Week 4 - Performance Task (Second Quarter)

Today, I am going to tell you about this thing that ruined every teenager’s life. And I mean every single teenager. Not Google classroom deadlines or poor Wi-Fi connection in the Philippines, but the one that took our freedom from doing the things that we normally do in our everyday lives. The one that destroyed millions of lives. The one that killed our loved ones, COVID-19. 

Ever since March of 2020 we have been locked down in our houses, forced to stare at our screens to attend online classes, ruin our body clocks, and wreck our mental health. And after long months of this vicious cycle a lot of us has lost hope, almost all of us are drained trying to fight to live another day. It’s been almost a year, and still, nothing has changed. There’s still no mass testing, there are still those who can’t afford masks and face shields, there’s still no vaccines. Hopeless, right? 

I am speaking in front of a camera right now because I was tasked to give a speech on “how and what to prepare during a pandemic.” We can’t argue that this is paramount. But right now, as we already are in the longest lockdown in the world, the question shouldn’t be how and what to prepare, because obviously, that would be face masks, face shields, and alcohol bottles. So instead of this, the real question should be what should we do next? As part of the youth, is there really something that we can do, besides waiting?

During these unprecedented times, almost all of us have been anxious. We are anxious because COVID-19 created an uncertainty to our futures. 

For instance, we fear that next year, we won’t be able to attend face-to-face classes. We fear that in the next two (2) years, we still need to wear face masks and face shields when we go outside. We fear that in the next three (3) years we would not attend classes at our dream universities. We fear that in the next four (4) years, COVID-19 would force us to live in poverty. We fear that in the next years, this pandemic would be a Trojan horse that corrupt traditional politicians would use against our democracy. We fear that it will never go back to normal. 

But here’s what we should all remember, the best way to fight fear, is with information. And as part of the youth, that is what we should do next. During this digital age, there are a lot of platforms where we can showcase our talents, share what we have been eating that day, show our OOTDs, or flex the cars that we have been driving. But that’s not where the power of social media ends. 

Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and even Tiktok, can be a source of information. These platforms enabled humanity to work faster, as it gave us real time information to battle COVID-19. So, if these platforms are already doing their parts to save humanity, what’s our job? You see, as fast as data and information spread through the internet, so will misinformation and falsehoods. 

The misinformation provided by the internet can be as dangerous as the virus itself. There are many false claims and fake news that underestimates COVID-19, a lot of people say that the virus is not real, and just a propaganda of the leftists, some even opt not to be vaccinated because of the misinformation spread in the internet. 

This is where we come in. This is where our role is crucial. As social media users who want to spread information, we should make sure that our sources are accurate. As the only science high school students in our province, it is our job to serve the people, to serve the truth, and we must serve with honor and with excellence. It should be in our moral compass to educate the people, the masses, especially those who are not privileged enough to know about the virus. 

This is the first time again in decades when humanity had to face an unseen enemy. But this is also the first time where we have the internet and social. This is also the first time where there is an army of the youth who could help win this battle against COVID-19. Now more than ever, this is the time when we can fight fear with information. This is the time to be brave, so that our futures would not be so uncertain anymore.