Friend, Cessna express concern regarding mask mandate lift

Beginning+March+1%2C+2022%2C+students+are+no+longer+required+to+wear+masks+at+school.%0A

Adrian Kavazovic

Beginning March 1, 2022, students are no longer required to wear masks at school.

Adrian Kavazovic, Print Editor-in-Chief

With Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin lifting mask mandates for students in grades K-12, it leaves many students and teachers wondering about the outcomes of this change. Some students such as sophomore Reagan Friend plan to continue wearing their mask, while some students such as freshman Rami Amer plan on not wearing their mask once the mandate is lifted. Friend plans to continue wearing her mask to protect herself and the people around her. 

“I will continue to wear a mask as it soothes my anxiety. I know masks work and don’t want to risk getting COVID and taking it home to my immunocompromised family members,” Friend said. 

Amer on the other hand plans to not wear his mask once the mandate is lifted due to many of his friends not planning on wearing one either. 

“I [have somewhat of a] natural immunity [against COVID-19] and [many] of my friends [don’t plan] on wearing a mask either [once the mandate is lifted],” Amer said. 

With this being such a sudden change in city schools, it leaves Friend nervous as to what’s going to occur in the future. 

“I’m quite nervous [about] the change for masks. I hope we don’t forget as a whole that we’re still in a global pandemic,” Friend said. 

Science teacher Gretchen Cessna would much rather prefer if students were required to wear masks from a teachers point of view. 

“I would love it if [students] were required to wear masks, but I realize that I don’t have any control over that. I’m just going to accept it for what it is,” Cessna said. 

With Cessna dealing with deaths in her family due to COVID-19, she finds that it will be hard to adjust to seeing students not wearing their masks in a public environment. 

“Personally, I think it will be challenging [since] I have lost my brother and my mother to COVID in the last four months or so. My mom was very old and vulnerable [and] my brother lived in a community that refused masks and vaccinations and it didn’t go well. I think for my personal pain, it will be challenging to get used to being in an environment where the students aren’t masked,” Cessna said. 

Amer believes the mandates being lifted is a good idea since getting COVID has become almost unavoidable.

“I think it is a good idea [that the mandate is being lifted] because [many] people are already getting COVID while [they’re] vaccinated so it’s [almost] inevitable,” Amer said. 

Friend on the other hand, believes that lifting the mandate right now isn’t a good idea due to Harrisonburg being considered a high risk area and vaccination rates being far too low. 

“I think lifting the mask mandate is not a good idea as our area is still considered high risk. Not nearly enough people are vaccinated for us to be as close as we are in the school without masks,” Friend said. 

Similar to Friend, Cessna agrees that lifting the mandate is not a good idea, but since cases are plummeting, she understands why the mandate is being lifted. 

“I would be happy if [the mandate] was lifted a little bit later, but I understand that cases are going down, as well as hospitalizations, right now, so I understand why they’re lifting the mandate,” Cessna said. 

To Amer, wearing a mask is something he’s still getting used to, as he only wears one when he’s at school. 

“I’m still getting adjusted [to wearing a mask] because I only wear my mask to school and no where else and sometimes I forget that I have to keep my mask [on],” Amer said. 

With masks being something we’ve been wearing for the past two years, it’s become a habit for Friend to wear one wherever she goes. 

“Wearing a mask is definitely something I’ve gotten used to. It’s a habit for me to grab it before I go into any building other than my house,” Friend said.