Grand Rapids youth to share COVID-19 experiences with community leaders
Courtesy city of Grand Rapids
Children in Grand Rapids will share their COVID-19 experiences with elected officials and other leaders at KidSpeak 2021: Beyond the Virus, at 10 a.m. Friday.
The annual youth forum will be hosted by the Grand Rapids Mayor’s Youth Council and Our Community’s Children in partnership with Michigan’s Children, city of Grand Rapids and Grand Rapids Public Schools.
Children will give testimony about how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted their mental health now and into the future at the two-hour event.
“As teenagers and pre-teens in the COVID-19 era, we have spent more time consuming, possibly harmful, media without the willpower or support to think critically about things being portrayed,” said Taylor Pierce, a ninth-grade student at City High Middle School and KidSpeak 2021 participant. “These ideals are bad for our mental health, which subsequently affects our physical health.”