Rami attends secondary school in Rome.

He’s passionate about computers,

gaming and app developing. Rami is 16 and was born in Jordan.

I consider myself a very sedentary person. Usually during the school

holidays I tend to stay at home most of the time. Quarantine is not affecting
what I would normally do with all this extra free time.

One of the things that changed is the shifting of my schedule. Since I don’t

have to wake up at 6am, I started to wake up later and later, and as a result
I ended up having lunch, dinner, and going to bed at least two hours after
my usual time.

The last time I went out it was two days before the quarantine started, with
some friends. I don’t feel the need to go out yet.

Viola

During the day, apart from web-school and homework, I contact friends,
both Italian and from my school here in Tanzania. I can read and listen to
music much more than usual. In the afternoon I often take a walk with my
dog.

From this experience I have noticed how we kids often don’t enjoy the simple
things we have, such as going out with friends. Now that we can’t, we are
realising the importance of these little things. Surely, when it’s all over, we’ll
be more grateful for what we have.

Alice

During the day, apart from web-school and homework, I contact friends,
both Italian and from my school here in Tanzania. I can read and listen to
music much more than usual. In the afternoon I often take a walk with my
dog.

From this experience I have noticed how we kids often don’t enjoy the simple
things we have, such as going out with friends. Now that we can’t, we are
realising the importance of these little things. Surely, when it’s all over, we’ll
be more grateful for what we have.

Alice
 Alice, 16, lives on the outskirts of Rome and has access to a big garden. This
makes the quarantine days easier for her to stand. She’s very good at drawing,
and has plans to move to Portsmouth in the autumn to attend an English
school year-long programme.

Staying at home is difficult, more than anything else, because I can’t see my
friends in person. Apart from not going to school and participating in extra-
curricular activity, the only different thing is not going out with my friends.

The connection is often slow and the video freezes, so classes are much more
difficult to follow. The upsides are probably the comfort of being at home
and not being seen by teachers.

I worry a lot and also wonder whether this virus will ruin my summer. I’m
probably more concerned about the coronavirus than global warming.

Chiara connects with us via Zoom and selects her favourite TV series Money
Heist as a background. She’s very good student, she’s a class representative
and politically active.

One of the fundamental aspects of the school is lost: sociality. School is not
limited to teaching notions but it is a place of sharing, participation and also of
physical and emotional contact with the web-school.

Chiara

Obviously I miss my friends and going out, but I get along well with my family
and maybe I’ve always been a bit lazy, so adapting wasn’t difficult. Instead of
going out with friends, on Saturday nights I watch movies or series with my
family, something nobody had time to do before.

I spend most of my days studying, but I also have virtual meetings with my
collective mates and chat with my friends, but physically it is different and I
miss that aspect.
At first it took me a while to realise what was really happening, but hearing the
number of deaths on the news or listening to the stories of my uncle, who is a
doctor in the Bergamo area – where the virus hit hardest – has frightened me.
But I’m quite optimistic: if we all respect the rules, and stay at home we will be
able to get out of this situation

nita, 15, attends the second year of Pilo Albertelli high school in Rome. She is a
brilliant student and spends most of her quarantine days doing web-schooling
and homework. She loves writing and reading but also doing sports. She’s a
long-jumper.

Sometimes I feel the lockdown is an opportunity to rest from the frenzy and

to try things I didn’t have time to do before. Other times, I feel tired of living
like this – and the fact that I can’t go out drives me crazy. I miss going to
school, I miss athletics and seeing my friends, but I also feel lucky because
I’m healthy and in a comfortable home. Having lunch with my whole family
is new – that was not a daily habit before.

During the day I read and watch TV series. Sometimes I make video calls
with my friends, sometimes I draw. We are lucky at least to be able to
continue to study and see our classmates and teachers, but there are internet
connection problems and distance learning is more difficult.

I’m worried about the victims and that someone I know might get sick. I’m
scared that hospitals are overloaded and there aren’t enough doctors.
Despite the lockdown we’re doing well in the family, but I’m amazed at how
much I miss school.

I’ve learned that life and our habits can change in a second. I have never
thought about this before, but in many other parts of the world this often
happens. Then I learned to wash my hands very well!

Chiara B attends the second year at the Italian school in Madrid, where she
lives with her family. She’s a Hollywood film fan and she wants to become a
director of photography. Spain is among the countries worst-hit by the
pandemic. She spends her lockdown days learning to play the guitar, watching
movies and studying.
I think we will all be able to appreciate the little things of life way more. I will
certainly appreciate more the simple fact I can leave home and, above all, I
know that there will never have to be any more cuts to the healthcare system

Chiara B

Since I don’t go out of the house any more and I don’t have any more
commitments, life is less hectic. This allows me to think more, but sometimes,
I get lost in distressing thoughts (for example, about our future). I miss being
able to meet friends in person very much.

I have more time now. I can write more, work out every day, read and work on
personal projects. Apart from web school and homework, I mostly video-chat
to my friends.

At the beginning distance learning was exciting. I paid more attention to

classes because it was new. But as the weeks go by, it gets harder to stay
focused in front of a screen.

I am more concerned about the climate crisis than the virus, but it took a
pandemic for this phenomenon to slow down, at least a little bit. I keep myself
informed, but in a very superficial way. The numbers frighten me enough and
frighten the whole of Spain.

ulien, 15, was born in Rome but has a French father. He’s passionate about
maths and science. He spends his lockdown days mainly studying. He doesn’t
feel the urge to go out. He just went jogging a couple of times to stay fit. He’s a
high-jump athlete.

I am amazed at how easy it is for me to stay at home and that I have no desire
to go outside at all
Julien

The obligation to stay at home does not cause me any stress at all: I am very
homely and do not feel the need to go out. School and homework aside, I
spend my days mainly on my mobile phone or computer. I seldom go jogging.

The web school works well, we have regular lessons every day (even too
many!). It’s nice that it’s easier to consult books during the tests.

I don’t miss the fact that I can’t physically meet my friends. I’m happy even if
we only see each other virtually during video calls.

Michela has been reading a lot and keeping good care of her pet.

Being at home doesn’t bother me too much. The relationship with my parents

hasn’t changed much, we live in the same house but we don’t see each other
often, each of us has his own space in the house and we only get together to
eat. At least once a week, I go out for a walk with my grandmother’s dog, so
I’m not completely segregated like other people.

he daily routine hasn’t changed drastically, the main difference is when I

play sport: I used to train in the evening for about two hours with my rugby
team, now I do it in the morning for one hour at most, doing some exercises
suggested by our coach.

School homework is the same as before, and the whole morning is occupied
by video lessons. But I finally found some time for myself, for example to
make a jewellery box to tidy up all my earrings and necklaces that were
previously cluttered in a box.

I am more concerned about the climate crisis because the coronavirus

is something to which we will eventually find a solution, even though it will
take a long time. Climate breakdown, on the other hand, is a seemingly
invisible enemy that we can’t stop, because it’s not as obvious as the
coronavirus, because it doesn’t bring “imminent” deaths, but a slow death of
the whole planet. It seems that the world is not focused in finding a real
solution for that.