A hand blocks a mask, signifying some Clarke Central High School students’ resistance to COVID-19 protocols. CCHS students need to obey the health guidelines set in place by the Clarke County School District to protect themselves and others. Illustration by Sofia Balsamo
Many students at CCHS are not complying with the COVID-19 guidelines set forth by CCSD, putting themselves and others at risk.
Ever since the COVID-19 virus appeared in the United States nearly two years ago, masks made an abrupt appearance in our day-to-day lives.
On Apr. 3 2020, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) announced a recommendation that Americans wear face coverings in public. From this point forward, wearing a mask became a daily habit — or at least it should have.
As the Clarke County School District’s return to in-person learning approached in August, questions surrounding mask mandates arose. Should students be required to wear a mask? Should they not?
When in-person school started in the 2021-2022 school year, CCSD implemented COVID-19 guidelines for all students and faculty. Listed on the CCSD website are several protocols that all schools in the district must follow including:
“Masks are required indoors on all buses for all individuals, regardless of vaccination status” and “All students should wear their masks correctly and consistently, remain 3 feet away from others as much as possible, and stay home from school if they are sick.”
In a school where children and adolescents are constantly in contact with each other, precautions and protocols like these are necessary to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and reduce the number of cases.
In a school where children and adolescents are constantly in contact with each other, precautions and protocols like these are necessary to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and reduce the number of cases.
However, many students are refusing to comply with these rules. As students go down the halls, they often see many students wearing their masks below their nose, or not at all.
According to the CDC, only 65 percent of middle and high school students wore a mask at all times, including in classrooms and hallways.
A study by the CDC found that teenagers are twice as likely to become infected with COVID-19 than younger children, but every day as students walk down the red and white halls of Clarke Central High School, they are met with peers who aren’t abiding by the mask mandate, putting themselves and others at risk.
Teachers are taking on the responsibility of reminding students to wear a mask or to pull their mask over their nose, but it’s a duty that shouldn’t fall onto teachers — they have enough to worry about.
It’s also a duty that they can’t always “fulfill.” Hundreds of students constantly walk the halls of CCHS during transition and teachers don’t have the opportunity to give a student a mask or remind them to pull their mask over their nose. Ultimately, it is the students’ responsibility to wear a mask to keep their teachers, classmates and friends safe, and most importantly, themselves.
Ultimately, it is the students’ responsibility to wear a mask to keep their teachers, classmates and friends safe, and most importantly, themselves.
As the school year progresses, it is crucial for members of the CCHS community to wear a mask and wear it correctly. Sure, it can be uncomfortable and annoying at times, but it’s for your own safety and health. So please, wear a mask. If not for yourself, then for the people around you — the people you care about.
