An anti-mask group organized the protest in order to force schools to abandon their mask mandates. Dec. 6. Started by a student group, the protest quickly gained traction and spread to high schools across the county. Senior Ashley West sent a message to her peers to encourage them to participate as well. 

“I shared something about Dec. 6, and I was just trying to get it out to bring awareness to it. I wasn’t trying to be pushy or anything like that, it was just to show what’s going on in our school,” West said. “After that, a lot of people got really mad and started saying cuss words. It was not a good moment. I had regrets after sending it, but I meant no harm in it, and I even apologized. I had no intentions of hurting people’s feelings, I was just trying to bring awareness. I wasn’t trying to do anything else.”

Among other arguments, West, who is hard of hearing, cites health concerns and communication concerns as prime reasons behind the anti-mask argument. 

“There’s health risks that come from being forced to wear one. There’s not a lot of oxygen [when wearing masks],” West said. “[Masks] make it more difficult for me to be able to understand people as someone who’s hard of hearing, because masks muffled voices and I’m not able to read lips and understand facial expressions because everybody’s being forced to cover it up.” 

Masks have been mandated at school since students returned to school in November of 2020, however, they have not been proven to reduce oxygen levels.

“At this point, [mask mandates are] getting a little ridiculous. On the drive to school, I dread coming to school because I know that I’m going to be wearing a mask that restricts my breathing,” West said.

West also believes that as burgeoning adults, her class should be allowed to make their own health decisions. She plans on participating in the Dec. 6 protest. 

“I have no problem if someone wants to wear one, but people should not be forced to. We should be able to have our own health choice. We should be able to have an informed health choice. People should not make that for us. Because we are 16 to 18 year olds, we are becoming adults and it feels like they’re not really treating us as such by forcing us [to wear masks],” West said.

Senior Joey Grove is in agreement with West, and points towards possible mental health implications of wearing a mask as the primary negative consequence. Grove also believes that mask mandates prioritize the wrong focuses.

“The implications of wearing masks are real and I think it’s overlooked. I think that’s something people should consider when talking about this. It’s about social life,” Grove said. “We’re prioritizing the wrong thing. We’re prioritizing trying to stop the spread when we should really try to have a good immune reaction. We should be focusing on being healthy and going back to normal. We just need to learn how to get healthy and deal with the issue. We just need to learn how to deal with this new reality of the world.”

Grove feels that it should be up to each individual to decide whether or not they want to obey the mask mandates. For this reason, he will be participating in the Dec. 6 protest.

“I feel the need to say something because unless the students say something, then we’re gonna wear masks forever. It’s about time we stand up and do something. It’s been going on for too long. We can’t be wearing these masks the rest of our lives. I think that the more people that stand up, the more people will join,” Grove said. “I feel like a lot of people don’t want to wear masks, but they’re not going to take off their masks because they’re scared of the social implications. They don’t want people to look at them as bad people, but it’s bigger than that. We can’t just let society push us in this direction, even if we feel it’s wrong. I don’t think that anyone else should have the right to tell me what I can do with my body.”

In response to West’s announcement, several students voiced their opinions in opposition to the protest and to the anti-mask argument in general.

Senior Emily O’Connor was surprised that students were questioning the mask mandates since various mask mandates have been in effect all across the U.S since April 3, 2020.

“It seemed silly to even question still wearing masks, because we’ve been dealing with it for so long. Even though it is frustrating, there’s so much research that shows people are still getting really sick,” O’Connor said. 

Senior Lilly Blanton agrees that COVID-19 is an ongoing issue, and masks help to mitigate the problem. 

“I think [masks are] something that are very important and that help protect everyone because COVID-19 is a very important thing that’s still going on. We’re still in the middle of a global pandemic. There are still people dying every day from COVID. There are even new variants being discovered, so masks are so important,” Blanton said.

O’Connor believes that the population should listen first to state mandates and science, instead of opinions.

“We’re all high schoolers. Not very many people are doing their own research. I think the mandates are backed by science. Teenagers in high school probably don’t know more than the state representatives that are keeping track of [COVID-19] and making the mandates,” O’Connor said.

There is a lot of uncertainty regarding the next stages of the pandemic as new variants arise, such as the omicron variant which has been tracked in 17 states. Though masks were recently found to protect both the wearer and people in their proximity, senior Jack Gillespie is unsure of how COVID-19 will unfold.

“I think everyone’s sick of wearing masks, but we’ve just got to put up with it. I think [the pandemic] could honestly just go either way, depending on how many precautions people take. If people just don’t care, then it’ll probably get worse. But, if everyone is vigilant, then it’s probably going to get better,” Gillespie said. “Wearing masks isn’t to protect you. It’s to protect other people who could get sick from it because masks aren’t very effective at protecting the wearer. They’re about stopping the wearer from spreading [COVID-19].”

O’Connor feels her peers are not taking the pandemic seriously, and would advise against participating in the protest.

“[I would tell those participating in the Dec. 6 protest] to think outside of themselves and think about the people around them, especially people who live with their parents or with their grandparents or someone who could get sick easier. [Anti-maskers] don’t know who else they could be affecting because there’s so many people outside of just themselves or their friend group,” O’Connor said. “Think outside of yourself, not everything is about you. Your health and wellness affects other people even if you don’t think it does.”