The teenagers of Naples are making out on the rocks by the sea, as the afternoon sun sparkles on the water. They hug and kiss hello and make jokes about having to wash their hands or else they may die. Many don’t wear face masks (I guess it’s impractical to make out while wearing one) and get together in large groups. It’s a mix of hormones and the warmth of spring that drives them, combined with a desperate desire to touch and be touched.
I look at them as I walk around Naples after a full seven weeks in lockdown. To be honest, I am as desperate as they are to take my mask off, and I fantasise about being as carefree as a teenager.
But their apparent recklessness also makes me angry. Don’t they know they could catch the coronavirus and pass it on to their grandparents? Have they not been watching the news? Italy has a sad record: the country currently ranks third in the world when it comes to deaths caused by the coronavirus.
I’ve just published a piece about how important it is for under-18s to voice their concerns, and how much we can learn from them politically. And at the same time, I feel that these particular teenagers, here in Naples, are awfully reckless.
It may seem ironic and contradictory, but these two elements are actually two sides of the same coin.
Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, professor of psychology and cognitive neuroscience at the University of Cambridge, explains it really well in this Ted Talk.<…