Shortly after Dr. Bonnie Henry issued the order restricting socializing only to people in one鈥檚 home, a Grade 11 student asked, 鈥淲hy can鈥檛 I have a couple of friends over to watch a movie, but I can sit in this classroom with 26 strangers?鈥�
I wanted to say, 鈥淲ell, in schools, we sprinkle the rooms with pixie dust and pump unicorn breath through the ventilation so we can all be safe鈥� (which is the closest approximation that I can come to for Dr. Henry鈥檚 explanations why schools are 鈥渄ifferent鈥�) but instead, I bit my tongue and said, 鈥淚 have no idea, but I鈥檇 suggest you wear a mask as much as possible and wash your hands regularly.鈥� Only days later, we had our third and fourth exposures at Howe Sound Secondary.
Schools, apparently, aren鈥檛 magical.
To be clear, HSS has had no transmission of the coronavirus, as far as we know. The students who have tested positive have caught it from friends and family outside of the building. But teenagers and adolescents can, and do, test positive, get sick, and shed virus. The question isn鈥檛 if we will have a transmission at HSS, but rather when will it happen and how quickly it will be caught. So far, we鈥檝e been lucky.
Yes, schools are controlled environments insofar as the same people, more or less, are there every day. Some upgraded safety measures have also been put in place including staggered breaks and mandatory mask-wearing in high-traffic areas. But within the classroom, there鈥檚 no requirement to wear masks, so students and teachers can use them at their discretion.
Now that the public health officer has done an about-face and decided that mask-wearing indoors is, in fact, an important health measure, I have to ask the obvious question: why not in school? Why not in my classroom?
Does anyone else see the irony that on the same day that The 麻豆社国产 ran Dr. Henry鈥檚 op-ed piece about why mask-wearing shouldn鈥檛 be mandated, mask-wearing was mandated? I鈥檓 losing my faith in the good doctor鈥檚 judgment. This kind of 鈥済as lighting鈥澛� makes me insane, and her repeated caveat, 鈥渆xcept in schools,鈥� is, similarily, driving me crazy.
Although my classroom is indoors and a workspace and tightly packed, it鈥檚 a school so it鈥檚 exempt.聽 So I walk in every day, knock on wood, throw some salt over my shoulder, spin around three times, and spit. Remember that there鈥檚 magic in this place, I think to myself, then I put on my mask and hope to God she鈥檚 right.
Paul Demers is a long-time 麻豆社国产local and high school teacher.
