The role of young people re Covid 19

Oh my goodness, in our local town inN.Yorks (predominantly older population) and where we haven’t even had many cases so far, many people wear them in the street, larger shops have meet and greeters who remind you to use hand sanitiser and pop your mask on. It all feels very law abiding compared to what I am reading in the comments but the demographic explains a lot, I guess.

I'm in the North East and over the past few weeks have seen larger numbers of younger people not wearing masks, in fact, they appear to be hoping that someone will challenge them!

A friend popped into Newcastle the other day and said the centre was very busy...again, younger people being in the majority of those not wearing masks.

Did anyone see the BBC news item last night, interviewing some young people? Two young women wore masks and said how important it was to observe the distancing rules etc. A young man, maskless, treated us to 'Yer well, most people think, like, it's over like, and have got bored'. If the element who think and behave as he is are in the minority perhaps we will escape the worst. I do hope so - it makes me angry that this attitude can wreck what other people are sacrificing much to achieve.

Masks aren't required outside, are they?

I also wanted to add, I work with a younger woman who has two school age children....both returned to school a few days ago.
They are now displaying symptoms and the family are self isolating.
Hopefully all will be well but i do believe we need to tread very carefully in the rush to "normality".

There was a greeter outside a Sainsbury store a few days ago, directing people to hand sanitiser and cleaner for basket and trolley handles. A man - probably in his sixties - came up behind me whilst I was sanitizing ( wearing a mask) and said to the greeter 'Oh no, I've left my mask in the car!' She said, ' Oh, go on then, but be quick!' And in he went, no mask and no sanitising! And the car park is yards away! It made me wonder why I bother.

In the south west where I live most people in shops are wearing masks - those who aren't I assume have underlying health problems which makes it difficult for them to do so. I have noticed that some people, from all age groups, don't use the hand sanitiser or trolley cleaner before entering a supermarket.

Apologies if this has already been said: The scientists advising the government told us over and over again that younger people don't get Covid-19 and don't pass it on. Now that events have disproved that oft repeated assertion, it will probably take much more effort to convince people otherwise. We tend to believe what we want to believe.

If you worked in a shop would you be prepared to challenge someone? I left my part time job in early August as I felt so uncomfortable with the situation. The people flouting the law were generally men in their 20’s, covidiots.

I'm in NE Scotland, and almost everyone wears masks in shops, including wandering in the shopping malls, and on public transport.

My local Tesco Express wasn't stopping people usually young men from shopping without masks. Found it happening every time I went in shop so rung Head Office and complained. There are now big signs on all windows saying people need to wear them and if they haven't got one a member of staff with give them one. Also reminded them about social distancing. Telling them how good Sainsburys were and how bad their shop was worked.

Ring up or e-mail the shops concern and complain.

I went to a large local Lidl yesterday and was very pleased to see everyone wearing masks and keeping polite distances, however there were no young people( between 16-25) in the shop.
It was different in a local Home Bargains last week. At least 6 ‘young people’ without masks, one adult with an exemption lanyard and one older lady without a mask. I felt really cross, but was too scared to challenge but wish I had.

I didn't think young people needed to mask up. I put mine one before I go into a shop but outside I don't wear it.

Tesco in my local area don't enforce the masks rule unfortunately and I find myself avoiding people who don't wear them. At the beginning they were strict, wiping trolleys and giving people handwash, now it's do it yourself and just allow people to walk around without a mask.

I wouldn't expect shop assistants to challenge people about not wearing masks. It isn't their job and some people can be very rude and aggressive. Same with bus drivers. But I think the government should be clearer and more forceful with it's instructions, instead of repeatedly talking about 'advice'. Maybe instead of shop assistants there should be security staff at the doors enforcing the rules? And everyone of all ages should learn to listen and take some responsibility, not just for their own sakes but for all of us. Unfortunately you can't argue with stupid - there are always those who think they know better, or just don't care.

I think it is rather remiss of Tesco’s to allow people in without masks. I would talk to the manager - as their lack of discipline around mask wearing is putting you in danger of catching Covid.

My problem is not people without masks. Its the ones that have disposable ones and leave them on the ground that annoys me. I seem to be seeing disposable masks, plastic gloves and paper towels lying about or blowing in the wind around here.

Mask wearing test is for me next week, when I fly to the UK and straight into self isolation, I havent been back to the UK since I left hurriedly in March,I am interested to know how people are comlplying with guidlines when I step off the plane,I am expecting EVERYONE to be wearig maks until I step off the train at my final destination. A report will come later,watch this space.

I live in a small town in Staffordshire and the majority of people are wearing masks when visiting shops.
However there are many groups of teenagers wandering around and making no effort to social distance- I can't really blame them as this has gone on for too long and they have had months away from school with no structure to their lives

This is a very interesting thread as in my local Tesco it is definitely the older people not wearing masks. My friends who have grandchildren all broke lockdown rules to look after grandchildren. My very elderly Mum (87) refused to isolate as she survived the war ?

I wouldn’t get too worked up about non mask wearing...unless you’re right next to someone indoors for more than a few minutes. I wear one in a shop because it’s mandatory but do most shopping online anyway. I don’t believe their efficacy has been proven and wearing one outside is even more pointless. I also don’t think it’s just younger people who don’t wear them.(and many people are also exempt) . I think social distancing is much more important...with or without a mask....and it seems to have been forgotten about by all ages...

Hurrah for Wales.
You don't have to wear masks outside anyway.
As someone else said, it is very alarming how many people are discarding masks and just throwing them on the ground. Plastics - I thought we wanted to get away from these pollutants?

Nearly everyone in my area is wearing a mask, young to old, even children have cute little masks sometimes. Like Taliya, I think this sort of thing isn't really helping: Those young people's response just goes to show the sad attitude that some youngsters have to older people in general. These are youngsters who will be re-sitting their exams in October because so-called older experts couldn't grade their papers properly, or have missed their places at Uni. Some will be out of work now, or can't afford holidays any more. They can't go to nightclubs or sporting venues and have only just been allowed to hang out with friends. These people have loads of energy but their lives have been put on hold for older people, because mainly (and I know not exclusively) elderly people have died of this disease. Many of them are still acting responsibly for their friends and family's sake, as I see in my area. Maybe on Thursdays we should give them a clap and say 'thank you'.

^The human brain doesn’t fully develop until your mid to late twenties with the prefrontal cortex being the part of the brain that is still developing during adolescence. The functions of the prefrontal cortex include decision making and higher level thinking and planning. Because of this lack of development
Teens and Tweenies rely on their amygdala and emotions when making decisions. The amygdala is involved with “fight or flight,” emotions, and impulses. As a result, behaviour can be somewhat irrational during these times.
Since adolescents rely on their amygdala, emotions tend to be in the driver’s seat when it comes to decision making. Due to this, teens engage in risky behavior and can also react badly during confrontation. Since adolescent brains are not fully developed, teens are also highly impulsive. They tend to make decisions quickly without thinking about the outcome or possible consequences. In addition, keeping in mind that adolescents’ emotions have a strong influence on their behaviour, teens may overlook consequences because they are making decisions based on how they are feeling in the moment.^

I think this précised article shows why young people make the decisions they do and it makes them to seem to be completely lacking in empathy for the consequences for the older generations, even the ones they love. They are also suffering a lot of peer pressure and haven't always the confidence to be different. They also tend to feel invincible which means they really think it won't happen to them. We are asking something of them that they appear to be incapable of giving.
My mother is the sort of person who will not be told to do something and will argue black is white to avoid compliance. She has been like that all her life. I think there are more of these sort of people in the population than we realised until Covid. I think we just have to be responsible for ourselves and try to protect ourselves until society takes a firmer stance about public health. The South Koreans manage it but have to give up certain rights in order to police it. I think we have gone too far the other way and are seeing the consequences.

Doodledog: My thoughts exactly. It seems to me that somehow everyone, no matter from which age group, has been negatively affected by the weird situation over the past six months. All of us have been given mixed messages and have struggled to do the right thing in the circumstances. We must resist becoming divided and try to look for constructive things we can all do and say to help each other. ?