Thinking out loud: crackdown on mask policy

Thinking out loud is a weekly series where senior Max Edmondson shares his opinion on a topic and features the opinions of others to see if they agree or disagree. 

This weeks topic: the administration crackdown on teacher enforcement of the mask policy.

Max Edmondson

Since the start of this semester, teachers are being held accountable for students not wearing their masks correctly. Teachers have even been docked on evaluations for failing to enforce masks being worn correctly by students.

While putting more pressure on teachers may be harsh, I do think it’s all around good for the school. Having masks being worn properly is the biggest precaution we can take if we want to stay in school.

I’d think that administration should be lenient while students are eating lunch and during physical education classes, as working out with a mask on is certainly not ideal and healthy. Other than that, there is no reason to not wear a mask. Wearing a mask while just sitting in class doing work or listening to a teacher speak is the least you could do during this pandemic.

As a senior I’d do just about anything to stay in person, and if it means wearing a mask so be it. It is not difficult to have a mask covering your face and it really helps people out. The teachers need to be held accountable for making sure students wear their masks.

A lot of students have not been wearing their masks properly, and it is the teachers that must enforce.

Mia Behringer

I do not think it is fair for teachers to be punished by administrators for students who are breaking the rules. There are far too many kids wearing their masks improperly for teachers to reprimand. The responsibility should be put on the wearer of the mask just as the responsibility for dress code is put on the wearer.

I understand the urgency for stopping the spread of COVID-19 is at a new high, but the punishment for hindering prevention should be placed on the students. They are the ones consciously making the choice to not put the mask over their nose, over their mouth, or on at all. 

As many peers have seen, some students will just outright refuse to wear them correctly when asked to do so by a teacher. Teachers are given the choice to disrupt class further and somehow make the student put it on, or to move on and continue teaching.

 If the administration starts to target kids and provide actual punishment for incorrectly wearing masks, then the kids will have to wear them correctly. Teachers would then have less to worry about on top of their regular workloads, their own safety from COVID-19 and that of their students.