Recently this week, several states across the United States are considering easing mask mandates in schools, citing the decline of COVID cases caused by the Omicron variant and its sister variants. This, to me, has sparked some interest in what I think about dropping mask wearing in schools altogether.
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Now, I get it, wearing a mask is bothersome for some people. But ask yourself this question, would you rather wear a mask or have COVID or any other deadly illnesses inside of you? Some of you may be dealing with other ailments like cancer and the last thing you want is to deal with something like COVID. The same holds true for schools and especially for special education students, like I once was.
Think of schools as like a small town or city of students and teachers while the administration serves as the mayor or town official. Would you want that small town or city to end up with its own epidemic that throws it upside down unnecessarily? For the past year, those small towns and cities of learning had been shut down and many students and teachers had to pay the price for it.
Yet, even with the advances of vaccines and better treatments against COVID-19, the danger is still out there, and the mental health of students and teachers has suffered greatly.
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Special Education students are the most vulnerable of the school population and I believe that those who are most comfortable with wearing a mask should continue to do so. This is especially true in the classroom, in the cafeteria, in the hallways and even at the scheduled IEP meetings if the student does attend.
I gotta tell you, if the 2002-2004 SARS outbreak had spread to the United States and if there was a mask mandate at that time, I would most certainly have worn a mask then as a special education student. The same would have been said for the 2009 Swine Flu outbreak if there was a mask mandate then.
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Masks give students with disabilities or neurodiverse conditions a peace of mind along with their families and just because the states are dropping the mandates, doesn’t mean you can stop wearing them.
If you want to no longer wear a mask when states drop the requirement for schools, then that is your choice. But please be mindful of those who want to continue wearing a mask. We need to teach students to not bully those who continue wearing a mask while they do not.
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I know I will continue wearing a mask even after the mask mandate in Massachusetts ends because it gives me peace of mind, not just for the future of “Going the Distance,” but also for my overall health.
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Catch you all later!!
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