With Omicron on the wane, it’s time for Fayette County schools to make masks optional
Every day my kindergartener comes home from school and rips off his soaking wet mask. Behind it is a rash-covered face. We treat it overnight just to repeat the process the following day. We have sent extra masks to school and asked for help in getting him to change them. However, with 25-30 other kids in the room, we understand it’s hard enough for his teacher to make sure masks are worn correctly, let alone are clean and effective.
Cloth masks have been proven to be ineffective against COVID-19 and especially when soiled or worn improperly. The masks are also stunting our children’s growth. Our young children are stuck trying to learn sight words, letter sounds, pronunciation and foreign languages without being able to see their teacher’s mouth and lips. We’re denying them the opportunity to recognize emotions and develop empathy because they can’t see each other’s faces. They’re missing out on vital social cues that teach them how to interact. They can’t see when their peers are smiling or frowning to help guide behavior. They’re having trouble making friends and are having a hard time expressing themselves. They struggle to be understood. I have reached out to numerous parents about the struggles their elementary kids are having with masks and was inundated with stories of children who have stopped participating in class, struggle to make friends and are falling behind because they’re afraid to say they don’t understand what’s being said.
Many of us reluctantly accepted masks in an effort to return to in-person learning in the spring of 2021. We understood not removing them as Delta and then Omicron surged. Now, with Omicron waning and temperatures warming, we don’t understand the lack of communication regarding masks. For months, masks were never mentioned during board meetings, COVID Core Team meetings or in the weekly COVID-19 updates. On Monday, our superintendent brought up masks for the first time during his weekly report just to state it’s not time to drop the mask mandate. Meanwhile, schools around the country are removing mask mandates as expert opinions on their benefits shift. Even Randi Weingarten, the President of the American Federation of Teachers, wrote a letter to the U.S. Education Secretary and the director of the CDC, asking for a masking off-ramp. She shares reports from teachers saying “the constant use of masks impedes the learning process” and that parents “have expressed dismay about their child’s overall well-being after wearing a mask continually for a year and a half”.
Our children deserve a full education. For over a year, Fayette County Public Schools put our children behind academically with virtual learning. Today they need to stop putting our children behind socially and emotionally and vote to make masks optional.
Isaac Seborn is a father of two FCPS elementary students and local dentist.