On Thursday September 2nd, the Seminole County school board met to decide if masks should be mandatory for the rest of the school year. Unsurprisingly, it was extremely controversial. According to the Orlando Sentinel and Yahoo Finance, one parent from Apopka was escorted out of the building and another going as far to declare that vaccines were “a Deep State conspiracy by scientists who want to depopulate us.” Unlike nearby Orange County, the board eventually voted 3-1 to let parents choose whether their kids wore a mask.

The pros of wearing a mask is that although it’s not 100% effective, it does help slow down the spread of COVID. However, some parents including those at the board meeting complained that being forced to wear a mask took away their personal freedoms. They also complained that it could scare small children and also make it hard to breathe. I predicted that most LMHS students would be against a countywide mask mandate, but a few days after the board meeting I decided to interview some students to see what they thought about the decision.

A student named Hadyn claimed that “there should be a mandate if the students wear it correctly.” Personally I can relate to this because many students who do wear a mask don’t cover their nose, which is one of the most important parts to cover. I’ve also seen some students who wear masks that have a ton of gaps and don’t cover their face properly at all.

Boone, a sophmore, claimed that “masks should be optional, because there would be tons of protests if they weren’t.” Regardless of what you think of his opinion, it’s definitely true that masks are very controversial, just check out the footage from the latest Seminole County board meeting.

So what do you guys think about a mask mandate returning? Leave a comment down below if you want to share your thoughts.