Even with the coronavirus pandemic going on, agglomerations in bars and parties are still present, especially among young people. The main consequences of events like these are the rise in the number of cases and deaths, and overcrowding at the hospitals. Knowing all this, why do young people keep going out during such a delicate period?
Most say that the main reason for this is that they are not as affected by the disease as those who are part of the risk group. However, with the new strain of the virus, it is not just the elderly and people with serious health problems – such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and asthma – who are dying, having a hard time surviving, and getting a place at the hospitals. Even though they are still a minority, the number of youngsters who are also getting ill increases every day.
With that being said, what is the reason to keep going out just to have fun considering all the risks? When young people are questioned, they say they are tired, miss their friends, can’t stand constant fights with their families, and even mention mental health problems, those who no longer had depression or anxiety, developed during the time that they needed to be locked up at home.
But there is much more to talk about than just emotional well-being in this case. The social context is very important to be approached in this matter. There are a lot of people who do not have the option to stay at home, they need to work to earn an income to survive. For example, the delivery man, who spends the whole day on the streets, or the person who needs to take public transport and has contact with several people during the day, or even people who live on the peripheries, where there is no possibility of keeping the social isolation.
Besides that, self-deception is another main reason that contributes to these agglomerations. People go to parties and meetings thinking that they will keep their distance, wear a mask all the time, and take all possible care, but this is not quite what happens. When you are already at the party, you have fun and end up forgetting the worrying scenario outside.
In addition, the younger generation has that feeling of being invincible, with a healthy and strong body, a very high life expectancy, because they believe that they will only find death when they become older. The greatest examples of this, according to psychoanalysts, are unwanted teenage pregnancies and AIDS cases, the woman does not want to become pregnant, but believes that it will never happen to her, people do not want to have an STD, but continue to have sex without protection and take the risk by simply believing that it will never happen to them.
Not to mention the importance of the influence that people have on each other since we are living in the era of digital influence. The President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, once said: “In my particular case, due to my athletic history, if I were infected by the virus, I wouldn’t have to worry, I wouldn’t feel anything, or I would be, at most, suffering from a little flu” and still recommends early treatments, which, by the way, have already been proven to be ineffective against the disease. There is also Sarah Andrade, a former participant in Big Brother Brazil 2021, the most watched reality show in Brazil, who confessed she did not comply with the quarantine during the program. Because of that, followers of people like them start asking themselves “If they can, why not me?” and we see the effects on more than 4,000 deaths in 24 hours in Brazil, April 6th, 2021.
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The article above was edited by Carolina Rodrigues.
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