- I guess what I'm trying to say is.
- Browse (indistinct)
- Okay. Sorry. This is.
(laptop drop)
Hello?
(Charlie readjustment crackling)
Oh my gosh.
- [TV Host] It's happening nationwide.
A second high school has now closed.
- Should schools reopen first?
- You can't have one basic answer across the country
because we have so much variability.
- It cannot be done unsafely
or we'll be right back where we started.
- I just feel like that's the risk some of us,
seniors, are willing to take to have our senior year.
- My name is Charlie.
I'm going into my senior year,
and I'm from Los Angeles, California.
- My name is Nyla.
I live in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
and I am going to be a junior.
- Hi. My name is Laura Rose.
I'm from the greater Boston area, Massachusetts,
and I'm gonna be a sophomore.
- I'm Sophie.
I live in Omaha, Nebraska,
and I'm gonna be a sophomore in high school.
- My name's Jacob.
I live in Farmington Hills, Michigan,
and I'm going into my junior year of high school.
- Hi, I'm Vanessa.
I am 17 years old and I live in Florida.
- I'm Hannah.
I'm going into my senior year,
and I'm in Spokane, Washington
- [Host] TikTok is life.
(button clicks)
Three, two, one.
- I used to spend so much time on TikTok,
but it got to a point where it became a problem.
I sometimes spent four hours
on TikTok just, like, scrolling.
- For me, it's like clearly a problem.
But I say, like, 'roll with it'.
Like, the enjoyment that I get
out of TikTok is like so immense.
Like, I don't know what I do with my six extra hours.
- I never even like got TikTok or had TikTok.
I just don't really get it.
- Honestly, it really depends on, like,
what content you watch.
Once you get past the skinny hot girls dancing,
like commentary TikTok.
- I mean, those TikToks end up everywhere
and those references slip in.
It's, definitely, not something that you can ignore
because it's so there.
- [Host] I want my school to go back to in-person learning.
Three, two, one.
- I live in Florida and it's one of the worst days,
when it comes to Coronavirus,
and everyone is doing whatever they want.
They're not ready, right now, to go back to school.
- I'm a senior this year and I just, I love school.
So, I really, really wanna go back.
But I, definitely, don't wanna go back
at the risk of, like, spreading COVID.
I'm, actually like, really happy with my school's plans.
'Cause we have, like, four options,
so that if you don't feel comfortable going back to school,
you have the option to not go back to school.
- I, really do, would want to go back to school.
But at the same time, I have to commute to school.
- Yeah, I agree with you, Charlie. I wanna go back,
but I have to take three buses, public transportation.
I'm not for that, right now.
The hybrid schedule, half will go in Monday, Tuesday.
The other half will go in Wednesday, Thursday.
Everyone's home Friday. For me, the plan is unacceptable
because, what about the kids who aren't going in?
Like, what do we do?
- I feel like, right now, online school
isn't being part of the solution.
It's almost just like a punishment
for, like, the government not taking enough steps.
I live in Nebraska, and we were, like,
the last city out of the biggest,
like a hundred cities to, like, get a mask mandate.
They said, we were gonna go back.
And then, like a week before school started,
they, like, completely changed their mind,
which in my opinion was like a good thing to do
'cause, like, our numbers are just, like, keep going up.
The schools are acting like they know what's happening,
but like deep down, like, it's, like,
clear that they have no clue either.
- Yeah, I totally agree.
Because the teachers' union is so strong where I'm from,
the teachers wanting to stay home
is overpowering the student's needs.
They gave us the first month off to prepare.
But then, that only resulted in them throwing us busy work
for the rest of the two months.
You need to adapt to the medium and serve your students.
I don't care where that happens.
- I mean, I do agree with that, but at the same time
the teachers are also in a enormous amount of stress.
I definitely wanna go back,
but having seen firsthand how China dealt with it,
it's, like, coming back to the US.
Infection rate is incredibly high.
How we haven't tested the fifth of the people.
To me, it's too scary, to even comprehend,
if every single kid went back to school.
- [Host] I have missed out on major life milestones
because of the pandemic.
Three, two, one.
- The summer after your junior year
before your senior year
is the one that's most important
that colleges are gonna look at.
I've tried so hard to, like,
get a job or volunteer. I can't.
And it's so frustrating 'cause I do track and gymnastics,
and I'm, like, captains on both those teams.
Super, super excited to be a captain.
Just, like really, turned everything upside down.
It kind of sucks.
- I moved from my country about three years ago.
I was a lot of stuff behind everyone else.
I, literally, learned about college application last year.
This year, I was gonna do all those things
that people started doing freshman year.
But because of the pandemic everything was,
everything got canceled. And I was very sad.
I, I felt, like, I was even more step behind everyone else.
- I'm just curious where you're from.
- Oh, I'm from Venezuela.
[All] Oh!
- [Charlie] Wow! Oh, how is that?
- Well, for me when I was living there,
the light would just not work, not water
or not good internet connection and they are doing
online school, so it is a mess.
But I'm glad I'm here.
- First of all, you're so brave for,
like, leaving your country.
I'm a first generation, and my family had to go
through something similar. Trust you, you're the best.
So, the main thing I missed out on was the musical,
which was crushing 'cause I've been wanting to be
in it, since first grade.
Once I actually thought about it,
I was actually, kind of, miserable at school.
I was always the black sheep of my grade.
So, to, to not get like weird stares is, like,
'oh my gosh I'm actually a person who matters'.
It's actually been quite good for my mental health,
which I wasn't expecting.
- [Host] I have experienced mental health
issues due to the pandemic
Three, two, one.
- This pandemic was extremely damaging
to my mental health on so many different levels.
When Black Lives Matter movement was,
like, hitting headlines again, um,
because of the death of George Floyd.
It was very uncomfortable for me,
'cause I had people, like, DMing me personally,
like, questions. Oh gosh, it makes me cringe.
'What can I do?' 'How can I be a better person?'
'I don't understand what's going on'.
And I was like, I understand that because, you know,
some people just don't truly know
what's going on in the world.
But being, like, the little girl I am, like,
I didn't know how to explain the people why my life matters.
And then not to mention with my school,
I was asked, like, how do we help make our students
of color more comfortable?
I was just like, shouldn't I already be comfortable.
Like, I feel, like, it should be a space for everyone.
You shouldn't have to, like, accommodate to me.
And in that moment, like, I realized that
some people who claim to be my friends weren't.
They saw the Black Lives Matter movement
more as like a trend.
So, I was like, kind of, telling everyone,
'please just gimme some space'.
I'm really overwhelmed. I don't know how to process this.
- Like as teenagers, like,
I feel like we shouldn't have to have, like,
a care in the world, but it almost feels as
if so much stuff is being, like, shoved at us,
that it's like, we don't know how to deal with this.
And it feels like we have to deal with this, like,
way sooner than we should, like, have to deal with this.
- My country is basically a bubble.
You don't realize you are in that bubble
until you get out of that.
They are worried for other things that, thankfully,
we don't have to worry about.
Like if you are safe
or if you are going to eat something tomorrow.
So when I came here, I realized teenagers have more time
and more rights and platforms
to voice what they want to say.
A lot of people are watching them and listen to them
while in my country just cannot do that.
- And that's why I feel, like,
this quarantine is maybe taking us out of that,
and, sort of, opening our eyes like 20, 20.
20, 20 vision. Like, that's what I think of.
We're, sort of, realizing that we aren't gonna,
like, stick through with this system,
and we really need to be, like,
living our lives, at some point.
- [Host] I think the US is handling the pandemic properly.
Three, two, one.
- Hell no, I'm sorry. Strongly disagree.
- Yeah. No, not at all.
The government failed their class.
You should be kicked outta the classroom.
Like, we need a refresher here.
Our state is practically, just, a cornfield.
People think that, like, the world doesn't like reach us.
Exactly a week ago, got a mask mandate,
like finally, in my city.
It's not being enforced, like at all.
Like, our own, like, governor is against it.
Now more than ever, like, change needs to happen.
And that change can happen.
November 3rd, everybody go out and vote.
- Yeah. They, basically, did
everything that they could wrong.
First off, they let the politician decide
what motion should we pass and what shouldn't be.
And then, they let it go down to the local and state levels
and so, you can't make a uniform decision.
And thirdly, the people themselves who are like,
you know what, 'my right is I don't have to wear a mask,
so I'm not gonna wear it'.
And then for people in China, my friends were like,
'what in the world are they thinking?'
'Are they out of their minds?'
And for them it's like, this is,
this is the pinnacle of Americans.
Like, from the outside world,
this is America at its best, AKA its worst.
- I noticed that we're holding Australia
and New Zealand on, such, a pedestal.
However, I get a little fishy,
because they have crazy curfews,
and they're installing cameras to track their citizens.
Like, it's extremely important to protect people,
but, like, the people who question things
they do have a point.
Like, how much of our personal freedom
are we gonna sacrifice for this virus?
What rights am I willing to have stripped away?
Throughout history when rights are taken away,
they don't typically come back.
- I mean.
- I don't, you can practice social distancing 110% correct
and have all of your rights.
You can still talk on social media, right?
Like nobody's, like large gatherings,
well dude, it's a pandemic.
I mean, you're sort of like,
that's exactly what you're not supposed to do.
- I think there's levels to it, though.
I think, it's very fair that, like, there are certain levels
and degrees into which it's like,
'oh well that's like a little aggressive'.
- One of the reasons why America has struggled, so much,
with mandates and everything is that people believe,
so strongly, in the idea of personal freedom.
They don't understand that
in order to have personal freedom,
in order to live in a society,
you have to give up other freedoms.
- [Host] The pandemic has affected my future plans.
Three, two, one.
- Before when I was younger, I was like,
I'm gonna go to USC film school,
and I'm gonna become a film director.
And I was, just like, that's my goal.
But, I don't really know how,
what's gonna happen after high school,
but I'm also, have faith that whatever happens
I'll be happy with.
And then, I just found out recently that, like,
USC is handing out free tuition.
And I, actually, may have an opportunity,
if I get in, to pursue that.
- I have no clue what I want to do with my life,
which is so hard for me, because growing up like,
I want to be a singer, I want to be an actress.
And, I want to be a criminal justice defense attorney.
I have no clue where I wanna go.
But I do believe in manis, manis, manifest,
manifestation, (giggles) manifesting.
I believe in manifestation.
So if I know that I'm going to end up good,
I know I'm gonna end up good, like, I'm gonna be great.
It's, just, that I don't know
what I'm gonna be great in, yet.
And I'm okay with it. I'm okay with it.
- Go off.
Snaps for that. Very well said, very well said.
(upbeat gentle music)
- [Host] That is it for our conversation.
Thank you guys, so much.
(hands clapping)
- It was so nice talking to you all.
- Yes. Awesome. - So excited.
- Should we all chat, like, our Instagram handles?
- [Host] Yes. That would be.
- Mine is so long, I hate it.
- You can change it, you know?
- Oh wait.