March 12 marked the date that people can give up masks indoors in Los Angeles County regardless of their vaccination status. This means that unvaccinated students don’t have to continue to wear masks indoors. Neither does anyone else.
The news has brightened the mood of students tired of wearing masks. The mood at my school since the announcement has definitely been full of good vibes (https://www.mostlyblogging.com/good-vibes-quotes/).
However, the Los Angeles Unified School District, the second largest school district in the country, has not yet announced whether it will comply.
Apparently, teachers are concerned about the relaxation in procedure, and UTLA, one of the biggest unions in the country, has yet to vote on whether they are willing to forego the masks indoors.
Did the Los Angeles Unified School District relax the mask-wearing requirement outdoors?
Yes! Teachers did not vote on whether they were fine with foregoing masks outdoors. Perhaps this is due to the fact that mask-wearing outdoors was optional.
I am a teacher at a school in the Los Angeles Unified School District. I am vaccinated and boostered, but I know not everyone is. Covid tests are given weekly, but none of the students are required to be vaccinated or boostered.
Do I wear my mask outdoors? Sometimes.
When I am late and walk quickly, I breathe heavier. Power walking is easier for me without wearing a mask.
When I walk across campus without a mask and greet my students who I see around campus, I am happy that they can finally see me, their teacher, without a mask.
I have a new-found appreciation for being able to see smiles. I want my students to know that they matter. How can I show them, “You matter,” without smiling at them (https://www.mostlyblogging.com/you-matter/)?
I try to give them encouraging messages (https://www.mostlyblogging.com/quotes-for-students-from-teachers/) in other ways. For instance, I give “two thumbs up” in lieu of a smile.
Why not just stay safe and keep masks on indoors? Are there more advantages to removing masks indoors? Yes.
Parents struggle to find masks that fit. Even when the school supplies the masks, the students are still so young that the masks slip down.
Wrapping Up
This situation offers more questions than it answers:
Will students and teachers be allowed to take off masks indoors?
Will UTLA, the teachers’ union, have a say?
Will mask-wearing indoors be optional just like mask-wearing outdoors?
On Monday, now that March 12 has passed, will students finally be able to see their teachers smile?
Life is beautiful (https://www.mostlyblogging.com/life-is-beautiful-quotes/) even if we have to go through life masked. Will life be more beautiful on Monday now that March 12 has passed? That remains to be seen.
Janice Wald is the founder of MostlyBlogging.com and co-founder of the Mostly Blogging Academy. She is an ebook author, blogger, blogging coach, blogging judge, freelance writer, and speaker. She won the Best Internet Marketer Award and the Best Blogger Award at the 2021 Infinity Blog Awards. Wald was also nominated as 2019 Best Internet Marketer by the Infinity Blog Awards and in 2017 as the Most Informative Blogger by the London Bloggers Bash. She’s been featured on Small Business Trends, the Huffington Post, and Lifehack.