In the whirlwind of the country’s current situation, teenagers can often be overlooked and their interests ignored. As a result, the “young adult” generation is left with more responsibility for how they spend their time. To get some idea as to what exactly students are doing with this newfound freedom of looser schedules, a Google Form was sent to SA students ranging from 8th graders to the unfortunate seniors.

     The first question on the form asked about grade level, which turned out to be largely irrelevant as to how the next five questions were answered; however there was a greater number of 8th graders who were able to complete the form. For the second question, 57 percent of students agreed that the country’s current situation has made them more stressed. On the next question, 42 percent of students agreed that the school shutdown has caused them more stress. While 42 percent isn’t a majority, it is still an overwhelming and surprising response, especially when considering how many jokes are made each day about finally having time to relax.

    The last few questions were mainly concerned with how SA students are using the extra time that 72 percent of responders agreed they had in the wake of current situations. Students were asked what exactly they were doing with their free time; a large number of responders actually picked the pre-given answers that included watching TV, doing creative projects, and scrolling on social media, while a far smaller amount picked the “choose other” option. Of those who said “choose other,” most opted to saying all of the above. Another popular response from the “choose other” option was exercise in some capacity, ranging from at-home athletic training to simply riding a bike.

     The final questions asked students what social media they used when they had free time. Other than the occasional criticism as to why Facebook was listed as an option, the responses tended to include or be at least one of the three usual suspects: Snapchat, Instagram, and, of course, Tik Tok. Despite the overwhelming repetitiveness for some answers on this question,  there was quite a bit of variety that ranged from YouTube, to Reddit, and to “I don’t have social media :(.” Regardless of how these questions were answered, there remains the same result: the generation of current and rising highschoolers is pretty responsible in how they’re spending their time away from a physical school environment. Not only are they maintaining academic responsibility in what is likely the first historical event to occur in their lifetime, they are also managing their stress by taking breaks to participate in homebound activities that they enjoy.