En kvalitativ undersøgelse af danske gymnasiestuderendes oplevelser af fælleskaber, hverdagsliv & mental sundhed
In this project have I investigated how the young high school age population in Denmark has experienced and coped with a different everyday life during the Covid-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, several major impacts was done from a government and world leaders chair. Traveling got restricted. The nightlife was shut down, the cafes and restaurants was shut down, and for a longer time period everyone had to work from home, this is referred as the “lockdown”. This raises the question what possible consequences the lockdowns have had for young people in high school ages mental wellbeing. What I have done through qualitative research interviews is to find 3 informants through several sources like Facebook and networking through the municipality and private contacts. The young people who I was looking for, and found, all have in common that they are attending high school. What was interesting to discover was that they all have experienced difficulties during the pandemic. Some of the difficulties involved the limiting of socializing with friends and family, and problem of getting new friends when starting in a new school. But there are also benefits like the realization of getting closer to the friends that you do keep in contact with during the lockdown, if it is on an online platform, through video games, or it is outdoors in person. Theoretically have I used expressions regarding social pathologies like Hartmut Rosas theory about acceleration and resonance. How the social acceleration is defined from a constant competition that we must live up to with each other, and how this is broken down during the lockdown. Another is Anders Petersens theory about the performance society and how everyone must achieve certain goals in life to have fulfilled their purpose. On that behalf it’s concluded that the informants way of perceiving their stories about changed relationships to friends, family and the surrounding society, the importance of everyday life, has been different during the two lockdowns. In the first lockdown there was a relief from the social pressure regarding social life but also on the studies, whereas the second challenged the mental pressure of reaching the high bar of the norms because the pressure for achieving was just as high as before the lockdowns. Listening to the challenged youth, and how they experience the lockdowns, can show the changes in society and the consequences, for these individuals.
In this project have I investigated how the young high school age population in Denmark has experienced and coped with a different everyday life during the Covid-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, several major impacts was done from a government and world leaders chair. Traveling got restricted. The nightlife was shut down, the cafes and restaurants was shut down, and for a longer time period everyone had to work from home, this is referred as the “lockdown”. This raises the question what possible consequences the lockdowns have had for young people in high school ages mental wellbeing.
What I have done through qualitative research interviews is to find 3 informants through several sources like Facebook and networking through the municipality and private contacts. The young people who I was looking for, and found, all have in common that they are attending high school. What was interesting to discover was that they all have experienced difficulties during the pandemic. Some of the difficulties involved the limiting of socializing with friends and family, and problem of getting new friends when starting in a new school.
But there are also benefits like the realization of getting closer to the friends that you do keep in contact with during the lockdown, if it is on an online platform, through video games, or it is outdoors in person.
Theoretically have I used expressions regarding social pathologies like Hartmut Rosas theory about acceleration and resonance. How the social acceleration is defined from a constant competition that we must live up to with each other, and how this is broken down during the lockdown.
Another is Anders Petersens theory about the performance society and how everyone must achieve certain goals in life to have fulfilled their purpose.
On that behalf it’s concluded that the informants way of perceiving their stories about changed relationships to friends, family and the surrounding society, the importance of everyday life, has been different during the two lockdowns. In the first lockdown there was a relief from the social pressure regarding social life but also on the studies, whereas the second challenged the mental pressure of reaching the high bar of the norms because the pressure for achieving was just as high as before the lockdowns. Listening to the challenged youth, and how they experience the lockdowns, can show the changes in society and the consequences, for these individuals.
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medført nogle negative påvirkninger af informanternes mentale sundhed (Vidensråd for
forebyggelse, 2020. s.41).
For bare at nævne nogle af de faktorer som har haft negativ indflydelse hos informanterne,
beskriver Karoline blandt andet hendes mentale tilstand som rastløshed i følgende citat:
“Ja, jeg tror tit og ofte udformer det sig som rastløshed. Det er bare det der med at man plejede at
sidde i skole fra 8-15:30, også skal man bare sidde og lave sine lektier, - og man kan bare ikke
holde fokus, jeg savner det at skulle læse, det er faktisk lidt mærkeligt fordi man skulle tro at man jo
nu har helt vildt meget tid til at læse, men jeg kan slet ikke fokusere. Hvilket er helt vildt
forfærdeligt” (Karoline).
I en studiemæssig kontekst føler Karoline, at hun har meget tid til at læse op på sine lektier og
pensum, men at hun ikke kan fokusere på dette hele tiden, dagen lang. Hvilket hun definerer som en
helt vild forfærdelig følelse, da hun både mangler målsætninger og social omgang:
“Ømh. ja altså nu nævnte jeg rastløshed før, som nok kommer af at du nok ikke ved hvad du
arbejder hen imod” (Karoline).
Karoline har oplevet et pres på at skulle være produktiv i studiemæssige sammenhænge og har
været god til at bruge tiden fornuftigt inden nedlukningerne. Det, Karoline savner allermest ved
samfundet inden Covid-19, er følelsen af at opnå noget, at føle hun udvikler sig som menneske, og
hun har et afsavn til det at hun er på vej et sted hen.
” (…) Du føler ikke du opnår noget, du føler ikke du udvikler dig, og du føler ikke at du er på vej et
sted hen” (Karoline).
Til spørgsmålet om “har du være mere indelukket eller social ekskluderet?” fortæller Karoline at det
har hun kun til dels. Denne eksklusion anser hun ikke som personlig rettet mod hende, men at det
snarere er en konsekvens af nedlukningerne. Karoline har et stort afsavn til sociale handlinger som
motiverer hende, ikke i forhold til studie, men det at lære nye mennesker at kende, og udvikle sig
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