Scott Seamon

Due to an increase in COVID-19 cases, some schools and hospitals across the United States have implemented mask mandates. However, according to a recent survey, most Westwood students do not support the return of mask mandates for a variety of reasons. “We have grown and been able to thrive in this school without the masks,” Stella Shaw ’24 said. “They are inconvenient and unhelpful. Just be more careful. Literally anything is better than masks.”

With school starting again, COVID-19 cases are on the rise. School districts have begun to require mask mandates again in efforts to prevent infections. This has raised many concerns about going back into a lockdown among students and parents.

“Just because COVID is coming back doesn’t mean it’s worse than before, nor does it mean that masks would be especially beneficial,” an anonymous student said.  “In addition, all of the masking could end up taking away from the focus of school, instead replacing it with extra worries about sickness and germs.”

Mask mandates will most likely have no effect on Texas, since a law was passed in 2021 that prevents government entities from implementing mask mandates. This law also prevents schools or private businesses from closing due to COVID-19.

According to a survey, 60.2% of students would not support another wave of school mask mandates. 

On the other hand, masks have been proven to provide some sort of protection against COVID-19, and a number of students expressed their feelings of security that come with masking. 

“From my point of view, it doesn’t matter whether I like wearing masks or not,” an anonymous student said. “What is important is that we keep as many people safe as possible. We need to keep everyone as safe as possible whether they’re high risk or not.”

Masking is not the only option to prevent the spread of COVID. Some alternatives include improving hygiene practices, such as implementing better sanitation options throughout the school. But at school, some masking alternatives, such as staying home if sick, can be difficult to implement.

“Something about our school is that if a student is sick, they still feel the need to stay at school. This makes them infect other students,” an anonymous student said. “This is because at Westwood a lot of our students take advanced, AP, And IB classes and fall majorly behind if they do not attend school.”

These differing opinions on mask mandates have caused division among students. But although this division continues, due to the enacted laws, there will be no mask mandates in Texas anytime soon.