Youth civic engagement under COVID-19 lockdown: Mobilization, action, and future orientation in Singapore

• In Event: Helping out while staying in: Prosocial responses to the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Disasters such as the COVID-19 pandemic can result in negative ramifications for youths, but they also present opportunities for civic engagement. Unlike past disasters, the widespread socio-economic disruption caused by COVID-19 has been unprecedented. Youths are not only aware of problems and inequalities, but are also experiencing them personally, thereby creating impetus to take action. In addition, the high infection rate and the threat of asymptomatic transmission resulted in lockdowns, in turn necessitating non-physical forms of civic engagement. Youths could also be involved in in-person prosocial activities, if necessary, because they are less likely to suffer adverse health effects should they contract the disease. Finally, adolescence is a critical period for civic development, during which youths form lasting views of their societal roles. Consequently, both the pandemic and how youths are civically involved will have important implications for future societal contributions.

Singapore presents an interesting context. First, youths have been exposed to the pandemic for a longer period of time and have had to comply with strict government measures for longer. Second, despite effective early efforts at contact tracing and isolation, Singapore had high rates of infection and large infection clusters in the migrant worker dormitories. Third, Singapore has one of the highest Internet penetration rates in the world, creating possibilities for new or continued forms of online civic engagement. Finally, because school-based volunteerism is compulsory, youths have been involved in civic engagement through community service.

Analyzing 15 public podcast episodes with 30 individuals, the aim of the study is to understand the process and different forms of youth civic engagement under COVID-19 lockdown in Singapore. The episodes were recorded and published between April 9 and June 24, 2020, overlapping with the first and second phases of the country’s lockdown. In other words, the perspectives were sought in real-time during the lockdown, not in retrospect.

A thematic analysis revealed 5 chronologically related themes and 12 sub-themes. First, “Pandemic and lockdown as triggers”: Youths adjusted to the gradual government measures followed by a sudden lockdown and took quick action in response to the speed of the lockdown. Second, “Motivations”: Youths saw community needs, and they wanted to do something in response. Third, “Online mobilization”: Youths started new initiatives or moved an existing initiative online, built volunteer teams online, and proceeded to use social media and the Internet for their initiatives. Fourth, “Action”: Youths provided direct programs and services, facilitated collaboration across initiatives, and moved towards community-building through advocacy and activism and by yielding space to community members. Finally, “Future orientation”: Youths articulated post-pandemic, sustainable visions for their initiatives, and framed their initiatives in relation to structural socio-economic challenges in Singapore and government policies or narratives.

Knowledge of how youths respond to needs caused or exacerbated by the pandemic and how they engage in civic behaviors could inform future civic engagement. Moreover, characterizations of how youths mobilize and take action offer potential blueprints for how they collaborate, build communities, as well as frame their relationships with the government.

Author

• Kwan Jin Yao, University of Denver
  Presenting Author