With the delta variant of COVID-19 thriving, in late August district 196 announced that masks will be required in all buildings.

As we finally start our fully in person year at RHS, there is one big difference from previous years. Everyone is masked up. But are they really? 

Walking around the halls, sitting in classes, wherever we go it seems like there is always an overwhelming amount of people wearing masks under their noses or under their chins. 

While there is a district mask mandate, it is not being enforced. Most teachers and staff will give you one warning and then not even check up on if the student complied. In fact some teachers and staff do not even follow mask rules themselves.

Ms. Jacobson, an English teacher here at RHS, believes most people don’t follow mask rules. She believes it’s very hard to enforce mask rules when most students don’t listen and don’t believe in masks. 

 The issue of masks in schools is not limited to Rosemount, it’s a national issue, according to WPTV’s Article, COVID-19 in Florida classrooms results in school closures, concern, almost 50 schools across 11 school districts have gotten shut down due to COVID-19. Florida is a state that has banned mask mandates all together, so it’s way easier for COVID-19 to spread among students.  To keep students in school all year we must enforce mask rules to reduce the spread of COVID-19. 

The question on a lot of people’s minds seems to be, why? Why do we have to wear masks? How do they help? Healthline’s article Even If No One Else Is Wearing One, a Mask Can Help Protect You from COVID-19, talks the benefits of wearing a mask and how it can help prevent the spread of COVID, “wearing a mask can help protect the wearer by reducing the amount of virus that you breathe in and are exposed to”.