'Don't scapegoat young people,' says Lostock Hall youth champion as coronavirus cases rise

Lostock Hall Coun. Matthew Trafford claims many young people feel they are being unfairly blamed for spreading the illness by returning to education and having socialised with friends both at home and in venues likes bars and pubs, before local lock-downs were imposed.

The 20-year-old, who is also a support worker, is urging people to see them not as perpetrators of a possible second wave, but as victims who have missed out on a large proportion of their education and faced increasing mental health issues due to loneliness during lock-down. He also claims they make up an essential part of the county's health, social care, education and hospitality workforce, and are therefore putting their lives at risk to help protect the vulnerable and support the economy.

Coun. Trafford said: "I find the whole culture of scapegoating as a whole abhorrent. We saw it in the refugee crisis and with ethnic minorities; now the young are being told they're not following guidelines.

"We have to change this culture of kicking people when they're down.

"Generally, like most people, they've taken the virus really seriously. If you are a nurse, a teacher or at university, you care and take the pandemic seriously, but are told you're at fault, I imagine that is really dispiriting.

"You hear about parties on the news but if you go into a pub, you see people of all ages not following social distancing guidelines. There's a minority everywhere that don't."

Many young people are also vulnerable to becoming unwell because they work in front-line roles like care, retail and hospitality, where it is difficult to social distance from others, according to the youth champion.

"I think a big proportion of young people are massively affected [by the virus]. Students at university are living with several others and are naturally more at risk," he said.

"If you go into a restaurant or bar, a lot of young people are working there. And in schools, there are more people around so it's hard to social distance.

"Many are living in flats, so they're more at risk."

What's more, university students have not only been forced to adapt to online learning, but could also face financial difficulty and uncertainty when they graduate as the pandemic continues to hit the economy, Coun. Trafford adds.

"People like myself will be leaving university with £40,000 debt for a product we've not really received. It's not what people signed up for," he said.

"We've already had years of austerity, and the human cost has been immense. Now we're in a pandemic and the economy is starting to fail again. We're likely to have more austerity, like we've never seen before.

"Schools haven't been funded properly and there is already a lack of mental health support for young people. I think those two issues are massive.

"People from working-class backgrounds with business aspirations are not being supported, and there is a housing crisis. Lots of young people have been left feeling, 'It's a hard world to get into. Why bother?'"

Preston student Amy Dwyer says it is unfair to blame under 25s for prolonging the pandemic when they have so much to lose.

The 21-year-old said: "Young people have been among those who have collectively been most affected by the coronavirus pandemic, missing countless hours of education, missing graduation, deferring university, being trapped in student accommodation, missing grades to get into university, being charged rent and only having online classes, and now we are being blamed for not taking the issue seriously and making the situation worse.

"As far as I have seen, it is not young people attending anti-mask protests and denying the existence of the virus altogether."

Leyland teenager Errin Chetwynd believes that placing the blame on just one group of people is unhelpful as it only creates further division and misunderstanding.

Errin (19) said: "I feel as if older people find blame in younger generations because of the way that they handle their opinions. A personal experience would be a Facebook post someone wrote about Runshaw College students. People who are older were commenting, saying how the students were to blame for a rise in cases in Lancashire, whereas it's everyone collectively.

"The older generations were becoming increasingly defensive. Some younger people don't help themselves as they comment hurtful insults and opinions that don't really make sense.

"In my opinion, people shouldn't place blame where blame isn't needed as not one age group is responsible for a rise in a flu-like infection."

To read Councillor Matthew Trafford's statement about the impact of the pandemic on young people, search for his page on Facebook.