In a post-pandemic context, there is reason to wonder about the collateral sequelae that are likely to affect our adolescents who have lived through the pandemic in often difficult conditions. However, we know that this period of life contributes to orienting the future adult being by constituting a referential anchor. If for some adolescence is a springboard, for others it reflects a constitutive moment of a negative vision of a world that they will have to face daily. Hindered in their progress, they will have to learn to move forward in adversity.
Among certain tribal peoples, there are still initiation rites for young people which mark the passage from their state of child to that of adult. In these initiation ceremonies, the adolescent is placed before a series of physical and mental trials in order to assess his degree of maturity. If he passes the test, the community recognizes him as an adult, with the advantages and disadvantages of his new status.
In our societies, the stages of passage from adolescence to adulthood are blurred and often internalized. Adolescence is too often lived in great solitude despite the false representations of integration with one’s peers and the noisy demonstrations that accompany them. If for some, these rites of passage are done in a serenity serving as a springboard that will accompany them throughout their lives, for others, these stages will cause wounds that they will have to treat daily to heal.
According to what is generally accepted, adolescence is experienced in three stages. There is first of all a rite of separation characterized by a questioning of the values received since childhood. There follows a transition between the security of childhood and the insecurity of the new model to be defined. This stage often creates anxiety among young people wishing to extricate themselves from comfortable parental protection, which makes it difficult to take charge of their lives responsibly. Finally, if all goes well, we can witness the incorporation of a new social identity, revealing a child who has become an adult.
Thus, adolescence is an important pivotal stage in the development of our young people. What we are today is built on the foundations of our journey during adolescence. What future awaits these young people who have been disrupted in their existential journey by a pandemic that has stolen an important slice of life from them? What will be the impact on society of this cohort which, instead of projecting itself positively towards its future, will have experienced a slowdown in its personal development?