By Amirah Woodruff
Talon Staff
About a week before the first day of school, we were informed that we would have to continue wearing masks while inside Barrington High School regardless of our vaccination status. Teachers and all BHS staff members received the same notice.
This did not sit well with many students. And based on the evidence on display in the hallways on a daily basis, it still doesn’t.
Dismissing the signs hung up around the school encouraging members of the school community to (please) wear a mask and ignoring the administrators and teachers telling them to wear them correctly, many students still refuse.
Below the nose. Under the chin. Or even removing the mesh from inside the mask. These behaviors defeat the whole purpose of wearing one in the first place.
And some just don’t wear a mask at all.
Senior Garin Stone recalled one of her classmates refusing to wear his mask when told to do so by their teacher which led to a heated debate.
Clearly some of us are still struggling to abide by one simple rule.
Since September 6th, 45 members of the school community have tested positive for COVID-19, according to School Nurse Tammy Lafreniere.
With every “Positive Letter” that goes out to the school community, Principal Joseph Hurley reminds us:
“To date, several of our COVID cases are connected to Barrington High School sports teams and associated activities,” he writes. “We would like to remind our students to maintain COVID protocols on and off the field, including avoiding the sharing of water bottles, masking where required, and social distancing. We appreciate the support of our students and families in engaging in our onsite testing protocols. As a result of onsite testing, we were able to immediately identify positive close contacts and additional cases.”
Many of the students I interviewed said they don’t like wearing their mask above their nose or on their face because they claim that they can’t breathe, it makes their skin break out, or they want to be like their friends who don’t do it.
Personally, I feel that it is extremely important to always wear your mask and to wear it properly, regardless of the influence your classmates have on you or if you’re vaccinated or not. If you’re having issues breathing, Mrs. Lafreniere is always available.
I am fully vaccinated and still make an effort to wear my mask. It’s important to know that being vaccinated does not mean that you are 100% safe from testing positive. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “the Delta variant [is] more infectious and [is] leading to increased transmissibility when compared with other variants, even in some vaccinated individuals.”
Not to mention the Omicron variant, the first case of which in the United States was just reported in California.
And if you aren’t vaccinated, that’s even more of a reason to wear your mask properly.
Along with my classmates, I interviewed science teacher Ms. Debra DePietro, who is often seen or heard in the hallways advising students to keep their masks above their noses. Why?
“It is very important,” Ms. DePietro said, “because it filters some of the droplets that we may be exhaling and those droplets are the things that carry viruses and if someone else was to breathe them in or maybe get them on their hands, you then get the virus that way. It’s way more important to have it over your mouth while you’re talking because that’s a huge component for droplet spread.”
Both I know and you know this pandemic is difficult and seems never-ending. Still, the more students that wear their masks and practice the COVID-19 safety guidelines inside and outside of school, the sooner it will end and things will go back to normal.
But until it does: “Masks above your nose, please!”
And remember, it’s not personal. It’s public health.