Don't fall back into Corona patterns

"The corona generation", "youth without summer" or "the forgotten losers of the crisis" – Gen Z had imagined growing up differently during the last 18 months. The carefree time that most of us experienced was denied to the youngest when the corona pandemic began. From now on, their everyday life consisted of unprecedented rules: strict hygiene measures and restrictive regulations. They learned new terms like lockdown, quarantine or cluster.

As stressful as the time since then has been – the crisis can be viewed from another perspective: positively. Yes, you read correctly. Positive in the sense of pragmatic, solution-oriented. In short: What have the last months taught us and how can these lessons be implemented in the future – for the benefit of children and young people? This question was addressed to Charel Schmit, new Ombudsman for Children and Youngsters (OKaJu) since February, and he provided answers.