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 | | Daily reported coronavirus cases in the U.S., seven-day average.The New York Times |
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 | | First-grade students in Port Washington, N.Y., the first day after the state lifted its school mask mandate.Johnny Milano for The New York Times |
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The great school unmasking |
As cases across the country plummet, more states are lifting mask mandates — and schools are following suit. |
New York City officially announced the end of its school mask mandate for children over 5 years old today. In the last week, Maryland, Delaware, Massachusetts, New York State and Connecticut ended mask requirements, and by mid-March, they will also be gone in California, Oregon, Washington State and New Jersey. |
I caught up with Amelia for more on the great school unmasking. |
Why are some schools lifting their mask mandates now? |
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. |
Now, as the national mood shifts and cases fall, Democratic governors are letting mandates expire. Those announcements, a loosely coordinated effort, are the result of months of public health planning, back-channel discussions and political focus groups that look toward the upcoming midterms. |
Why has there been so much controversy around school masking? |
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. |
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. 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. |
That's the simple answer. Repeated, systemic failures of public health messaging have also frightened and confused parents, making it hard for them to understand the real — and often changing — risks their children face at schools. |
What does the science say? |
But scientists are largely reassured by the fact that kids almost never suffer severe symptoms, whether or not they're vaccinated. Many students have gone to school without masks during the pandemic — including in Britain, parts of Europe and many U.S. states — and very few children have gotten seriously sick. |
Experts also pointed out that while the risk Covid poses to children is real, it's about the same as the risk of the flu. And many prominent doctors cite the mental health strain that children have faced during the pandemic and the educational value of seeing full faces. |
What will classrooms look like this spring? |
That depends on where you live. Your district may opt to keep a mask mandate in place, which means kids will still be wearing masks. Your individual school might, too. |
Case rates will also play a role. Omicron may be the last major surge, or it may not. If some terrifying new variant comes along, who knows what could happen. But we're edging ever closer to 2019 — and ever more responsibly so. Few people are expecting size limits on graduations or canceled proms this year. Maybe, just maybe, the tensions will ease, too. |
 | | Kamika Cosey helps her daughter Zurie put on a face mask in Washington, in January.Erin Schaff/The New York Times |
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How you feel about masking |
We asked our readers how they feel about the lifting of school mandates. and more than 1,000 of you wrote in. Thank you to everyone who shared their thoughts. |
"I'm feeling incredible angst and stress over it. Our county cases are still in the medium orange level. I realize that masks should go away at some point but to lift them prematurely doesn't make sense. If I make my kids wear them, the social pressure from other kids will be very tough (my kids are 12 and 8 years old). I feel for my kids — no one likes feeling like an outcast. It's such a terrible dilemma for a parent!" — Robin Ostrov, Buffalo, N.Y. |
"I cannot wait until they are lifted in our area. I had a conversation with another parent — she had to discuss with her child the importance of smiling when making new friends. The child didn't think anyone could see her mouth and so it didn't matter. I have seen my child attempt to make comments in class then give up when no one could hear them through the mask. Children are treating one another in certain ways because there is a degree of anonymity that a mask provides (much like an internet pseudonym does). I am less worried about Covid than the very real social development and behavioral issues I am seeing in schools." — Amanda B., San Rafael, Calif. |
"My son's preschool recently dropped the mask mandate. I was scared, as my son is considered high risk, and both of my kids are too young to be vaccinated. I emailed the parents in the class and explained that my son and three other kids in the class have high risk or immunosuppressed siblings at home — and kindly asked that they still send their kids to school in masks. Today was the first day without the mandate and all 12 students wore masks! There is still good in this world." — Kate Ackers, Dexter, Mich. |
"I don't want the mask mandates to be lifted at this time. I'm a first-grade teacher and I feel that people who are talking about how harmful masks are to children don't understand what a classroom environment is like. My students hardly notice the masks. Even for my students who are just learning English, the masks have not been a problem. And socially, I cannot see a difference between when they are masked and when they were unmasked. What I do notice is that there has been a huge reduction in all kinds of transmissible disease in school for me and my students." — Kellie Hall, Montgomery County, Md. |
"Masks are now optional in our schools, and it really hasn't made that much of a difference. The kids and teachers who aren't wearing them now are the ones who always had them down on their chins before, and the ones who wore them properly are still wearing them. The only change is that I no longer have to tell kids to pull up their masks 50 times a day. So I just make sure I have my KN95 and hope for the best." — Lauren, Dayton, Ohio |
"I am very happy that the mask mandates were lifted at my high school. I was wearing a mask from freshman year until junior year and all of my classmates are unrecognizable — some have even grown beards. My teachers look way different than I imagined and I feel like I have to get to know them all over again. It is a relief things are starting to get back to normal, and that we can see each other fully again." — Missy Lecciso, Littleton, Colo. |
"I personally can say I like my mask. I feel uncomfortable without it in public settings. Though Covid has put the world on lockdown for almost two years now, I feel like we're moving too fast." — Ruby Sheridan, Ridgewood, N.J. |
"I feel uneasy about the lifting of mask mandates. My school has lifted its mask mandate as of Feb. 28. It is a strange feeling to see the naked faces of my classmates. I personally still wear a mask in school, as do about a third of my classmates and most, but not all, of the teachers. There does seem to be a division in who wears a mask and who forgoes it. It's almost as if people are signaling their political stances (or from my viewpoint, their academic achievement). For me, wearing a mask is about protecting myself from illness and, more important, ensuring that I don't bring back anything to my ailing grandparents. " — Leah Tucker, Upper Arlington, Ohio |
"I think it is absolutely not the right move. I am a Type 1 diabetic student so I consider myself higher risk than most of my peers. Universal mask wearing fosters a culture of caring for one another, which in itself can be a valuable lesson to kids. Lifting mask mandates sends a message that we are done caring about each other's health because some people are too tired to bother, somehow outweighing the right and ability of their peers to feel safe." — Jayanti, New York City |
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