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Readers Respond

How many children will be hurt by maskless, in-person learning? | READER COMMENTARY

For The Baltimore Sun
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Roxana Weeks, 8, and sister Farah, 4, stand with their family as students and parents gather outside the Governor's Mansion to urge Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to drop his opposition to public school mask mandates, Monday, Aug. 16, 2021, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Roxana Weeks, 8, and sister Farah, 4, stand with their family as students and parents gather outside the Governor's Mansion to urge Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to drop his opposition to public school mask mandates, Monday, Aug. 16, 2021, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) (Eric Gay/AP)

What has changed since COVID-19 hit the United States? Adults and now kids over 12 have gotten vaccinated and we better understand the modes of transmission. We also understand the role of masks. Wearing them and staying socially distanced helps everyone.

But despite this, we now are poised to send kids back to schools even though many are not eligible for the vaccine and even more will likely not get it due to parental concerns, medical issues or misinformation. Not much has changed for our youngest except now we have a couple of variants that appear to be even more of a threat than why we closed schools in the first place (”Maryland Dept. of Education ‘strongly recommends’ masking in schools. Half of school systems say it will be optional,” Aug. 13).

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As an educator for over 30 years and a parent, I get that kids need to be in school. What they have lost thus far is nearly impossible to measure. But we have the capacity to send them back in a hybrid model that, while inconvenient, still worked last year. I guess that lesson was lost.

It’s a shame that humans are such slow learners, gullible to conspiracy theories and so easily threatened when told what to do — like to wear a mask to save lives.

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It really does not appear we have really learned much at all and I feel for the innocents who cannot get vaccinated but are being sent back to school. Does anyone want to bet we make it though the school year in-person? How many will we have to lose before we learn that lesson?

Tito Baca, Columbia

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