ABSTRACT
The corona virus hit at a time when there has been more discussion of child mental health than ever before in the developed world. Events such as 9/11, Hurricane Katrina and the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan, China, have already helped mental health researchers see how young people typically react during a crisis. The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (2020) has warned that the coronavirus pandemic is putting many of the world’s children “in jeopardy” and urged families everywhere and leaders at all levels to “protect our children” whose lives “are being totally upended” by the virus. Teenagers will be able to understand the basic issues around the virus, but they may well feel trapped and want to escape the confines of a now very confined family life. Again, the only answers are to say to them they can say whatever they like.
