How COVID-19 continues to impact Utah teens, 5 years later

Editor’s note • This is part of a collaborative project between The Salt Lake Tribune and the Highland High School Rambler. Read more about these young Utahns’ experience and perspective here.

March 13, 2020.

Everyone knows this date, and what it means — especially the high school graduating class of 2025.

While the COVID-19 pandemic only disrupted middle school for the class of 2025, it has left an imprint that will forever be etched into their lives.

Carter Lynch, a senior at Highland High School, experienced online middle school and a forever-changed high school.

“The fact that middle school was online just kind of ruined it for me. I’m an in-person kind of learner. I work well with other people; I work well with my hands,” Lynch said. “When that was taken away, it was honestly just negative, and I really just didn’t even want to try anymore.”

He’s not alone. Utah education data shows the pandemic continues to have an impact even years later. Students aren’t doing as well in English language arts and math as they were pre-pandemic, according to this 2024 Salt Lake Tribune article.

Even when Lynch returned to in-person learning, he felt like some teachers stayed in COVID mode. Lynch says his 9th-grade math class was nearly all online, even with a full room of students. He said the teacher taught over Zoom at the beginning of every class, and all the assignments were on Canvas.

Students spend much of their days at school staring at a screen, and Lynch believes it is hurting his and other students’ educations and relationships. Friendships were limited due to students just looking at screens all day, and Lynch’s motivation to be social and work hard at school went downhill.

Professor of Psychology and Director of Counseling and Psychological Services at Southern Utah University, Curt Hill, noted that students consistently prefer in-person experiences over anything online.

“Students strongly prefer face-to-face services and face-to-face classes. Living online during COVID became very tiresome and was missing something essential to human thriving,” Hill said. “There are times when online services or online classes are convenient and helpful, but that seems to be a small minority of the time”

Despite this, most testing is now online. For seniors, this year is the first time that AP exams will be fully online. The free ACT in March was online.

“Before we went through COVID, that wasn’t an option. Tons of kids weren’t taking AP tests [online], weren’t taking ACT tests [online], and now they’re converting all the tests to online,” Lynch said.

Lynch prefers taking a paper test or paper assignment when compared to online. For him, it’s easier to write down notes, and it gives a greater sense of control during the test.

While COVID-19 has affected schooling and technology—for better or worse—it also affected relationships, and how students navigate the world.

Hill noted how even students in college are less social in terms of face-to-face interactions because of COVID, and tend to lean toward connections through the internet—specifically social media.

Hill describes how there has been an increase in general distress, as well as anxiety rates, eating disorders, and body dysmorphia in students over the past 10 years.

COVID had a major impact on the relationships formed and the way people interact now.

“During COVID, I don’t think I really had a personal relationship with any of my teachers, mainly because it was really hard,” Lynch said. “And right after getting back, people just didn’t really know how to talk to each other.”

While Lynch acknowledges that relationships and social interactions are improving since COVID, it has been hard to get back that same sense of comfort and ease.

Lynch hopes that that his experience in college will be different, but is realistic that technology is changing education.

Rachel Giles is a senior at Highland High School, and a staff writer for the Highland Rambler. She loves playing soccer and the piano. She also enjoys traveling and spending time with her friends and family.