Generation Z: it’s all our fault

Why is our generation being blamed for the spike in coronavirus? And is it really all our fault?

Coronavirus – one word that will always be associated with 2020. As of late, COVID-19 seems only to be associated with us, students, young people. We  are the apparent cause for the spike in the number of cases.

But is the recent criticism of our generation is just? Have we forgotten our moral and righteous obligation to protect each other by adhering to the rules and regulations?

There is also the belief that we have been let down by the powers that be. That in turn, the government has created opportunities that have in themselves attributed to the rise in cases across the UK.

Is it all our fault?

The bottom line is that we can be blamed for the rise. But we are not the only ones at fault.

What is this argument then? Well, the underpinning factor is that the younger generation of this country lives a highly social life. One which means we have multiple friends and people we haven’t seen for months on end.

Therefore, when we were granted the opportunity by the government to go to certain places such as restaurants and coffee shops, to have access to other people’s homes, even if restricted to groups of six. We were always going to take this opportunity.

During Rishi Sunak’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme the treasury estimates that 35 million meals were consumed, and restaurants benefited from a 31% week on week growth in profit.  

A large proportion of the growth was down to us, people our age going out to eat at a variety of places, all with the blessing of the Boris Johnson who actively encouraged us to go.

With students loving a deal anyway and often being strapped for money, there’s no surprise we went out in our flocks to claim a cheap meal.

However, just because we enjoy a discount on our local Italian pizzeria, we are no different from anyone else in this country. So why are we being blamed?

Well, the pictures of crowds swamping Leicester square, fifty-plus people attending house parties that have to be broken up by the police and pubs spilling out with drunken, slurring, semi-comatose individuals all-around age, is why we are being blamed.

People see the images on the news and the videos of the crowds and attribute the rise to us. We are the age group that is seen on the news, that is why we are being blamed.

Is it Justified? 

There is no reason to forget about the past seven months. Seven long months which have seen countless people become very ill and thousands of deaths across the country. 

We cannot believe that we are immune from this virus, because that is not the issue, it’s the fact that we can easily pass it on, to our parents, grandparents, aunties, and uncles.

What does this mean for the future?

We have to do better. Simple as seems, that is what we have to do. We cannot slip back into the habits of the last month that have seen the rise in cases and deaths.

We cannot sit and blame the easing of measures, even though there is evidence that this has had an impact on the increase. Even Boris Johnson admitted that recently.

Politics aside, we have a moral obligation to work and abide by the rules to protect the ones we love closest to us.

By doing this we will not only be saving people but showing the country our generation is not the problem but is the generation which helps the country to fight this virus.