Having just spent the last week among my colleagues, I am truly noticing some masked hostilities. To me, masks should be easy. You either like them or you don't, but you wear them. Period. In my county, it is still the law and a fine worthy offense. Personally, I don't like being told what to do. I especially don't prefer the government to decide what I will be doing. (If you think of it in terms of cigarettes or alcohol or obesity, many resist the government determining that they should not be allowed to participate in those events without sanctions. This is a universal, common response. "No one is going to tell me what to do. I have rights. I have a choice. If I want to be fat, have lung cancer, be buzzed or whatever, that is my choice. It's my life.") We recognize that in some instances, the majority rules (seatbelts buckled in the car --click it or ticket) things that are determined to be unsafe. Your capacity to choose is limited by the government's capacity to mandate. It's part of living in society. That said, I am a mask wearer. I'm not really sure that it is a difference maker, but if it is, I've done my part. I definitely recognize that people should have the right to choose what they want to do for themselves. They make their own health decisions. However, the powers that be in my county have declared that the right to be mask free on your face ends at the need for your neighbor to be face free. So, we wear a mask.
My school (and likely yours as well) has a mixture of people who vary on what kids should be doing and what adults should be doing relative to the masks. People think they don't want their children wearing a mask because it is bad for their health to breath in the air that way. Other people don't want to send their children unless everyone is mask up at all times. Both think and say, "It's so simple. Why don't they just do (fill in the blank, but whatever they do.) It feels a little hostile.
Masked hostilities seem to be broader spread than the current pandemic. People can barely have a different view about anything without becoming angry or dismissive or rude. I don't want to be disrespectful, but in the scheme of things, I think our behavior and attitude is posing a greater danger to our children than the state of the mask. We have to find a way to differ in opinion and approach without resorting to demeaning comments or stuffing an angry response behind a huff. I may not like your approach, but I'm going to have to trust that together we can come to a point of behaving civilly and operating together successfully.
So, some of the big bruhaha was the handling of the rights of students and parents. Those who chose to remain home need equity with those at school. If we have sports, the home students need to be able to participate. If we do a socially distant activity, we have to include the home student. If one student's parent has dictated that the student is to wear a mask at all times, and another student's parent does not want them to wear a mask when they are seated six feet from everyone else, whose need will supersede? (To be clear, my school is trying to honor everyone's view, and it has created some hairy discussions.) Some of the teachers are not sending their kids to campus, while others have their kids on campus.
My thought process is this. We have always had to accommodate differing views and expectations in our classrooms. I will do my best to help everyone have what they need without the educational component suffering. I feel we spent so much time getting ready for the germs that we have forgotten to get ready for the people coming to our classes, and we've forgotten to be mindful that other people don't have to be 100% wrong if they have a variant view. It is too much to expect us to be able to determine what is the best approach. Even the experts differ among themselves.
If I have a student with peanut allergies, I have him sit with kids who do not have peanut butter for lunch. Depending upon the severity, I may have to ask all students to withdraw PBJ from their lunch bringing rotation. If I have a student with lice, we have procedures. If I have a student with severe asthma, I ask the classmates not to spray their cologne or bath and body spray indoors. We have always done a good job at making room for people with needs different from the group.
This is no different. Perhaps the stakes are higher in some ways, but I don't want to have a community where we are free from COVID, but also free from civility. We can, and should, do better. So, Monday is the influx of students (well, maybe a drizzle of students), and I hope to model civility and kindness from behind my mask.
Comments
Post a Comment