The Kids Will Not Be Alright
By Adam Sanders
School is upon us again, and so are concerns about COVID in the classroom that we have been familiar with since the top of 2020. Yes, the small majority of Americans have been vaccinated compared to this time last year. Nevertheless, the equation is different with students for multiple reasons. Firstly, and most importantly, children under the age of twelve are not authorized to receive any of the vaccines. The reaction of a prepubescent body to medications can be very different from that of an adult. Therefore, the FDA has been keen not to rush an affirmative decision regarding children. However, for those older than twelve, there are myriad social, family, cultural, and medical reasons that make them hesitant or unable to be vaccinated. Clearly, with schools opening back open this fall with the Delta variant ripping through swathes of America, there must be some way to mitigate the vaccine gap. The answer is mask mandates.
Masks are simple, effective, and fit everyone. If one is in shape, one can do cardio exercises in them, and one can easily forget they are wearing them while doing something else. In that sense, masks are as easy and effective for everyone as sunglasses, albeit to protect against a different type of health risk. Unsurprisingly, no one is screaming about Big Sunglasses trying to get rich with bogus claims, or optometrists being “shills” for the sunglasses industry by recommending wearing them on sunny days or while driving. No one is claiming they should instead try injecting sunscreen directly into their eyeballs. And yet, this very debate involving masks and mask mandates has become just that facile and asinine, just like with vaccine and vaccine mandates.
People who are opposed to vaccines also tend to be opposed to wearing masks. That is not an absolute correlation, to be sure, but it is a fairly strong Venn-diagram overlap. The problem is that, in order to do one’s part, one of the two will have to be implemented on the individual level. For those who oppose mask mandates, a major reason for the return of the mandates has been the stalled vaccination rates, especially in the South and Midwest. The political alignment of these regions is no accident.
Los Angeles has reinstated mask mandates.[1] Las Vegas, St. Louis, and Savannah, Georgia followed shortly thereafter. Likewise, before the arrival of the Delta variant, when the vaccines were combating relatively tamer variants, there was not the same need for masks anymore. These jurisdictions imposed new mask mandates even for adults and those already vaccinated. If the science and policy data clearly point back in that direction increasingly in other places, then the point to take away from those decisions is that such mandates are even more necessary in schools. It is not merely to protect the students under twelve (although that is the most obvious reason), but also to protect staff and parents. It is important to keep in mind that, although the vaccines are still largely effective in mitigating the spread and severity of COVID infections, breakthrough infections are still possible (as they were even before the arrival of the Delta variant).[2]
Apart from the usual vague arguments against any precautions against COVID (which seem to mostly consist of screaming the word “Liberty” or “Tyranny” at the top of one’s lungs without knowing what the word means), there are more specific concerns regarding masks people have. Some may argue that masks would inhibit their child’s nonverbal skills. Some have argued that they cannot breathe in masks. Others still have argued that they are overkill and an indication of fear. There are some pretty simple rebuttals to those concerns.
Firstly, children can receive guidance in nonverbal skills at home, where they constantly communicate without anyone wearing masks. Secondly, if someone cannot breathe with a mask on, chances are they either have another medical issue, should stop smoking, and/or start exercising. As for concerns of how masks make them seem to others, the people concerned about that must not have never known anyone who contracted COVID, had it themselves, nor have they ever seen someone slowly asphyxiate to death after a week on a ventilator.
In conclusion, opposing mask mandates or mask wearing in schools is particularly irresponsible and dangerous, considering what Delta has demonstrated. This particular variant of COVID infects younger people at a significantly higher rate than earlier variants, and the infected are much sicker than in previous variants. With the Delta variant combining with maskless children who do not qualify for the vaccines, a pathogenic rampage is only a matter of time. Think about all of the times when it does not seem strange to protect one’s face. If there is a radiation leak, we wear hazmat suits. If there is a gas presence, we wear gas masks. If we are painting or sanding, we wear very similar masks. When we are welding, we wear face helmets. With that in mind, the opposition to masks and mask mandates to protect against a virus is baffling.
[1] Luke Money, Rong-Gong Lin II, and Melissa Hernandez, “L.A. County Will Require Masks Indoors Amid Alarming Rise in Coronavirus Cases,” Los Angeles Times (July 15th, 2021). https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-07-15/l-a-county-will-require-masks-indoors-amid-covid-19-surge.
[2] Robbie Whelan, “CDC Identifies Small Group of Covid-19 Infections Among Fully Vaccinated Patients,” Wall Street Journal (April 15, 2021). https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/cdc-identifies-small-group-of-covid-19-infections-among-fully-vaccinated-patients-11618490232
