Exploring youth citizenship during COVID-19 lockdowns in New Zealand

The research presented in this article explores how young people in New Zealand exercised their citizenship during the COVID-19 lockdowns. Building upon the theoretical concepts of ‘actions’ and ‘acts of citizenship’, this qualitative study draws on data from the experiences of 30 young people aged over 16 in the city of Auckland. Data included classroom observations, focus group interviews, individual interviews and the sharing of student artefacts (e.g. posters and videos). The experiences of the participants covered a wide range of engagement in citizenship rights, sites, scales and acts. Our findings offered an alternative to prevailing portrayals of young people as either passive victims or self-centred troublemakers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lessons for citizenship education are discussed at the end of the article.