Just south of the Denver metropolitan area, Douglas County is facing increasing backlash over their split from Tri-County Health and the endangerment of students within their district. Is the conservative bias of adults in the community putting students at risk?
As a county with a 52.4% Republican majority, Douglas County is an island of conservatism in a primarily liberal state. Now that conservatism has manifested in a dangerous situation for Douglas County high school students. The school board decided in the early days of the pandemic to leave the Tri-County Health association in order to avoid having to obey their mask mandates. Instead, they changed the rules in the community and the school district at-will. For the first several weeks of the 2021 school year they imposed a mask-optional policy, which shifted to a requirement on Aug. 17.
Former Student Advisory Group member, Taylor Witte, remarked on the ineffectiveness of this change in policy.
“I don’t like that they gave us a taste of freedom and then took it away because I would much prefer they had mask mandates right from the get go. I think students are a lot less apt to wear their masks now because they’ve seen that people didn’t require them to at the beginning,” With said.
Many families have taken advantage of the counties’ opt-out policies, because they believe the mask mandate detracts from student’s learning and personal freedom. A recent order in effect as of Oct. 9 allows parents to exempt their children from the mask requirement for any physical or emotional health reasons, and makes it impermissible to quarantine children no matter what level of exposure to COVID-19 they’ve received if they are asymptomatic.
Students and parents are taking advantage of this new policy by finding any excuse possible to exempt their child from the masks-on rule and it is creating increasingly hostile anti-mask sentiments in schools and amongst parents. This can create a dangerous environment where students or representatives are forced to choose between safety from COVID-19, or safety in their community. As a student at Mountain Vista high school in the Douglas County school district, and an active member of several school board official’s campaigns Witte has noticed many students and parents engaging in bullying towards others over their decision to wear a mask.
“I think there’s a lot of aggression from people who are… pro-choice [in regards to masks], and that’s going to contribute to decision making. I think the board is going to try and pacify these parents, even though it’s not the best decision,” Witte said.
Parents making their opinions known to the school board through aggressive tactics is a slippery slope that could lead policy makers to agree on decisions that could be seriously detrimental to students and the communities’ well being. Their hostile behaviour also sets an example for children in schools, who could see their parent’s aggression as a green light to antagonize their peers over their choice to wear a mask. It may also encourage children to act out against teachers who are required to enforce the mandates.
Students in Douglas County schools recently organized a walkout to protest the mask policies in their schools. A majority of the students walked out from Legend High School in Parker, CO, holding signs saying things like “I can’t do this again.” Although some students do struggle with wearing masks due to asthma or neurodivergent conditions where masks amplify distraction, many are just experiencing “covid fatigue,” a type of burnout and frustration caused specifically by the ongoing diversion from normalcy created by the pandemic.
Masks are critical to stopping the spread of COVID-19, especially for unvaccinated people. Some people are unable to get vaccinated for medical reasons and if the rest of the community, including vaccinated people, are not wearing them it puts those people at risk no matter how many steps they take to protect themselves. Vaccinated people are able to carry and spread the virus even if they have no symptoms. New strains also can penetrate the protections of the vaccine if they are allowed to spread through the community, depleting their effectiveness and leading to an increasing number of break-through COVID-19 cases, with almost one-in-five of every new case being break-through.
Unfortunately, COVID-19 has been a 19-month ordeal that has not been easy for anyone. If students are tired of wearing masks, they should consider the impact their choice has on everyone who is left without any choice. Many people are unable to get vaccinated and social young people wearing masks prevent community spread from reaching them. Conservative parents should also consider how disruptive masks really are to their child’s learning environment. Are they really concerned about masks as a distraction or is this just another way to jab at the “liberal agenda” at the expense of their community?
Overall, anti-maskers in local government and the community need to stop politicizing masks and make the right choice for the community. Due to the decision of a few representatives the county has lost the accountability Tri-County Health provides, so it is time to hold themselves accountable for the health of their institutions and put a stop to mask-based hostility.
