Students Speak On Mask Policies

by Mario Bondy

October 4, 2021

Charlie Heald works on a project in class while wearing his mask per requirement. (Photo: Mario Bondy).

As everyone knows, Ohio is back in school, and after last year was marked by COVID, precautions are being taken this year to try and keep students out of quarantines and in the building. Masks are an important factor in these precautions, and while many schools have them, some do not have requirements in place. All of this is interesting to think about, but it begs the question, what do students think of these varying policies? And what would they prefer instead?

According to an article from the Columbus Dispatch, most schools have chosen to opt for one of three policies. A full mandate, meaning masks on all the time, regardless of grade. A split mandate meaning that masks are on all the time for middle school students, but that the high schoolers have a choice. And finally, an optional policy means that the decision is left up to the students no matter what grade they’re in. The interesting thing is that many schools started the year without mandates, but have since changed after a few new cases popped up. Many schools without any sort of strict mandate, or recommendation have already had hundreds of cases since the start of the year.

So to get the best opinions on the mask policies, the best option is to interview the students, the first one up is Porter Knouff, a freshman here at our own Grandview Heights High School. As we all know, Grandview has a complete mask mandate, regardless of age, or vaccination status.

When asked how he felt about the current situation Porter replied that while the policy worked well for the younger grades, he felt the current guidelines were too strict for the older grades, as many schools have functioned well with optional policies, and Grandview potentially could as well. He added his own recommendation for a policy, that the younger students, and the unvaccinated should have their masks on all the time, however that the vaccinated students should be allowed to make their own decisions. And for a final response, Porter agreed with the sports mask mandates on busses, and of the lack of a mandate for outdoor sports as it gave more of a sense of freedom compared to being cooped up in the building all day. And who knows, maybe next semester Grandview will relax their guidelines, and maybe they’ll make them stricter instead, it's still up in the air for now.

And if we want a wide spread of opinions, we can’t just stay within Grandview, so I went to one of my sources in Upper Arlington who wished to remain unnamed. Upper Arlighnton began the year with an optional mask policy, however they quickly switched it to a full mandate after a huge spike within the first few weeks. The only exceptions to the guidelines in Arlington are the ability to remove the mask during lunch, during sports, and during extracurriculars just like Grandview.

When asked the same questions as Porter, the student, who I will refer to as U, responded in favor of the stricter guidelines, and of the doubling down after the spike, and when questioned on whether anything should be changed, U responded that they had no complaints with the current guidelines in response to the situation. The only thing that U wanted was for the mask requirement to be lifted when the spike has gone down, and the virus is back under control in the school.

So with two somewhat different opinions it’s time to turn to a third source who goes to school in the Dublin school district, and who will therefore be referred to as D. Dublin has a mandated mask policy for grades Kindergarten through 8th grade, however the highschool is not strict in their policies with the decision being left completely up to the students.

D had plenty to say on the matter, stating that they felt unsafe with the decision, and that they felt the school was at risk for a shutdown if the policies did not change. When asked why they felt this way, D responded that despite the fact that masks are optional, very few, to no people wear them, and that despite the expectation to stay home when you’re sick, nobody does, and treats everything like it’s normal. And finally, when questioned on how they would want things done differently, D said very firmly that they wanted a full grade mask mandate with no exceptions, and to hopefully not have to worry about COVID because everyone is following the policies.

Obviously this is only a fraction of a percentage of the people who have opinions on this topic, and these three don’t speak for everyone, but they provide a good sample of views at least, and can give a good feel for general opinion. We can only hope that the virus is brought under control, and that we can get somewhat back to normal next year. Thanks for reading!