Is it time to have the difficult conversation about masks and MCPS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some people seem to be in denial about the new reality.

Seat belts are forever.
Air bags are forever.
Safety helmets are forever.
Heck, even Driver's Licenses are forever.

As long as Covid is a "thing" - don't understand why anyone is against wearing a mask? Apparently wearing masks not only works, but I'll bet you saw an overall drop in sick-days from the flu and other airborne-transmittable diseases. You seem to believe that covid is "over" in the U.S., or perhaps that there's a magic shield that separates Montgomery County from the rest of reality?

What is amazing is this desperate, almost incomprehensible push to unmask BEFORE all U.S. children are vaccinated? Why is that? Why would someone be so absolutely desperate to push for unmasking U.S. children (a) prior to full U.S. vaccination and, (b) just before cold and flu season set in?

Please explain. Would like to hear the very detailed rationale that doesn't involve self-absorbed vanity, support of political propaganda prior to mid-term elections, or someone just trying to do harm to this country?

+1 It seems entirely prudent to wait until the children actually have access to the vaccine to make any broad decisions about this. We also don’t need to have a million speculative discussions prior. Let’s see how vax roll out and uptake goes, what rates look like locally once most/all families have had a reasonable chance to seek a vaccine for their children and then go from there. It is not hard to change the mandate when the time comes. It makes no sense at all to unmask randomly right now before children can be vaccinated. Especially when these long quarantines are still in place so even a mild or asymptomatic case is quite inconvenient and disruptive.

Well said.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some people seem to be in denial about the new reality.

Seat belts are forever.
Air bags are forever.
Safety helmets are forever.
Heck, even Driver's Licenses are forever.

As long as Covid is a "thing" - don't understand why anyone is against wearing a mask? Apparently wearing masks not only works, but I'll bet you saw an overall drop in sick-days from the flu and other airborne-transmittable diseases. You seem to believe that covid is "over" in the U.S., or perhaps that there's a magic shield that separates Montgomery County from the rest of reality?

What is amazing is this desperate, almost incomprehensible push to unmask BEFORE all U.S. children are vaccinated? Why is that? Why would someone be so absolutely desperate to push for unmasking U.S. children (a) prior to full U.S. vaccination and, (b) just before cold and flu season set in?

Please explain. Would like to hear the very detailed rationale that doesn't involve self-absorbed vanity, support of political propaganda prior to mid-term elections, or someone just trying to do harm to this country?

We didn't introduce masks in the first place to protect kids. It was to protect old and sick people who are at much, much greater risk than kids. Given that COVID is roughly as severe at the flu in kids, and we didn't mask during flu season before, why would mask for COVID now?

If someone does not want to have their kid wear a mask, keep them home. Simple.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This has gotten really off track. I'd like to start a new thread on the topic of masking, but the moderators stopped one that another person started a few days ago becuase this thread was created for that purpose. I would really like to see the state (and then MCPS) to back off the mask mandate in schools as soon as our younger students have the opportunity to be two weeks past their second vaccination. I don't see the point of everyone getting vaccinated if we are not able to live our lives unmasked afterward. We are one of, if not most highly vaccinated counties in the nation. It's time to move past the restrictions and put this behind us. Yes, there will still be cases of Covid here and there, but not enough to warrant an entire population of vaccination having to mask for an indeterminate amount of time.

I agree that this thread got totally off track, but honestly, no mask thread ever stays on track. It devolves every time by incoherent, irrational people on all sides. As the mother of a hearing-impaired child, I would love a conversation about when classrooms can be mask-free, but some people just aren’t ready to even have the conversation.

I mean, the obvious answer is, "When children aged 5-11 get vaccinated," but the majority of people aren't planning to get their children aged 5-11 vaccinated...

Most people WILL get their kids vaccinated but they want to know the short and long term issues before getting it. The sample size of the study was 1500 kids so very small.

The test size is reasonable. The question is not is there any risk to getting the vax, but rather is the risk of the vax greater than the risk associated with contracting covid? We already know the vax is safe with kids aged 12 and up with millions of vaccinations given. That and the recent study for 5-11 gave the FDA confidence.

There are issues that have come up with the vaccine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some people seem to be in denial about the new reality.

Seat belts are forever.
Air bags are forever.
Safety helmets are forever.
Heck, even Driver's Licenses are forever.

As long as Covid is a "thing" - don't understand why anyone is against wearing a mask? Apparently wearing masks not only works, but I'll bet you saw an overall drop in sick-days from the flu and other airborne-transmittable diseases. You seem to believe that covid is "over" in the U.S., or perhaps that there's a magic shield that separates Montgomery County from the rest of reality?

What is amazing is this desperate, almost incomprehensible push to unmask BEFORE all U.S. children are vaccinated? Why is that? Why would someone be so absolutely desperate to push for unmasking U.S. children (a) prior to full U.S. vaccination and, (b) just before cold and flu season set in?

Please explain. Would like to hear the very detailed rationale that doesn't involve self-absorbed vanity, support of political propaganda prior to mid-term elections, or someone just trying to do harm to this country?

Covid is never going to stop being a "thing." Are you going to wear a mask forever? Many people who aren't you, won't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This has gotten really off track. I'd like to start a new thread on the topic of masking, but the moderators stopped one that another person started a few days ago becuase this thread was created for that purpose. I would really like to see the state (and then MCPS) to back off the mask mandate in schools as soon as our younger students have the opportunity to be two weeks past their second vaccination. I don't see the point of everyone getting vaccinated if we are not able to live our lives unmasked afterward. We are one of, if not most highly vaccinated counties in the nation. It's time to move past the restrictions and put this behind us. Yes, there will still be cases of Covid here and there, but not enough to warrant an entire population of vaccination having to mask for an indeterminate amount of time.

I agree that this thread got totally off track, but honestly, no mask thread ever stays on track. It devolves every time by incoherent, irrational people on all sides. As the mother of a hearing-impaired child, I would love a conversation about when classrooms can be mask-free, but some people just aren’t ready to even have the conversation.

I mean, the obvious answer is, "When children aged 5-11 get vaccinated," but the majority of people aren't planning to get their children aged 5-11 vaccinated...

Most people WILL get their kids vaccinated but they want to know the short and long term issues before getting it. The sample size of the study was 1500 kids so very small.

The test size is reasonable. The question is not is there any risk to getting the vax, but rather is the risk of the vax greater than the risk associated with contracting covid? We already know the vax is safe with kids aged 12 and up with millions of vaccinations given. That and the recent study for 5-11 gave the FDA confidence.

There are issues that have come up with the vaccine.

This sentence doesn’t mean anything. The Pfizer vaccine was approved by FDA. Stop fear mongering.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some people seem to be in denial about the new reality.

Seat belts are forever.
Air bags are forever.
Safety helmets are forever.
Heck, even Driver's Licenses are forever.

As long as Covid is a "thing" - don't understand why anyone is against wearing a mask? Apparently wearing masks not only works, but I'll bet you saw an overall drop in sick-days from the flu and other airborne-transmittable diseases. You seem to believe that covid is "over" in the U.S., or perhaps that there's a magic shield that separates Montgomery County from the rest of reality?

What is amazing is this desperate, almost incomprehensible push to unmask BEFORE all U.S. children are vaccinated? Why is that? Why would someone be so absolutely desperate to push for unmasking U.S. children (a) prior to full U.S. vaccination and, (b) just before cold and flu season set in?

Please explain. Would like to hear the very detailed rationale that doesn't involve self-absorbed vanity, support of political propaganda prior to mid-term elections, or someone just trying to do harm to this country?

Covid is never going to stop being a "thing." Are you going to wear a mask forever? Many people who aren't you, won't.

Lol, did you leave your house this weekend? Everyone in the county had masks on when they didn’t have to. Get used to the new normal.

[Anonymous]

I am a SAHM with a HS kid. We all are vaccinated, we mask everywhere. My DH has a cushy. secure and well paying job and he can work from home. If a variation of COVID spreads again, we will be minimally impacted, just like we were least impacted when MCPS was doing remote learning.

There are tons of households that are hanging on by a thread and will suffer if the school closes. I think we should continue with masking and vaccinating (also boosters), so that we are as safe as we can be.

Masks are not hard. Being isolated during the pandemic was hard. Lets all help out the businesses and restaurants, lets help the office, schools open - just wear the darn masks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some people seem to be in denial about the new reality.

Seat belts are forever.
Air bags are forever.
Safety helmets are forever.
Heck, even Driver's Licenses are forever.

As long as Covid is a "thing" - don't understand why anyone is against wearing a mask? Apparently wearing masks not only works, but I'll bet you saw an overall drop in sick-days from the flu and other airborne-transmittable diseases. You seem to believe that covid is "over" in the U.S., or perhaps that there's a magic shield that separates Montgomery County from the rest of reality?

What is amazing is this desperate, almost incomprehensible push to unmask BEFORE all U.S. children are vaccinated? Why is that? Why would someone be so absolutely desperate to push for unmasking U.S. children (a) prior to full U.S. vaccination and, (b) just before cold and flu season set in?

Please explain. Would like to hear the very detailed rationale that doesn't involve self-absorbed vanity, support of political propaganda prior to mid-term elections, or someone just trying to do harm to this country?

+1 It seems entirely prudent to wait until the children actually have access to the vaccine to make any broad decisions about this. We also don’t need to have a million speculative discussions prior. Let’s see how vax roll out and uptake goes, what rates look like locally once most/all families have had a reasonable chance to seek a vaccine for their children and then go from there. It is not hard to change the mandate when the time comes. It makes no sense at all to unmask randomly right now before children can be vaccinated. Especially when these long quarantines are still in place so even a mild or asymptomatic case is quite inconvenient and disruptive.

Well said.

Any Russian troll can come and spread fake news that wearing masks is a bad thing and the deplorables will believe them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some people seem to be in denial about the new reality.

Seat belts are forever.
Air bags are forever.
Safety helmets are forever.
Heck, even Driver's Licenses are forever.

As long as Covid is a "thing" - don't understand why anyone is against wearing a mask? Apparently wearing masks not only works, but I'll bet you saw an overall drop in sick-days from the flu and other airborne-transmittable diseases. You seem to believe that covid is "over" in the U.S., or perhaps that there's a magic shield that separates Montgomery County from the rest of reality?

What is amazing is this desperate, almost incomprehensible push to unmask BEFORE all U.S. children are vaccinated? Why is that? Why would someone be so absolutely desperate to push for unmasking U.S. children (a) prior to full U.S. vaccination and, (b) just before cold and flu season set in?

Please explain. Would like to hear the very detailed rationale that doesn't involve self-absorbed vanity, support of political propaganda prior to mid-term elections, or someone just trying to do harm to this country?

Covid is never going to stop being a "thing." Are you going to wear a mask forever? Many people who aren't you, won't.

Lol, did you leave your house this weekend? Everyone in the county had masks on when they didn’t have to. Get used to the new normal.

There is a huge difference between wearing masks FOR NOW and wearing masks FOREVER.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 7th grader DS completely surprised me yesterday when we discussed this topic. I was disappointed MCPS didnt lift mask guidelines at least in secondary schools. and his reaction was: "are you nuts? That was totally the right call. With over a thousand kids stuffed into small spaces, masks are a necessity". I guess masks are not stifling his development.

Agree but it impinges on the Freedom of Trumpublicans (who are paid posters that don't live in MoCo).

The people complaining are then unofficial trumpers as they live in MoCo and pretend to be liberals who care about others.

This. I can’t help but wonder if the OP is one of the Margery Smelkinson groupies who are essentially no-nothing Trumpers who use her science background as a cloak for the GOP anti mask / anti vaccine / anti any sensible precaution against the spread of covid.

Schools without masks are closing all over the south. Entire districts have closed schools in Texas and Florida (both states who are anti masks in school) due to the spread of covid. MCPS has remained open and yes, while not perfect, has managed to navigate the first two months fairly well.


Masks are literally not a big deal but these anti maskers are more invested in cultish politics than the safety of our kids and keeping schools safe and open.

Come on, OP is probably smelkinson herself. They are a ridiculous group of people who think they are smarter than they actually are and hide behind their educational titles in order to get others to follow their ridiculous narratives. They’d love you to believe students in MoCo are killing themselves on an hourly basis, all learned absolutely nothing last year, are miserable in masks, and will never recover from last year. They are the worst kind of people pretending to be the best. Luckily, the majority of MoCo residents aren’t as stupid as they wish we were and see them from what they truly are. “Everyone’s laughing at us…” no, Margery. Everyone is laughing at you and your cronies though.

But at least Kara mcnulty finally has some “friends.”

I support wearing masks but am firmly in the anti-bullying camp, so the people who are making these disparaging comments about Margery and Kara, neither of whom I even know, actually turn me off and seem more Trumpian than those 2 individuals do.

I agree. I'm in a lot of groups that have overlap, and they post in them. I always get uncomfortable on DCUM when people start smearing them, especially Margery. To be honest, sometimes it feels pretty anti-Semitic too

But we should let this anonymous message board be anonymous. Or, if you are going to put one of these people (who are not paid, btw. These are parent volunteers) on blast, sign the post with your real name.

They have the guts to go out in public and put their name and face behind their opinion Have the courage to do the same

Completely agree! Especially how this one poster plays with Margery’s last name is anti-Semitic. But wait a few minutes and this poster is going to come back and say that she is Jewish and can say whatever.

Not the poster youre referring to, but as Jewish woman, its hardly anti-Semitic to call out a woman's actions who have nothing to do with religion. Are you really this stupid? Smelkinson has bizarre views and wants you all to agree with her bc she's a scientist in education. I know plenty of people at the NIH who do not agree with her.

Just the fact that you called an internet stranger stupid gives you away as that vile poster who keeps twisting Margery’s last name. I guess the fact that she wanted her four elementary school aged kids in actual school is bizarre to you but it’s not bizarre to the rest of world. What have you done to get the kids back to school? Oh, wait you stopped the spread by using Instacart.

Good one. Are you a member of her cult? At the NIH, we are just waiting for her to get fired. Sorry your leader isn't as competent as you think. Her views are definitely bizarre to the community that can actually think for themselves. I'm sure she'll be glad she has a cheerleader though. Yikes.

Lol.. do we work in the same department? The fact is… she’s a microscopist… the lowest of the low here and she parades her title around like she’s important. She definitely calls any news show that will listen to her insane rants. We all just grab popcorn. The fact any of you take her seriously is comical.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some people seem to be in denial about the new reality.

Seat belts are forever.
Air bags are forever.
Safety helmets are forever.
Heck, even Driver's Licenses are forever.

As long as Covid is a "thing" - don't understand why anyone is against wearing a mask? Apparently wearing masks not only works, but I'll bet you saw an overall drop in sick-days from the flu and other airborne-transmittable diseases. You seem to believe that covid is "over" in the U.S., or perhaps that there's a magic shield that separates Montgomery County from the rest of reality?

What is amazing is this desperate, almost incomprehensible push to unmask BEFORE all U.S. children are vaccinated? Why is that? Why would someone be so absolutely desperate to push for unmasking U.S. children (a) prior to full U.S. vaccination and, (b) just before cold and flu season set in?

Please explain. Would like to hear the very detailed rationale that doesn't involve self-absorbed vanity, support of political propaganda prior to mid-term elections, or someone just trying to do harm to this country?

Covid is never going to stop being a "thing." Are you going to wear a mask forever? Many people who aren't you, won't.

NP here. Most of the people we know will continue to wear masks. I think the "remove-masks-now" people are Russian trolls. Who else would want US to fail?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some people seem to be in denial about the new reality.

Seat belts are forever.
Air bags are forever.
Safety helmets are forever.
Heck, even Driver's Licenses are forever.

As long as Covid is a "thing" - don't understand why anyone is against wearing a mask? Apparently wearing masks not only works, but I'll bet you saw an overall drop in sick-days from the flu and other airborne-transmittable diseases. You seem to believe that covid is "over" in the U.S., or perhaps that there's a magic shield that separates Montgomery County from the rest of reality?

What is amazing is this desperate, almost incomprehensible push to unmask BEFORE all U.S. children are vaccinated? Why is that? Why would someone be so absolutely desperate to push for unmasking U.S. children (a) prior to full U.S. vaccination and, (b) just before cold and flu season set in?

Please explain. Would like to hear the very detailed rationale that doesn't involve self-absorbed vanity, support of political propaganda prior to mid-term elections, or someone just trying to do harm to this country?

Covid is never going to stop being a "thing." Are you going to wear a mask forever? Many people who aren't you, won't.

NP here. Most of the people we know will continue to wear masks. I think the "remove-masks-now" people are Russian trolls. Who else would want US to fail?

N Korea?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some people seem to be in denial about the new reality.

Seat belts are forever.
Air bags are forever.
Safety helmets are forever.
Heck, even Driver's Licenses are forever.

As long as Covid is a "thing" - don't understand why anyone is against wearing a mask? Apparently wearing masks not only works, but I'll bet you saw an overall drop in sick-days from the flu and other airborne-transmittable diseases. You seem to believe that covid is "over" in the U.S., or perhaps that there's a magic shield that separates Montgomery County from the rest of reality?

What is amazing is this desperate, almost incomprehensible push to unmask BEFORE all U.S. children are vaccinated? Why is that? Why would someone be so absolutely desperate to push for unmasking U.S. children (a) prior to full U.S. vaccination and, (b) just before cold and flu season set in?

Please explain. Would like to hear the very detailed rationale that doesn't involve self-absorbed vanity, support of political propaganda prior to mid-term elections, or someone just trying to do harm to this country?

Covid is never going to stop being a "thing." Are you going to wear a mask forever? Many people who aren't you, won't.

NP here. Most of the people we know will continue to wear masks. I think the "remove-masks-now" people are Russian trolls. Who else would want US to fail?

Until when?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This has gotten really off track. I'd like to start a new thread on the topic of masking, but the moderators stopped one that another person started a few days ago becuase this thread was created for that purpose. I would really like to see the state (and then MCPS) to back off the mask mandate in schools as soon as our younger students have the opportunity to be two weeks past their second vaccination. I don't see the point of everyone getting vaccinated if we are not able to live our lives unmasked afterward. We are one of, if not most highly vaccinated counties in the nation. It's time to move past the restrictions and put this behind us. Yes, there will still be cases of Covid here and there, but not enough to warrant an entire population of vaccination having to mask for an indeterminate amount of time.

I agree that this thread got totally off track, but honestly, no mask thread ever stays on track. It devolves every time by incoherent, irrational people on all sides. As the mother of a hearing-impaired child, I would love a conversation about when classrooms can be mask-free, but some people just aren’t ready to even have the conversation.

I mean, the obvious answer is, "When children aged 5-11 get vaccinated," but the majority of people aren't planning to get their children aged 5-11 vaccinated...

Most people WILL get their kids vaccinated but they want to know the short and long term issues before getting it. The sample size of the study was 1500 kids so very small.

The test size is reasonable. The question is not is there any risk to getting the vax, but rather is the risk of the vax greater than the risk associated with contracting covid? We already know the vax is safe with kids aged 12 and up with millions of vaccinations given. That and the recent study for 5-11 gave the FDA confidence.

There are issues that have come up with the vaccine.

But are the risks of the vaccine greater than the risks of contracting covid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some people seem to be in denial about the new reality.

Seat belts are forever.
Air bags are forever.
Safety helmets are forever.
Heck, even Driver's Licenses are forever.

As long as Covid is a "thing" - don't understand why anyone is against wearing a mask? Apparently wearing masks not only works, but I'll bet you saw an overall drop in sick-days from the flu and other airborne-transmittable diseases. You seem to believe that covid is "over" in the U.S., or perhaps that there's a magic shield that separates Montgomery County from the rest of reality?

What is amazing is this desperate, almost incomprehensible push to unmask BEFORE all U.S. children are vaccinated? Why is that? Why would someone be so absolutely desperate to push for unmasking U.S. children (a) prior to full U.S. vaccination and, (b) just before cold and flu season set in?

Please explain. Would like to hear the very detailed rationale that doesn't involve self-absorbed vanity, support of political propaganda prior to mid-term elections, or someone just trying to do harm to this country?

Covid is never going to stop being a "thing." Are you going to wear a mask forever? Many people who aren't you, won't.

NP here. Most of the people we know will continue to wear masks. I think the "remove-masks-now" people are Russian trolls. Who else would want US to fail?

You do know that the Russian Trolls pretend to be BLM as much as they pretend to be MAGA, right?

They don't care about sides of an issue as long as they are sowing discontent.

It would be just as reasonable to accuse the mask-forever posts of being Russian Trolls (though the reality is that DCUM isn't worth trolling by Russia)