Life as a Quaranteen: An Investigation of the COVID-19 Pandemic’s Impact on High School Extracurricular Participation and Friend-Making

Overview

Extracurricular activities are a large part of the American high school experience, helping shape youth development and relationships. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the lives of all American youth. This project aims to gather some insight into how extracurriculars and friendship have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The investigation was conducted through a survey of students grades 9-12 at Bloomington High School South (n = 107). In addition to demographic questions, friendship quantity was measured using an altered Circle of Friends (Millen et al., 2019) and the modified version of the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (Raja et al., 1992) over two time periods, pre-pandemic (2019 - March 2020) and pandemic (April 2020 - Now). From pre-pandemic to pandemic, extracurricular participation increased as seen in a rise in hours and number of activities students participated in. Especially, male students had a greater hike in extracurricular activities than females. Regarding friendships, friendship quantity remained the same between the two time periods, but friendship quality improved. Finally, students perceived that their needs for extracurriculars were less met during the pandemic, yet student satisfaction with activities remained unchanged. The pandemic had been difficult for students, but the results suggest the need to preserve extracurriculars for students in such times.