Truth unmasked: Face coverings do no harm to educational process
Four weeks in, yet only 14 days of actual school, and already I’m surrounded by a chorus of coughs, sniffles, and conversations of people allegedly contracting COVID. Noses exposed over their masks and haughty remarks. Rates have risen instead of falling and the vaccine is continuously dangled in front of our eyes like a treat for our obedience, but is it doing any good?
“Vaccinated and unvaccinated people are still getting COVID, so to take that extra precaution, every staff and student should wear masks,” said sophomore Savanna Walker.
Right, our crutch in our current society: the masks. Making its first mandatory appearance, the requirement of face coverings started in Wisconsin during the month of August in 2020. It was later implemented in other states during July and April of the same year - either by court or executive orders. Alas, that was a ship headed straight for the iceberg as citizens fought against mandates. So much so that people began to believe that we don’t need them.
“Face coverings will be optional for all students and staff on all property and school busses,” said Superintendent Bryan Davis at the beginning of summer. Now, if COVID was not an active concern, or at least showing some improvement, this could be accepted effortlessly, but such was not the case.
“COVID-19 cases in the OASD geographic boundary, Winnebago County, Wisconsin, and the US are beginning to trend upward. The two-week case rate for the OASD geographic boundary from July 14 to July 27 was 67.2. . . At this level of transmission, the CDC recommends universal indoor masking for all teachers, staff, students, and visitors to K-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status,” said Davis.
Two weeks following his statement, Davis switched the optional mask approach into a mandatory one for the district until the first of October. As if, with increasingly worrisome outbreak rates, the policies needed to be reconsidered. A reoccurring outcry is how these pieces of fabric are somehow spoiling our educational experience. Are they? Are they really affecting our learning?
In order to evaluate this, the way students are learning with these policies in place needs to be considered. After returning from virtual courses, students continue to lean more heavily on technology than before as classes resumed for the 2021-2022 school year. When not learning behind a chromebook screen, students are either working through hands-on activities or are given paperwork. Despite the implementation of mask-modified learning, teachers that are, once again, at the front of the class have had seemingly few issues with masks while teaching their lessons.
Despite face coverings coming and being worn in a variety of styles and designs, they do not cause any distraction from said lessons while fulfilling their purpose. That is, unless masks are being worn incorrectly when they should be covering both noses and mouths. In many cases, the occasional issue with students wearing them incorrectly has been more distracting to learning than when properly worn. While the masking may be an uncomfortable policy for incoming West students this year, many were quick to adjust, while others only needed slight reminders.
An example? Just recently during a P.E class, students were called over to their teacher after vigorous activities. Taking a second for them to gather in front of her, she thanked and acknowledged those who complied with the mask rules. This gesture showed students that teachers appreciate when they follow the policies and keep the learning environment positive while enforcing them. The teacher simply informed those who refused to cooperate that their grades could be on the line due to their defiance. This has to be said, as the mask policies have warning-based consequences when not followed that can eventually lead to even the removal of students from a class.
But despite the obvious muffling, occasional defiance, and discomfort, masks interfering with the learning processes is a factor dependent on individual students and their opinions, backgrounds, and health conditions. Although the infamous face coverings may cause some variability in speech, some annoyance, and slight disobedience, with the proper projection (which isn’t much), voices can still be heard aloud and masks remain undisruptive during learning here at West.
By Nia-Lynn Walker
Oshkosh West Index Volume 118 Issue I
October 6th, 2021