Wearing masks in the community probably makes little or no difference to the outcome of influenza‐like illness (ILI)/COVID‐19 like illness compared to not wearing masks […] Wearing masks in the community probably makes little or no difference to the outcome of laboratory‐confirmed influenza/SARS‐CoV‐2 compared to not wearing masks
I just turned 10 years old and I am a fourth grader at Felix A. Williams.
I expected school to be a little bit different in the beginning, but I didn’t think it would stay this way all year long.
And I was surprised by the rules.
A lot of them didn’t make any sense to me, like the fact that we were not allowed to play on the playground or have student council or turn to face each other at lunch and we also have to wear masks outside at P.E. and on track.
I love my school and all, but my teachers seem really stressed and that makes me feel bad.
One teacher walks around with a clipboard full of referrals for any student whose mask isn’t on promptly. It makes me feel scared.
That same teacher yells at us having our masks down to drink water while we are outside in car line. She told us we had to wait until we were in our parents’ car to have a drink of water. She had her mask down the entire time while she was yelling at us, which makes me and all my friends very mad. This happens a lot.
And it seems unfair teachers take their masks off while they yell at us kids and that we need to pull ours up. I asked my mom if there is a word for this and she said there is: hypocrisy.
Wearing a mask all day makes me feel really tired and gives me really bad headaches. Sometimes I miss school and I need to lay low in the dark until they’re gone.
My mask also sticks to my face when it’s really hot and it makes it hard to breathe. I feel like I can’t catch my breath and that makes me feel claustrophobic and anxious. It’s really stressful. I finished taking all of my FSAs and I had a hard time focusing with the mask on.
A few weeks ago I ran into my teacher outside of school. She didn’t even recognize me because she’s never seen my face before. But I knew it was her because she sits at her desk a lot without the mask on. I know my teacher has asthma and everything, but I understand why it’s hard for her to wear a mask. I think she should have that choice. But I should too. I have allergies and I feel really anxious with my face covered. But I’m not allowed a mask break like her. It seems unfair.
All this seems unfair and it doesn’t make sense.
I miss seeing people’s face.
I miss the way things used to be.
I’m scared they’ll never go back to normal.
Breathing really doesn’t seem like something we should have to ask any other people for permission for.
Please make masks optional today.
It would be so awesome to end the school year on a really happy note like that.
Thank you for your time.
Gallery
