To Mask or Not to Mask

February 6th was the first time I left my mask off for the whole church service. I took a picture as a reminder.

At first, I wore my mask through the whole service. Later, I kept it one when singing, but took it off for the sermon. I don't remember if that was pre or post booster, but my rationale was that I'm around tons of students and I don't hesitate to help them at their desks. I figured that made me a higher risk than many, so I wore the mask in case I was ever an asymptomatic carrier.

I admit that taking the mask off even for sermons felt odd at first. Once upon a time I found it "mildly annoying" to wear. It had become my normal. Funny how things change.

The majority had already doffed their masks as I looked around, but I felt like as long as the signs on the church doors said, "We recommend" and "Please" I'd do as asked. I kept my mask in my lap or hanging from an ear in case things got crowded or I noticed someone with a mask near me. Paul mentions in his letters than he is free, but becomes a slave of all for Christ.  If donning my mask would make someone near me more comfortable about going to church, I'd gladly put it back on.

There was an omicron surge in around Christmas time. It showed in the numbers of infections at school when we returned after Winter Break (and the snow storm!). The numbers jumped up, but the kids who were out came back much quicker. The ones who wanted to talk told me that whatever they had was mild.

You can see I'm writing this in the future and you can see the numbers have decreased from the initial spike. According to my school's statistics, 10% of our staff has caught COVID. Since we're over halfway through the school year, I think we're through the worst of it (for what that's worth).

I would have been willing to bet money that masks wouldn't be required next school year.

It's no longer even a bet.

Governor Youngkin made an executive order soon after entering office to do away with mask mandates (1/22). That wasn't in the scope of his power, but a new law recently passed both houses of legislation: All schools will be mask optional as of March 1st. 

Personal opinion: I wish they'd waited until at least May. That way we'd get through flu season and maybe even some SOLs. Anyone too freaked out could probably take the year off after that. It's been a rough year for student behavior and forcing another change into the mix after things had somewhat settled down is annoying.

Out of curiosity, I did an anonymous pole with my students. At least half the students in every class selected they were mostly neutral on the new rule. The second largest group were those worried and only a few students said they were positive on the change (There's a group of 4 in my 4A I know are wildly positive, but they couldn't be bothered to log in to their computers, because that would be one step closer to doing work). 

I also asked in the poll if students planned to continue wearing masks. Two-thirds of the students who answered the question said, "Maybe." Around 20% said, "yes" and only a few said, "No."

Based on how many students I see wear there masks incorrectly, I suspect many of the students who don't plan/want to wear a mask aren't sure if they want to verbalize that right now (Ah, the teenage years...). Other students told me that they're happy to have their masks down around their friend groups and people they trust, but would want to pull them up in crowds or around strangers. One girl commented she felt safer socially behind the mask, because it did hide some of her face.

I have no choice. We teachers will be required to continue to wear masks. We're employees. 

However, I would have continued to wear mine even if it wasn't required. My rationale: I want to be safe for the kids who feel worried. The kids who aren't worried about COVID probably won't care whether I'm masked or not. 

I don't agree with the extreme aversion many people have had to masking. Yes, the data was conflicting. Yes, they were annoying to get used to, but if there was a chance it would help or make people feel more comfortable, why not wear it?

If someone said: "It makes it hard to breathe," I would disagree. Unless there was emphysema or some other condition going on I don't have personal experience with, I've been able to talk and wear one full time for over a year. There were some masks I found harder to breathe in than others, so I wore the masks I liked the best. I wore them all day at school, got used to it, and have even worn my mask while wrestling (And yeah, you can feel the difference in your ability to breathe then! If I really needed to suck air, I'd pull the mask down for a few deep breathes and then carry on).

And I was going to keep writing responses, but I don't want to turn this into an essay. The masks are going away. We'll adapt. Life will go on. My calling is to help students learn, so that's what I plan to do even if the landscape changes. 

I'll post again on masks a couple of weeks after schools go masks optional. I hope I'm wrong about it adding more chaos into student behavior and that it makes the year end smoother. This has already been a year in the record books!