'Generation COVID' explores the lasting toll of pandemic-era school closures
"Generation COVID" follows families across five states over four years, documenting how pandemic school closures still affect children's mental health.
EXCLUSIVE — An upcoming documentary examines the lasting toll of school closures six years after the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted classrooms nationwide.
"Generation COVID," directed by Jennifer Sey and Andrew James, follows children and families across California, New York, Oregon, Colorado and Connecticut as they grapple with the effects of pandemic-era school closures and mandates. The documentary was filmed over more than four years.
Sey told Fox News Digital that while much of the country appears ready to move on from the pandemic, many children are still struggling with its consequences.
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"It just feels to me like everyone wants to move on, and there’s really been no reckoning about what we did to young people in particular, and I wanted to create a record of that so that it never happens again," the XX-XY Athletics founder said.
Sey said she hopes the film offers a visual record of how school closures affected American children and encourages a different approach during any future pandemic.
Sey lived in San Francisco for more than three decades and spoke out against the city’s prolonged shutdowns.
"I ended up having to leave San Francisco. I lost a career I'd spent 30 years building, but I continued to speak out in defense of children."
After leaving her job in 2022, Sey began producing the documentary.
Sey, a former elite gymnast and national team member, said her commitment to protecting children is rooted in the abuse she experienced as a young athlete. She is also an Emmy-winning producer of "Athlete A," a documentary examining the Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal and broader abuse within elite gymnastics.
"I ended up being the first whistleblower about abuse in elite gymnastics all the way back in 2008. And I really did it because I wish someone had stood up for me when I was a child. And the abuse that I suffered, I really did not come out of it for two decades after having left the sport. And, so, when I see that children are suffering, I can't help myself. I will fight for them.
"I feel like everyone's moved on, but the kids have not moved on."
Sey said her experiences have shaped her determination to continue speaking out for children.
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She also argued that children were "dehumanized" during the pandemic.
"They were models, they were cogs in a wheel, and we lost all sense of the humanity of a child, the need to be around other kids for their own development. We lost a sense of a child learning to speak that's 3 years old and being told if you don't wear a mask, you're going to kill your grandmother. Who tells a child that? Who tells a small child that? We inflicted fear."
The film examines the consequences of school closures and the censorship that Sey believes helped keep them in place. "Generation COVID" premieres Oct. 22 on SalemNOW.
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