Without question, the Durango School Board did the right thing in voting to have kids wear masks for in-person school and activities. I applaud that decision.
What was shameful was board president Kristen Smith's “ride-the-fence” statement to try to assuage the anti-mask voters: “I'm losing faith in science, as many of you have.” Kristen, what part about the science do you not get? Let's talk about that.
The virus is passed chiefly by being inhaled through the mouth or nose. Thanks to the delta variant, 15% of all COVID-19 cases are now kids. More kids who now get the virus are getting very sick, some even tragically dying.
Kids under 12 cannot yet be vaccinated. Parents want kids in school because last year proved some kids do not do that well in remote schooling. Add it up. What's left to try to stop the virus from getting into the nose/mouth? Like it or not, with the vaccine not yet approved for those under 12, it is a fact that pretty much the only protection for your kids – short of keeping them home – is a mask.
C'mon Kristen, it's time to think about the kids first before worrying about upsetting some of those who voted for you. Anti-vax and anti-maskers must understand: This has never about individual rights. It has always been about our collective responsibility to a society we all share. In a variation from Star Trek’s Dr. Spock, "The needs of the many outweigh the me-first desires of the few.“
Tom Wishon
Durango
