Madeline Osburn writes for the Federalist about COVID-19’s impact on current high school and college students.

It will be years, possibly decades, before we fully understand the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on America’s adolescents, but some of the life-altering consequences are emerging now. Nearly half of all college students said their post-graduation plans have changed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new poll commissioned by Young America’s Foundation and The Federalist, conducted by Echelon Insights. …

… In the light of unprecedented measures to limit social contact, nearly 80 percent said their schools made the right decision in March to end in-person classes and switch to remote learning, and 76 percent believe the disruptions caused by the pandemic are necessary to keep people safe, even if the disruptions to the economy negatively affect their generation. …

… While 57 percent of all students said their state governor’s response to the virus has made them more confident in the country’s ability to deal with this crisis, only 27 percent said President Donald Trump’s response has made them more confident in their country’s ability to combat the virus. More than half, or 51 percent, said Trump made them less confident in government.

For high school and college student views on government in general, unrelated to coronavirus, in some respects the respondents seem to lean toward conservative values like limited government. More than half of all students (54 percent) said they would rather have a smaller government with fewer government programs and lower taxes, than a larger government with more government programs and higher taxes (27 percent said they preferred the latter).

High school students were split between whether we need more or fewer government programs to maintain our way of life in the United States for at least the next 10 years, while 47 percent of college students said we need more government programs.

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