Teens continue to party, despite the fact that they may be killing people in the process.

High school students are having a hard time stepping away from the social scene. However, a global pandemic isn’t exactly the ideal time for large gatherings. As of September 23, SCPS high schools have 300% more positive covid cases than the middle schools (https://www.scps.k12.fl.us/covid19/dashboard.stml). 

With the hope of enjoying their last few years of being a teenager, teens rarely refuse the opportunity to make (or lose) memories with their friends. Also, due to covid’s miniscule death rate for teens, they don’t see many consequences occurring even if they did somehow end up with the virus. Their naive thinking, however, excludes peers that have underlying conditions that could be worsened with covid, as well as peers who live with elderly family members.

Is the party guilt shaming fair?  Junior Gabi Bakker said that “If my parents were allowed to go to parties, why should I not be allowed to go just because they might die?” This is a point many young people agree on, given that all previous generations were able to enjoy their younger years if they chose to. It doesn’t seem fair that these young people’s social lives are being stolen from when everyone else got to enjoy their youth. Freshman Mia Torres, however, has a different view. She stated that “I think partying during a pandemic isn’t safe and not very smart. Like, a few weeks ago a senior threw a party, and a lot of people ended up in quarantine afterwards.” Torres shares this concern with many distressed parents and staff. With parties each weekend, the number of students being potentially exposed to covid is rapidly increasing. 

Ideally, people should try not to recklessly expose themselves to others. If you’re good at isolation, then maybe group facetimes and zoom call movie nights are enough for you. However, for the majority of young people, time with friends is essential. So, if you’re going to hang out with friends, here’s a few practices you should try to adhere to. First of all, don’t go to high traffic places. Yes, this includes high school parties. If you just have to go, don’t share drinks, use hand sanitizer often, and don’t greet all of your friends with a hug; I promise that they’ll understand.