Young Scots’ experiences of COVID-19

During the COVID-19 pandemic, APiC self-funded a project to understand young people’s experiences and opinions of the COVID-19 lockdown in Scotland.

#ScotYouthandCOVID: A Longitudinal Virtual Participatory Action Research Project

In May/June 2020, APiC recruited and engaged with twenty-five 10-16 year old Young Consultants from diverse contexts across Scotland. Over the course of three workshops we discussed the challenges they were facing in the first national COVID-19 lockdown. In March 2021, The Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland supported APiC to reassemble all project teams for six further workshops on experiences to date, and ideas for change as we transition out of pandemic-related restrictions. This resulted in a set of 34 Asks to Scottish Government, and considerable media attention.

Since December 2021, we’ve been working on the third phase of this work, reconvening our original Young Consultants but also extending the project to include the voices of primary school children and a range of seldom heard groups. A survey consulting on the outputs with as many children and young people across Scotland will be out soon!

Approach

Participatory Action Research is an approach where that involves researchers and participants working together to understand a situation and/or problem and change it for the better. Within this, we aimed for collective leadership of the direction and legacy of the research at all times.

You can read about what each of these means in full in the wave 2 report. We also published blogs across the course of the project, so that we could share our Young Consultants’ findings with the world for ongoing feedback and impact opportunities.

Outputs and Impact

You can read blogs from the project on our insights page, and both wave 1 and 2 reports and impact are available here.

Next Steps

The next step for this project is to engage more widely with children and young people across Scotland to develop a Children and Young People’s Manifesto for Change. Keep an eye on our blog and Twitter page for more details, or get in touch with Dr Jenny Wood.

Get in touch

See more of our work

Further reading about this project

We’re Supporting the CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE’S MANIFESTO: Will you?

by Anna Gaffney | November 1, 2022 | Covid-19 Project with Scottish Children and Young People | 0 Comments

Today we launch The Children and Young People’s Manifesto Scotland with our Young Consultants from #ScotYouthandCOVID3. Will you help them get the word out and involve as many children and young people across the country as possible?

COVID-19 for Children and Young People: Learning from Unaccompanied Asylum Seekers and Refugees

by Jenny Wood | July 1, 2022 | Covid-19 Project with Scottish Children and Young People, Project updates, Research | 0 Comments

In January 2022 we embarked on phase 3 of our #ScotYouthandCOVID project. In this blog, we detail the experiences and needs of young people who are refugees or asylum seekers and have been separated from their families. We also note what they need to be incorporated into the Children and Young People’s Manifesto for Rights in Recovery.

COVID-19 for Children and Young People: A Fair and Motivating School System, Part 4

by Jenny Wood | May 31, 2022 | Covid-19 Project with Scottish Children and Young People, Project updates, Research | 0 Comments

In January 2022 we embarked on phase 3 of our #ScotYouthandCOVID project. In this blog, the third in a 4 part series, our Young Consultants outline how they feel extra-curricular opportunities and transitions between schools and into employment should change in Scotland’s education system.

COVID-19 for Children and Young People: A Fair and Motivating School System, Part 3

by Jenny Wood | May 30, 2022 | Covid-19 Project with Scottish Children and Young People, Project updates, Research | 0 Comments

In January 2022 we embarked on phase 3 of our #ScotYouthandCOVID project. In this blog, the third in a 4 part series, our Young Consultants outline how they feel assessments should change in Scotland’s secondary education.

COVID-19 for Children and Young People: A Fair and Motivating School System, Part 2

by Jenny Wood | May 30, 2022 | Covid-19 Project with Scottish Children and Young People, Project updates, Research | 0 Comments

In January 2022 we embarked on phase 3 of our #ScotYouthandCOVID project. In this blog, the second in a 4 part series, our Young Consultants outline how they feel the curriculum and delivery of learning should change in Scotland’s secondary education.

COVID-19 for Children and Young People: A Fair and Motivating School System, Part 1

by Jenny Wood | May 26, 2022 | Covid-19 Project with Scottish Children and Young People, Project updates, Research | 0 Comments

In January 2022 we embarked on phase 3 of our #ScotYouthandCOVID project. In this blog, the first in a 4 part series, our Young Consultants outline the principles they think are central to a fair and motivating Scottish education system.

COVID-19 for Children and Young People. Young Carers Part 2

by Jenny Wood | May 23, 2022 | Covid-19 Project with Scottish Children and Young People, Research | 0 Comments

In January 2022 we embarked on phase 3 of our #ScotYouthandCOVID project. In this blog, the second of two, we detail the experiences and needs of Young Carers. This blog focuses on the experiences of young carers living across Highland, and what both they and young carers from Edinburgh need us to incorporate into our Manifesto for Children and Young People’s Rights in Recovery.

COVID-19 for Children and Young People Young Carers, Part 1

by Jenny Wood | May 19, 2022 | Covid-19 Project with Scottish Children and Young People, Research | 0 Comments

In January 2022 we embarked on phase 3 of our #ScotYouthandCOVID project. In this blog, the first of two, we detail the experiences and needs of Young Carers. This blog focuses on the experiences of Edinburgh’s Young Carers to incorporate into our Manifesto for Children and Young People’s Rights in Recovery.

COVID-19 for Children and Young People: Learning from Primary School Children

by Jenny Wood | May 5, 2022 | Covid-19 Project with Scottish Children and Young People | 0 Comments

In January 2022 we embarked on phase 3 of our #ScotYouthandCOVID project. In this blog, we detail the needs to incorporate into our Manifesto for Children and Young People’s Rights in Recovery for children in primary school.

COVID-19 for Children and Young People: Learning from Families Outside

by Jenny Wood | April 28, 2022 | Covid-19 Project with Scottish Children and Young People | 0 Comments

In January 2022 we embarked on phase 3 of our #ScotYouthandCOVID project. In this blog, we detail the Asks to add to our Manifesto for Children and Young People’s Rights in Recovery for children and young people who have family members in prison.