Canyons School District announced it will not mandate the use of masks this school year.
Social distancing, cleaning and hand washing are all necessary, but the single best way to prevent COVID-19 infections and to protect my child, other students and employees is to require the use of masks — as recently mandated by Salt Lake County.
The reason we should stay 6 feet apart is not because physical distance somehow magically kills the virus, but because it reduces the risk of inhaling the virus when it is expelled through another person’s respiration.
Did you know that scientists arguing for mandatory masks in New York City noted that a single runner on a trail in a park can leave a 30-foot slipstream of active virus if they are infected and running without a mask? Imagine one infected child in the hallways or on the playground.
How can any responsible or ethical district say they are doing everything they can when they are not doing the one thing that has proven to be the best safety measure against exposure to the coronavirus? How do they intend to protect immunocompromised children in school, who cannot wear their own mask?
I understand that districts are in a difficult position. Masks have become a politicized and divisive issue in our country. People will be upset either way.
But upset feelings do not trump my child’s safety.
We are talking about an institution of education — we should follow objective science when making these decisions, rather than meaningless color-coding systems or concerns about making people angry. People who don’t want to engage in responsible social distancing can choose to keep their children home.
It is unreasonable to put all of your students, teachers and staff at risk because of a few loud, misinformed or willfully ignorant dissenters.
Amanda Jean Babcock, Cottonwood Heights