No, its not “quarantine.” Having teens myself, I can vouch that this is a word I’ve used and not one I made up. It appears in the online Macmillan Dictionary as “a teenager who survived Covid-19 or a child who survived and became a teenager in this decade.” The entry has an example of how the term is used: “The quaranteens, Jed and Joe, were finally let out of isolation after the virus outbreak.”
The term has made its way into mainstream media. An article written by Susan Leighton for the website Fandom says “Michael Myers has been trying to stay busy since being sidelined due to COVID-19. Quaranteen, a fun video spoof takes a look at the horror icon behind closed doors.”
During lockdown, nine teenagers in the United States decided to write a collaborative book entitled “QuaranTEEN” which describes their experiences during lockdown. The book was published on August 17, 2020 and can be ordered from Amazon. The introduction is as follows: “In March 2020, the United States effectively shut down. A new coronavirus, COVID-19, swept the globe and everyone was told to stay at home until further notice. Although the unprecedented quarantine affected everyone, there was one group that seemed particularly impacted–teenagers. No longer able to go to school, participate in sports, or visit with their friends, the situation was a significant challenge for them.This collaborative book was created to give teens a positive, proactive project during this time…Each of their stories provides their unique perspective of this moment in time as well as the lessons they have learned along the way.“
In 2020 two teens living in the San Francisco Bay Area created Quaranteen.net, a resource to “provide a creative outlet for children, teenagers, and adults to share their projects, hobbies, and boredom busters, a place for working parents to share tips on childcare and find activities/videos for their kids, and a place to provide guidelines on how to stay safe during this time, as well as links and resources on how you can volunteer or what you can do to help people during the pandemic.” The website has a section for individuals to blog about their experiences. Even though lockdowns have been lifted in the United States, they are still in effect in other countries and you never know when they may be mandated here again, so this is website is a good resource.
Social Media Trends as of May 16, 2022
Facebook #quaranteen: 15,000 people are posting about this
Instagram #quaranteen: 32,837 posts
TikTok #quaranteen: 21.7 million views
YouTube #quaranteen: 393 videos and 155 channels
Google Trends: quaranteen appeared as a small blip on Google Trends during February 2020. This was probably because Covid-19 appeared in China before it spread to the United States and this country was the first to implement mandatory quarantine procedures. When the pandemic reached America the following month, the popularity of the term quickly went vertical, reaching its peak during the week of March 15, 2020, when the U.S. implemented quarantine mandates, stay-at-home orders and virtual school.
Sources
Leighton, Susan. “Michael Myers stars in Quaranteen: The night he stayed home.” Fansided. Minute Media. 2021. URL: https://1428elm.com/2020/07/06/michael-myers-quaranteen-stayed-home/.
Myers, Mike. “Quaranteen.” YouTube. URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6zzrfPd7Z8.
“Quaranteen.” MacMillan Dictionary. Submitted by Elinor. April 6, 2020. URL: https://www.macmillandictionary.com/us/dictionary/american/quaranteen.
“QuaranTEEN: Our New Normal: Nine Teenagers Share Their Experience of a Worldwide Pandemic.” Authors: Kelli O’Brien Corasanti, Brady Durkin, Eva Fahrenkrog, Brook Holman, Lauren Kern, Chase Lormand, Chris Selvarajah, Jeremy Selvarajah, Helen Treacy, Mia Conca. Independently published (August 17, 2020). URL: https://www.amazon.com/QuaranTEEN-Teenagers-Experience-Worldwide-Pandemic/dp/B08FSMPK21.
“QuaranTEEN.” 2020. URL: https://www.qteen.net/.