kicked off one of the harshest times we have seen.
Another thing that I would include in my 2020 starter pack would be teen mental health and how it's been affected. One study found that “80% of adolescent girls feel more lonely and isolated than before“ (Robertson). The world shutting down has played a huge factor in our teens' lives. One minute we were able to sit in a group with however many friends we wanted and the next we can’t stay within 6 feet and have to have a mask. Being at home constantly during this started to affect us, teens. Viewing it as an opportunity as an extended spring break slowly started to feel like a never-ending trap. Waking up and doing the same things over and over every day was getting so repetitive and felt like there was no meaning to it. No motivation to do anything like school or sports and not learning anything through a computer screen all day. I know I’m not only speaking for myself when I say this has affected and changed teens throughout America. 2020 messed with teen mental health and is a huge part of my 2020 starter pack.
The last thing I would list as a key part of my 2020 starter pack is social justice issues and if we achieved what we set out to. Social Justice is defined as simply “Equal rights, Equal opportunity, Equal treatment” (TSDF). Equality in America hasn’t been that present throughout the years and the people wanted to change that. They felt like they had no equal rights, opportunity, or treatment in how people viewed them. They decided to riot and protest throughout America. I would include this in my starter pack because it was a huge topic throughout 2020 with multiple different people getting shot at the hands of police officers who are supposed to protect us and not harm us. People were outraged by this and sparked these protests all across America and have been a huge impact throughout various places like sports for example. Written on jerseys, courts, helmets, anything you can think of and it’s shaped how 2020 went.
For my 2020 starter pack, I would say the 3 most important things are the world shutdown, teen mental health during it, and the social justice issues we had. Some may argue that these 3 could be replaced by anything, but these were the main focuses across not only America but other countries too. With the world being shut down, tons of people lost jobs and loved ones and this saw a huge increase in unemployment, something we haven’t seen since the Great Depression. Teen mental health also took a huge fall as many teens across America struggled to keep their emotions and thoughts under control during this time. Most stated as feeling “isolated and lonely”. Lastly, social justice issues we’ve had during 2020 led to many riots and protests across America. Have we achieved what we’ve wanted with social justice issues we’ve brought up? Can they be fixed? 2020 was a crazy and unfortunate year for many, but we need to bounce back in 2021 and the following years to create an even stronger world.