It doesn’t matter if it is in school or a restaurant or a store. Masks are everywhere and it doesn’t matter where at least one person has one and everyone has an opinion about them.

In the Wentzville School District, masks are not mandatory, but should we start wearing masks with cases slowly coming up again? Covid-19 is a respiratory illness and it’s somewhat similar to `the flu and there are some big differences to tell them apart like loss of taste and smell. 

According to the CDC, Covid-19 spreads more easily than the flu, but we already have the vaccine for Covid-19 and it is supposed to slow the spread of Covid. Some similarities are coughing, sore throat and headaches, but Covid has over a 99% survival rate.

 When people do research, they see nothing about flu cases anymore and everything is Covid. The flu has been around for at least 1,500 years and we never had to wear a mask for that.

COVID-19 has been around for over two years and the outbreak started last year. Everywhere had to shut down because of it.

 “I don’t want to wear them they are uncomfortable and no one wears them right,” Brad Dodd (’24) said.

In the U.S., the percentage of positive cases is around 10% but is going up. Wearing a mask is a choice and shouldn’t be forced on kids to wear in a building that they are made to go to every day. 

Wearing a mask in school is not a bad thing, but in the Wentzville School District, it isn’t forced. Some schools are not that lucky. 

Here, most of the students don’t wear a mask and many say that isn’t safe, but others say it is like the common flu and we shouldn’t have to quarantine for something like the flu. 

But with all the facts, for now, the choice is up to you. Should we wear a mask or not?  It’s your prerogative.