"After the reduced number of cases in California, many schools have decided to end both outdoor and indoor mask mandates, causing many rising anxieties for teachers, students, and parents."
--Calliope dean, 7th grade
An ending in mask mandates could have many unwanted effects, while many fight to get rid of them. OSA has decided to keep masks mandatory, contrary to what OUSD plans for April 25th. OSA has decided to keep their mask mandates after an overwhelming percentage of students wanted masks to be mandatory, according to a student survey.
Carrie Macmillan, in her article from yalemedicine.org, wrote, “as recently as mid-February, the Biden administration and CDC said it was premature to lift mask mandates in schools.” The new development with cases getting lower, still isn’t perfect evidence that lifting mandates is a good idea, “Vaccination rates are low in the youngest group (ages 5 to 11) now eligible, with the CDC reporting that only about a quarter of this population is fully vaccinated.” While many of these children are vaccinated, many remain unprotected, and they’re the target demographic for the lifting mask mandates, making this decision even less trustworthy.
Talise Murray, a 7th Grade Student at OSA believes masks should remain mandatory. “It’s too early,” she said, “I also think that we are too cramped in the hallways and classrooms to lift the mandates.”
Ynez Foxe-Robertson, feels a bit differently. “I feel like I would really like to take off my mask, and just have the option not to wear it,” she said. “Because it’s just been really hard for two years just to wear a mask everywhere”
Jonathan Wolfe in his story from the nytimes.com touches on how someone's political views greatly weigh into their opinion on this matter, “If you are pro-mask mandate in schools, you think other people are willingly risking the life of your child to make a political statement.” Later, he continues, “If you are anti-mask mandate in schools, you think other people are forcing your child to do something that may cause long-term academic and emotional disruptions — also to make a political statement.”
“It’s politics, but it’s science, too. Throughout the pandemic, many Republican-led states, like Texas and Florida, have fought to ban mask mandates. That’s led to lawsuits to keep masking in place — many of which have been successful.” Wolfe spoke.
Olu Thomas, an 8th grade student at OSA was prompted to answer whether this debate was more about politics or science. “I think both,” he responded. “I think that most people who think the mask mandates should be kept are thinking more about science, and a lot of people who think they should be dropped are talking about politics. Because scientifically it doesn’t make sense to drop them at this point.”
Holly Young, an 8th Grader at OSA seems to have similar thoughts. “It seems as though in the past people were taking science into consideration, but now not so much,” she said.
“The easiest answer here is the most obvious: No one really likes being told what to do, and there’s nothing that matters more to people than their kids,” Wolfe states.
This debate will be one that will go on forever, there’s no way to make both sides happy therefore, it's almost impossible because one side will always be left unhappy with the results.
“Those in favor of unmasking in schools say transmission among school children has never been well-studied and point to the social and emotional burden of masking, particularly in young children who benefit from seeing their teachers’ facial expressions,” says Macmillan.
Maya Mastropasqua, a 7th grade student believes lifting the mask mandates wouldn't make much of a difference to school itself. “I don’t think it would change the way we do school.” But lifting the mandates still adds some concerns. “Our school is so small anyways there wasn’t much social distancing happening,” she adds.
Young children are still pretty vulnerable to Covid, and with low vaccination rates, it makes the situation worse. And parents are still nervous about the ending of mask mandates. As it will take effect very soon. Many schools have still decided to keep their mask mandates up.
Holly Young, an 8th Grader at OSA seems to have similar thoughts. “It seems as though in the past people were taking science into consideration, but now not so much,” she said.
“The easiest answer here is the most obvious: No one really likes being told what to do, and there’s nothing that matters more to people than their kids,” Wolfe states.
This debate will be one that will go on forever, there’s no way to make both sides happy therefore, it's almost impossible because one side will always be left unhappy with the results.
“Those in favor of unmasking in schools say transmission among school children has never been well-studied and point to the social and emotional burden of masking, particularly in young children who benefit from seeing their teachers’ facial expressions,” says Macmillan.
Maya Mastropasqua, a 7th grade student believes lifting the mask mandates wouldn't make much of a difference to school itself. “I don’t think it would change the way we do school.” But lifting the mandates still adds some concerns. “Our school is so small anyways there wasn’t much social distancing happening,” she adds.
Young children are still pretty vulnerable to Covid, and with low vaccination rates, it makes the situation worse. And parents are still nervous about the ending of mask mandates. As it will take effect very soon. Many schools have still decided to keep their mask mandates up.
