Generation Z and the Covid pandemic: 'I’m 100% more politicised'

Two months ago, the Guardian interviewed a group of young people from across the UK about their experiences of the coronavirus pandemic and their feelings about how their lives had been affected. Here those young people reflect on an extraordinary year and share their hopes and fears for the future.

Dylan Kawende, 23

The son of a care support worker and a Congolese-Rwandan refugee, Dylan Kawende is from north-west London and is studying at St Edmund’s College, Cambridge

“I’ve just finished my first term at Cambridge and have really enjoyed it, despite all the restrictions.

“I’ve found constitutional law particularly fascinating because it’s so relevant to what we’re going through at the moment in this country. I’ve realised there wasn’t sufficient scrutiny of the government’s use of Covid powers, for example. They didn’t have the power to tell people to stay at home in March – and that’s just one instance of how they’ve abused the law to mishandle the pandemic.

“The government has abused its position and its coercive powers, which were never intended to empower it to act as it has done. I’ve realised that this is a pattern with this government: they suspended parliament for five weeks back in August over Brexit. That was unlawful, too.

• Photograph: David Levene

“Covid has also exposed a lot of injustices and inequalities, from the way the NHS is run to economic injustices. It’s made me very invested in being able to advocate on behalf of those who have been victimised by the government and its routine lack of sensitivity to the intricacies of individuals who suffer the most when it comes to health crises.

“The pandemic has also made me much more aware of the erosion of people’s basic, human rights that can take place if we’re not vigilant. It took a law degree for me to realise that the government had acted illegally when ordering people to stay at home in March and that lack of awareness is worrying: if the government thinks it can order us to do whatever it wants because we’re not aware of our rights, it’s a slippery slope.

• Artwork: Dylan Kawende

“Covid has politicised the young indirectly as well as directly. Because we’ve all had to stay at home, we’ve been less distracted. I’m sure that’s why the Black Lives Matter