They are between 18 and 25 years old. Those are “the children of the century, as the psychoanalyst Gérard Miller calls them. Like their elders, they had life ahead of them, everything seemed possible. But the pandemic arrived and plunged them into uncertainty and anguish. No more social interactions, face-to-face classes, outings, parties, trips.
Their testimonies are in the documentary that France 2 will broadcast on Wednesday January 26 at 11:05 p.m.: The children of the century, they will never be the same again. Gérard Miller and his daughter Coralie met Agathe, Hélène, Sébastien, Martin, Titouan, Bérénice, young adults whom society has somewhat forgotten since the arrival of Covid, preferring to focus on the health of the elderly or the well- to be children. They were even accused of being responsible for the transmission of the virus when at the start of the 2020 school year, they needed to meet to dance, drink, laugh, simply live. “First you have to remember how docile they were, they followed the instructions to the letter. From time to time, there were a few parties but you can count it on the fingers of one hand”believes Gerard Miller.
The confinement and then the curfews pushed some (very) young couples to settle down together, in order to avoid being separated. Result: they lived an “old” life. “It is the first time in the history of humanity that young people of 20 are led to live like people of 70 or 80. But youth is a time when you have to create memories and memories carelessness”, says Gerard Miller.
“What you miss at 20 won’t be found at 30 or 40. Time won’t make up for it, that’s for sure.”
Gerard Milleron franceinfo
The confinement will also leave traces, according to the psychoanalyst, who notes a sharp increase in cases of depression among his young patients. Without forgetting the precariousness in which the Covid has plunged some: “More than 50% of 18-25 year olds believe they are depressed or even desperate, even today. 75% of students needed food aid. Obviously, all this will mark them”, claims Gerard Miller.
What is striking in this film, however, is the lack of anger of the young people interviewed: “They don’t blame the government, they don’t even blame the adults. They protected their parents and grandparents, feel that we were unfair to them, but it’s true that it doesn’t does not currently translate into a feeling of deep revolt”, concludes Gerard Miller.