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Students and staff are starting to stop wearing their masks after Fremont decided to lessen the restrictions. As of March 12, the Fremont United District shifted from requiring masks to strongly recommending masks inside school facilities and outdoor masking as optional. This rule was very controversial when passed at the time because students did not have a ton of experience being in schools without masks. As a result, many students were not only concerned about their health but their families’ health as well. So while this rule does have a few positives it also has some glaring negatives that concern a lot of students and parents.
One con of this new rule is that some students might not feel very comfortable being with other students in the same class without a mask. Many may not be ready to study and learn with students who don’t have a mask on; some may even consider it a distraction. This can cause their learning abilities to be hindered as they are more focused on looking at students without a mask than focusing on the lesson being taught by the teachers. With two thousand students on campus, lifting the mask mandate could be risky. Another problem about this new rule is that parents could be concerned about their students’ health when they are exposed to students without a mask. Essentially, parents are putting their students’ health at risk to complete strangers, which does not sit well with them. Another concern that parents have is that online learning can become more of a possibility as more students will be exposed to other kids without masks on. This can also be seen as a distraction for parents as they will have to deal with their kids going to school at home rather than Washington.
Essentially, parents are putting their students’ health at risk to complete strangers, which does not sit well with them.
With all of the cons that come with less restrictions on mask mandates there are many solutions to fix the problems that students have with the new policy.
One easy solution to fix the issues with the passing of the new mask policy is to go back to the original rule of requiring masks inside school facilities. This will get rid most of the issues that are present and students will feel more comfortable learning in class. Another solution that can fix the problems of less masks in schools is that we give students and parents a choice of wanting to learn online. This will also make learning for students more comfortable as they have a preference to choose which learning environment best suits them: in person or online. Since the new policy, students have been more concerned about their learning abilities and seeing their classmates without masks is a distraction. But now, with the passing by the District of less enforcement of masks there are more problems than there are solutions.
Armaan is a senior at Washington High School and has lived in Fremont his entire life. This is Armaan’s first year at the paper and he is very excited to be here. Some interests that Armaan has in journalism are writing about sports and talking about what people like to do in their free time. Some hobbies I do in my free time are play basketball and watch football. My future plans are to go to college, get a degree, and find a job that pays well.