After a smoky and dry summer and a year of pandemic shutdowns, we are (mostly) sending our kids back to school. But we’re not exactly sure what we are teaching them. We have mixed lessons about wearing a facial mask. Maybe they help limit the spread of coronavirus droplets, but do mandated masks violate our personal freedoms? At the same time, there’s an ironclad prohibition that no student may walk into a school barefooted. What’s the lesson here? Is it that risking the spread of a deadly virus is less serious than exposing one’s toes?
Some parents are protesting having their children tested for the COVID-19 virus. Are they also opposed to other mandatory school tests? Last we checked, students need a passing grade to get a diploma. It’s also been the law of the land for at least a century that every school-aged child is compelled to attend school on a regular basis.
We’re afraid there are many baffled adults right now that are confusing our children about how to make smart decisions, get along with others, act responsibly and behave like, well, “adults.” How did we get to this set of puzzling and displeasing circumstances? When did protecting the health and safety of others and ourselves become a threat to personal freedom? Why is there so much talk right now about the concept of a ‘social contract?’
All public Sonoma County schools require all students, teachers and staff to wear facemasks at school. Teachers must be vaccinated or submit to weekly COVID-19 testing. All county government employees, public safety and health care workers must be vaccinated. Dr. Sundari Mase, the county’s public health officer, has ordered all county residents to wear masks in all public places and private businesses are also required to enforce this order. Not everyone in the county likes these conditions of our social contract. Some people testified at a recent county supervisors’ meeting saying mask requirements violate their privacy and freedom of choice. Some parents are complaining that making their children wear a mask in school causes emotional harm and stigmatism.
The argument about why we all must wear seatbelts is popular right now, too. Are mandatory seatbelt laws meant to save our lives or the lives of others? Second-hand tobacco smoke is now illegal. All adults have absolute personal freedom to smoke tobacco or vape nicotine and die from cancer, but they can be fined for puffing in somebody else’s face or space. Why are employees that handle food in grocery stores or restaurants required to wash their hands? Is it to protect their own health or the health of others?
Let’s skip the obvious scientific arguments and research that COVID-19 vaccines and mask wearing saves lives. The evidence is overwhelming for all who choose to practice cognitive thinking — another basic lesson we want our children to learn.
Perhaps a more important lesson to learn right now is the difference between personal freedom and taking personal license. All of us not living a hermit or a cloistered existence are part of a social contract that comes with many mutual benefits including many liberties, assurances of safety and protection of property. But this contract also comes with restrictions on certain personal freedoms. We can’t hit or shoot other people. We can’t take things that don’t belong to us. We can’t slander or libel others without facing legal consequences. We’re supposed to obey ‘no trespassing’ signs and none of us are allowed to scream “fire” in a crowded theater. Not only do we have to wear shoes in schools, but almost all stores require both shirts and shoes.
All this anti-mask and anti-vaccine madness would just be a pile of silliness if it weren’t so dangerous. On our way to achieving herd immunity we have detoured into herd insanity and toxic ignorance. Is it still okay to wish others good health and, “have a nice day?”
