Commenting on teens being hit harder during the pandemic, SMU Dean of Students and Professor of Sociology (Practice) Paulin Straughan said that unlike adults, teens may not have formed long-term social bonds and so would be impacted during the pandemic when many of their first interactions with their peers were confined to “a square on a screen”. “They are starting to make friends, the disruption impacted the process and so this period made them very, very nervous,” she said. Prof Straughan noted that another age group badly impacted by the isolation caused by the pandemic was the elderly. However they, unlike teens, have the life experience to overcome the difficult period.