OPINIONS

Opinion Wearing your mask is the right thing to do

Despite the debate, science agrees that mask wearing is crucial to the prevention of the spread of COVID-19

Kaitlyn Wenzel Staff Writer

COVID-19 has been a very large obstacle in people’s lives worldwide and has caused division due to beliefs in the virus itself — especially the ways to prevent the virus. Though it is also encouraged to stay at home as much as possible, the most encouraged and common method to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is to wear a mask when leaving home.

The correct use of masks to correctly prevent the spread of COVID is to cover both the nose and mouth — it is not as effective to keep the nose out of the mask. However, though masks are highly encouraged from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, many Americans either refuse to put the mask over their nose, or not even wear masks at all despite the fact that masks have proven to be highly effective.

Masks act as a small barrier that, according to the CDC, “.help prevent respiratory droplets from traveling into the air and onto other people when the person wearing the masks coughs, sneezes, talks, or raises their voice.” The CDC also states that this is called source control.

Masks can allow people to be social, to a certain degree, while remaining safe. Then the main issue regarding masks, is just the fact that some people don’t wear them which clearly presents them as selfish. Even if one doesn’t believe masks work, or that the virus is total bogus — both of which is incorrect — they don’t take into consideration the fact that people around them might believe the opposite.

The people that aren’t wearing masks are putting others around them at risk. They don’t know if the total strangers around them, such as a grocery store, could be highly at risk even if they don’t look like it. Even if they are wearing the masks, it is still best for you yourself to wear a mask to try to eliminate the risk even more in case you are carrying the virus and aren’t quite aware of it.

Many people that don’t wear masks commonly believe that masks don’t help. People have posted videos of using spray bottles to mask and showing how “it is still leaking through” when in reality, people don’t sneeze like a full powered spray bottle. Too many people have tried to debunk the fact whether masks work or not to the point where it seems as though they would rather wear nothing to protect themselves at all.

Not only that, but they assume that masks are considered to be a cure and prevent the virus 100%. In reality, even with masks it can be spread, but it’s still 10 times more safer to wear them anyways.

Overall, masks have helped with preventing the spread of COVID-19, and if citizens around the world would listen to CDC recommendations, stay inside, and wear masks correctly when leaving the house, the world as a whole can get through these rough times faster, and safer.

Being a teenager is already stressful enough, and the pressure added by the pandemic has made it so much worse. When parents add to this stress by being too pushy, research shows that it can have a particularly negative effect for a teenager.

Photo By: Kennedy Tetour

Parents just don’t understand Opinion

During the pandemic, students have struggled with school, mental health, and their number one stressor: satisfying parents

Kyla Henige

A student wakes up to his alarm at 8:30 a.m., waking him up for his first class of the day starting at 9. While going through the school day, the student stresses about all his homework, helping his parents with younger siblings, and going to work right after school. The student arrives home from a late night shift only to get lectured by his parents about how his grades are “unacceptable” and he “doesn’t try hard enough,” leaving him more stressed, and putting more pressure on him, leading him to overwork himself.

In the words of Will Smith, a famous singer, songwriter and actor, “Parents just don’t understand.” Many people have parents who are on top of them for their grades, work, effort, and activeness. But, in the midst of a pandemic, parents seem to be harder on their children not realizing the circumstances they are working under.

According to an article published by the Society for Research in Child Development, overbearing parents are doing their children more harm than good. “Parents, educators, and clinicians should be aware of how parents’ attempts to control teens may actually stunt their progress,” says Emily Loeb, postdoctoral researcher at the University of Virginia, who was the lead author on the study. “This style of parenting likely creates more than a temporary setback for adolescent development because it interferes with the key task of developing autonomy at a critical period.”

The article later goes on to explain that this behavior by parents is “unhealthy” and “manipulative”. Further, it’s stated that, “Children whose parents use this tactic tend to have problems such as lower grades and lower self-esteem, likely because the children are discouraged from asserting themselves and gaining independence.” It’s very clear that the enormous amount of stress and pressure put onto children slows them down, by degrading them and making them believe that they aren’t good enough.

But grades and school aren’t the only things that parents are pushy about. Many parents expect their children to help with chores or even babysitting during or after school. Now, chores are understandable, but in the middle of school or after when you have loads of homework can be a little over the top — especially in the middle of a

pandemic where everything is online and it’s already hard to pay attention, let alone have to get up and leave the class to do chores and babysit. Yes, a majority of parents work from home in today’s society due to the fact that there’s a pandemic, so it’s good to help once in a while, but all the time is a bit excessive.

Lastly, parents expect their kids to do more than they can handle. An informal Instagram polls suggested that 89% of students have jobs to attend after school, and of that 89%, 62% said that on top of work, they are pressured and expected to stay up late after work doing school, cleaning, and anything else to satisfy their parents. This behavior is extremely unhealthy, especially for young adolescents, because their brains are still developing, so there is a lot of stress, anxiety and other factors that can play in, such as depression. Students shouldn’t be overworked, especially in the midst of a pandemic, where they already struggle with so many things such as school.

When parents take extra steps to punish their kids for struggling with these changes, it can deteriorate relationships between the children and parents. Parents are an essential part of shaping their children’s life, but not by force, rather by being there for them and supporting them. When a child-parent relationship is falling apart, it can be hard to build up, leaving the child to potentially rebel or not succeed as much. Many students grow up trying to be independent because of this, and it can hurt them in the long run.

Parents want what’s best for their kids, but there is a fine line between wanting what’s best, and being overbearing. Society is changing, and it’s hard for everyone to adapt, but students shouldn’t feel overwhelmed and as if they aren’t good enough because of their parents. Rather, they should feel supported and loved by their parents, and parents should be giving off that love and support that is essential to kids at such a young age, as they develop.