How ‘Bout Some Common Sense On Face Mask Debate?

Hello, can we use some common sense, please? What’s the big debate about these face masks, particularly as it pertains to our children and them going to school? I say protect the babies. Until children of all ages can get the COVID vaccine, school-age children under 12 who currently cannot be vaccinated cover their faces. What’s so hard to figure out?
Day after day, I watch television news. I read local and national newspapers, and I walk away shaking my head at how so many parents have themselves all tied up in a knot questioning whether or not to wear a mask? Too many parents and other caregivers of children are wondering, should I make my child wear a mask in school?
In some cases school district officials are making the decision for you: As in the Philadelphia Public School District. It’s a mandate that all people inside public school buildings must wear a face mask. That includes teachers, administration, school security, teacher aides, the school nurse, (if you’re lucky enough to have a school nurse on duty), and yes, the children. In other school districts, the debate rages on as to whether children should have to wear a face mask. This is where common sense comes in to play in my mind. In Florida, Republican Governor De Santis has mandated that face masks do not have to be worn in Florida public schools. Well, just because De Santis made that mandate doesn’t mean I would send my child to school uncovered. I would still have my child wear a face mask to school for their own safety. They may be teased or ridiculed, but I’d rather them face that than Covid.
I don’t know anyone who says “I love wearing a face mask every day, 8 hours a day.” Wearing a face mask after a few hours for me becomes annoying, and I’m a grown woman, so I can only imagine how tough it must be for children. However, until further notice, this is our new normal and we can train our children to adjust. My little 5-year-old granddaughter keeps social distancing on her mind when she’s outside of the place where she lives. At the pool, she tells people, “Don’t get too close. It’s Covid.” When I went for my last dental check-up, my dental hygienist shared a story with me about her grandson, who is 6. She says that since the pandemic, of course when he’s out in public, he wears a face mask. When she picks him up from school and he gets in her car, she always tells him to take off his face mask, assuring him it’s safe. This 6-year old’s response is, “No Grand Mom. I don’t want to take it off until we get inside your house.”
Our babies are getting it. The information about the importance of wearing a face mask is sinking in with the little ones. I can’t figure out what’s taking so long for some adults to get the message.
And another thing: As long as you’re wearing a face mask, you may as well wear it correctly and teach your children to wear it correctly. You can have a face mask on all day long, but if your nose is not covered, you’re not covered. Referring back to my television news watching that I do 7 days a week, when the various news channels get video footage of children in classrooms from Maine to Vermont, to Pennsylvania to South Carolina, I still see children in these TV news shots, who have face masks on, but their noses are uncovered. We must show our children the proper way to wear the face masks, and when they are out with you, and you see they have their face mask on with their nose uncovered, get right on them and tell them to pull the face mask up, over their little nose. Keep doing that until you drill it in their heads, the proper way to wear the masks.
It’s also my hope and prayer that our public schools have purchased a ton of disposable facemasks for children who might come to school unprepared or whose face masks may get ripped before the school day even starts. The school district has purchased touchless hand sanitizer stations for every school. Also, covid testing will be available at every school for any student who presents covid-like symptoms during the school day. School district staff will continue to be tested once a week, even those who are vaccinated, and at last report, 90% of school district employees are now fully vaccinated.
One thing I know for sure: A lot of school teachers don’t take too kindly to students asking to be excused a lot to go to the bathroom to relieve themselves. Can you imagine 25 students or more, in a class asking to go wash their hands 5 and 6 times a day? It’s not going to happen. So all that talk about “wash your hands often with hot water and soap,” it’s not going to happen on the regular inside our public schools. My hope and prayer is that there will be an over-abundance of hand-sanitizer not just at certain “touchless hand-sanitizer stations, which I imagine would be hallways or genal space areas at schools, but there should be hand-sanitizer bottles in every classroom, for all the children to use, who may not have their own personal container of hand sanitizer or sanitized hand-wipes.
School starts back Tuesday, August 31st for Philadelphia Public School Children. Aside from just the usual things parents purchase for children to help them start the school year right, such as school bags, pens, pencils, notebooks, loose-leaf paper, binder books, calculators, rulers, and things of that nature, add to your list, face masks, both disposable and cloth, hand-sanitizer and sanitized wet wipes. Get set. Get Ready. Go. It’s a new school year, the first time back in the classroom on a full-time basis in over 18 months for thousands and thousands of young people in Philadelphia and millions of young people across the nation.
In Delaware, the Brandywine school district starts back on September 16th. The Appoquinimink school district starts back on September 8th. The Capitol school district starts back September 8th. The Indian River School District starts back September 17th. Face masks are also mandated for vaccinated and unvaccinated people at Delaware public schools.
In New Jersey, public schools restart on September 2nd, and there is a mask mandate in place for everyone inside New Jersey schools.
Our prayers are with all our children as they head back to school.