What parents need to understand about summer 2020

Courtesy of Kristina Lepore

On Friday May 22, ninth graders Kristina Lepore, Peyton Daniel, Kadence Zerbey and Connor Lindsey celebrate going into the yellow phase by having a fire. This was the first time they have hung out since the lockdown was put in place.

As of May 15, some places in Pennsylvania have entered the “yellow phase” according to Governor Tom Wolfe.  The yellow phase is where certain things are starting to open back up, and also, people can start hanging out in groups less than 25. 

Seeing as teens can now start hanging out in person, that opens up lots of new gates for summer activities. 

Personally, my friends and I were starting to get sort of worried about our summer. We were worried it would basically get canceled due to Covid-19. Hearing the news we were going into the yellow phase was fantastic! 

Of course some precautions should be taken when hanging out with friends such as trying not to hang out in public places and keeping the number of people to a minimum.

Although parents should still be taking precautions on their children to keep them safe, I personally believe they should really ease up on the lock-down rules.

Some teens, including me, have had to stay in house lock down from Mar. 13 – May 17. For over two months I was stuck inside without anything to do. My parents are just starting to let me go out with friends again.

I feel parents should understand that teens may not be home a lot through the summer. We have been stuck inside with just our families for months, and we want to go see our friends. I also feel they should understand that yes, it may not be 100% safe, but it’s safe enough to be semi-lifted, so we shouldn’t have to stay in lock-down all summer.

Without taking precautions, yes, it could be extremely dangerous to let teens out of the house throughout the summer. But maintaining the rules enforced in the area, it strongly decreases the chance of teens catching and spreading the coronavirus.