In most countries the restrictions against Covid are now over and some people speak about going back to a “normal life”. Others already warn about the next deadly variant or new viruses.
The reality however seems not so defined in one way or the other. Furthermore, there is not only Covid amid the viruses affecting the world as the current nasty war in Europe shows.
Already now, we can see the consequences of the pandemic beyond the medical impact.
Symptoms like anxiety, loneliness, depression and uncertainty have dramatically worsened in the last two years.
For young people a deeper factor of distress is the lack of perspective about their future, the worries of being left-behind because of lower school performances, the fears that the disruption in their education could imply a disruption in their future professional opportunities and also in their personal and social development.
Their mental condition could be briefly described as being hopeless.
Being hopeless is one of the most serious disease that might affect children, teenagers and young people.
Such an invisible mental status due to the impact of Covid combined with other issues could become a serious trauma: my mind goes to the children caught in this moment by a war in the middle of Europe that they would have never dreamed of. And also to all those children and youngsters who are aware of such a tragedy and fear that could come in other countries too.
The effects of the present difficulties might unfortunately be going to cause long-lasting consequences on the younger generations if we adults do not become very quickly aware that a hopeful future can only be based on peaceful and tolerant mindset to understand and respect one another.
The AEL summer school is essentially irrelevant for the dynamics of the world, but its ambition (or courage) is to provide our students some space and time to refresh their energy, boost their self-confidence, inspire their hope. And obviously improve their English!