(All opinions are my own and not representative of the views of PV Media or PVHS in general.)

As we all get used to being in school again, there is one point of contention that I’ve seen between both children and their parents. Everybody hates masks. I am not about to do the whole song-and-dance of “oh, oh, I hate them too, but we still have to wear them, it’s so awful.” I don’t mind wearing mine, and if you ask me, it’s a really small thing to have to do to continue in-person schooling.

Let’s look at the facts. COVID-19 is still a problem. A big one. This area has seen an unfortunate upward trend in cases due to a combination of the delta variant and the reopening of schools.

This is data from the Pennsylvania Department of Health. As you can see, as schools have opened again, cases have risen. It isn’t an unreasonable assumption that school beginning, both for college, primary, and secondary schools, has led to a large uptick in cases. As has been proven time and time again, masks and distancing help. The entire time we’ve been masking and distancing, I haven’t caught a single seasonal disease. No strep throat, no flu, barely even a cold.  Aside from getting vaccinated (a whole other issue), distancing and masking are both effective in stopping the spread. We all want to stay in school, which means we all need to show the initiative and deal with it.

And for the sake of everyone around you, please wear your mask above your nose. It isn’t that hard.