The topic of masking children in schools has become one of the most controversial and highly talked about topics in the time of COVID-19, both around the country and in our own school district. From parents storming school board meetings to states attempting to ban masks in public schools, this issue is one many feel passionate about and many feel obligated to share their stance. As a Timberlane senior myself, I’ve felt that high schoolers’ opinions have been largely left out of the discussion. I was genuinely curious, so I set out to determine what my fellow students had to say and potentially get a better understanding of how those affected actually feel. 

My method of acquiring data was the most accessible and obvious to my generation, social media. On my public Instagram story, I posted three questions: 1. “Do you feel safer wearing a mask in school? 2. “Do you agree with the current policy?”, and 3. “Regardless of your stance, do you prefer being fully in person vs online like we were last year?”. I also left a space for students to leave additional comments if they wanted to expand. 

Regarding the first question, sixty-nine percent of Timberlane students who responded to my poll stated they felt safer wearing a mask in school.The reasoning behind implementing a mask requirement is to promote safety, so it makes sense as to why masks would help students feel safer. Fifty-seven percent of students agreed with the current district masking policy. This is an interesting decrease. There are people who recognize they feel safer, but do not agree with the policy. To my last question, eighty-eight percent of students responded that they preferred being in person to being online, their stance on the mask mandate put aside. 

Looking at this data, I have three major takeaways. Students who were polled overwhelmingly are happier to be back in school regardless of their stance on the issue of masking. I personally agree. it helps to provide a sense of normality to be back to in-person schooling even if someone may not agree with the masking policy. Secondly, the concern for health and a safe school year is on the  minds of some students. Timberlane senior Lauren Violette commented, “The delta variant poses a serious risk to in-person schooling. I want my senior year to be as normal as possible, and if that means wearing a mask while in the building, I think that it’s worth the discomfort.” CDC data has shown the Delta variant is highly contagious, more than twice as contagious as previous variants, and it also can still affect those who are fully vaccinated, although the risk is lower. As a result of this, it is understandable why she feels the way she does.

My final takeaway is that for those students who may not agree that we should wear masks, their concern is based on doubts of effectiveness and frustration. Timberlane senior Audrey Perrault says, “We’re going on two years of having to wear them [masks], I think there’s a point where it just needs to stop, this virus isn’t going anywhere, we need to move on and stop being scared.” She also emphasized that she would never judge anyone for how they feel on the issue of masking, but she doesn’t feel that masks are helping anymore. It is important to recognize that people are frustrated, as we’ve all been at some point or another during the COVID 19 pandemic. I am glad I got the perspective of both pro-mask and anti-mask individuals. It helped me to gain another perspective I may not have thought about before.

This issue is not one that is expected to go away any time soon. Both sides of the argument have concerns and reasoning to explain their position, but we still have to abide by the school board’s ruling until the policy is potentially changed. As the year progresses there is still a level of uncertainty with the requirement. All we can do is hope for the day that we can go unmasked without posing a serious risk to our health and potentially others.