Covid 19’s Effect on Family Life

COVID-19 has spurred a lot of change in everyone’s daily life, especially students. 

Classes have transferred completely to an online version that greatly limits social interaction between students. Most will find themselves feeling extremely isolated, especially students who do not have anyone at home to interact with. Students with family or roommates are especially lucky to have those social interactions.

However, there are still drawbacks to having this much day-to-day interaction with only the same people. They might start to feel crowded and isolated at the same time. 

“The consequences of isolating, quarantining, and social distancing are that we are generally spending more time at home with our families, and less time with our social circle,” said Elizabeth McKinney, a counselor at Green River College (GRC). 

McKinney said there are positives but also drawbacks of this situation. Yes, students are spending more time with their families and this seems like a great change as families getting closer can often be a positive thing.

But is it too much? Too much time with family can also be detrimental. 

In Art Jahnke’s paper entitled, “In College Students, COVID-19 Has Increased Depression Rate and Raised New Barriers to Mental Health Care,” the author talks about several studies that have found a drastic increase in depression in college students since this time last year.

Not only that, but there has also been a higher report than usual of a negative impact on school work because of mental health. Haylee Glowgowski, a Running Start student at the college, has noticed a change in her mental health and motivation. 

“I already struggle with feeling motivated to do school work and it feels like there is even less of a reason to do it now,” said Glowgowski.

None of this is to say that there are not people who have noticed a positive impact on their life. One of these people is Corrina Clay, another GRC student.

“I have recently moved in with my significant other, and have been able to visit some of my family on special occasions,” said Clay. While she has not been able to see other family members due to social distancing, she feels as happy as she can be with her current situation. 

While there are plenty of drawbacks as a result of the pandemic, everyone should try to make the best out of all this free time.