'It's kind of nonsense': Summit County kids weigh in on debate over masks in schools

Nicholas Reese, 18, front, and Amaree Clark, 17, in their language arts class Friday at North High School.

As debate rages at school board meetings and over social media about whether kids in schools should have to wear masks to help stop the spread of COVID-19, one voice is often left out or drowned out — the kids'. 

The debate has grown contentious, even when kids are involved in the conversation. A boy in Tennessee was heckled at a school board meeting last week while talking about his grandmother, who died of COVID-19. 

Across the county, masks are required in 11 out of 17 public school districts, although only Akron Public Schools opened the year requiring everyone to wear a mask. Others have implemented mask mandates after large numbers of students and staff had to quarantine because they were exposed and not wearing a mask. 

Summit County students have weighed in on social media, with many advocating from both sides of the mask debate. An Instagram post from Stow-Munroe Falls schools telling students they would have to wear masks garnered more than 600 comments, including ones from students expressing frustration that they got vaccinated to avoid wearing a mask and now have to wear one anyway. Others insisted it's not that big of a deal.  

Students interviewed by the Beacon Journal said they agree with adults that masks aren't much fun. But they understand their importance, and if it's a matter of staying in school with a mask or risk being sent back to remote learning, many said they choose the masks. 

Here's what they had to say about the issue. (Note, some students or their parents asked to be identified by their first names only.)

Nicholas Reese and Amaree Clark, seniors, North High School, Akron Public Schools

North High School students Nicholas Reese and Amaree Clark want just one thing for their senior year: To be able to stay in school. 

They both spent their entire junior years learning from home — and hating it. Nicholas said he had a hard time focusing. 

"The way my brain works," Nicholas said, "I have to be in a work environment."

Nicholas Reese, 18, is a senior at Akron North High School.

They stayed home even when the district allowed them to return to in-person learning in March, because they felt like it was too late in the year to come back and change schedules and teachers. 

Now that they are back, they want to stay there. They both feel hey had taken for granted the opportunity to be in school five days a week. 

"It's like, such a relief, because I get to be in person with my teachers and I get to see my friends and I don't have to stay in my room all day," Amaree said. 

Amaree Clark, 17, is a senior at Akron North High School.

If staying in school means wearing masks all day, they are more than happy with that trade-off and don't understand why the issue has become contentious.

"All you have to do is put a piece of cloth over your face," Nicholas said. "I don't get why that's so big of a problem."

That do understand, however, how uncomfortable it can be to wear a mask all day — especially because their school has no air conditioning. 

Nicholas said he agrees with mandating masks, but also believes better air ventilation should be a requirement. His first day, he said, it was so hot in his chemistry classroom with the mask on that he had a hard time concentrating. 

Both Nicholas and Amaree said they are vaccinated, so they aren't worried they will get sick. But they do worry about family members who are more vulnerable if they are exposed to COVID-19. 

"I don't want to bring that back home," Amaree said. 

Alex and Braden, sixth graders, Green Intermediate School

Both Alex and Braden wear their masks at school, though sometimes with difficulty. Alex rarely forgets to wear his, but Braden admits he isn't perfect when it comes to remembering to put a mask back on right after lunch and recess.

The masks hurt their ears at times, they said, but the brothers understand why it's important they wear them.

"It blocks stuff from coming out of your mouth and nose, germs," Braden explained. "So, it will block it since COVID-19 is something that spreads in the air, it affects your lungs, so the masks help prevent it from spreading that way."

Braden and his brother said they once believed their masks only protected themselves and that they would be unaffected if others didn't wear a mask. Now they know otherwise and are grateful that their school recently switched from an optional to a mandatory mask policy.

"I used to think that I was protected by my own mask, and I am a little bit, but it's good that they're mandating masks," Braden said.

Not all the twins' classmates share that opinion, they said. Many, Alex said, don't like wearing the masks and some attempted to get out of wearing one when the school announced they would be mandatory.

"Some kids claim they actually weaken your immune system, but I disagree with that. It's kind of nonsense," Alex said. "I think they were trying to get out of wearing the mask because they don't like it, so they were trying to make that excuse."

Alex and Braden said if they were old enough, they would like to be vaccinated.

"If I could choose, I would [get vaccinated] because when I'm 12 years old I'm going to be able to go places being protected because I know the vaccine, for certain variants, the main one, can help prevent it from spreading to people," Braden said. "It can also lower your risk of being hospitalized."

Skyy Richards, eighth grader, Hyre Community Learning Center, Akron Public Schools

Skyy Richards's mask for the first day of school was black and blue and sparkly and had her name on it, a homemade gift from a family friend. 

But by Day 2, she found she could breathe better in a paper mask, so she swapped out the fancy one. 

"Sometimes my voice gets scratchy from wearing it a lot," the Hyre CLC eighth grader said. 

But she knows why she has to wear it anyway. 

"COVID is still out here, and it's a lot," she said. 

Online learning, which in Akron schools was most of last school year, was hard, Skyy said. 

"We couldn't see the teachers face-to-face," she said, adding she felt like she couldn't get help as easily as she could in-person.

If the choice is between having to wear a mask or risk being quarantined away from school, Skyy said she much prefers the mask. 

"I would prefer to wear a mask so we don’t have to go back (remote) because online was really hard," she said. 

As much as she doesn't like wearing one, Skyy said she's glad it's mandatory. 

"If it was optional, not a lot of kids would wear a mask," she said. 

Kids aren't perfect with them, she said, and sometimes pick at them or touch their faces a lot to adjust them. But in general, she said, students got used to them. 

Kids also know the delta variant is putting them at a higher risk of getting sick from COVID-19, she said. 

"It's spreading to kids and younger adults quicker, so I feel like it is a big deal" to wear a mask, she said. 

Ryan Haupt, 17, senior, Tallmadge High School

Tallmadge High School started the year as mask optional, but Superintendent Steve Wood instituted a district-wide, four-week mask mandate effective Aug. 30, just two weeks after starting the semester. The elementary and middle school had an opt-out policy.

Senior Ryan Haupt, 17, estimated that 80% to 90% of students, himself included, were not wearing masks initially. He said he did not feel there was any social stigma around choosing to wear a mask or not.

"I was really happy when I found out masks were going to be optional because I thought that meant we’d have a normal year, and I was hoping to get back to normal," Ryan said. "That’s what everyone's looking for here: normalcy."

Haupt estimated that 80% to 90% of students, himself included, were not wearing masks initially. Haupt said he finds masks annoying because "you can't see people's faces and it's harder to breathe in them."

Once masks were mandated, Haupt said students were compliant, but he and his friends were disappointed by the change.

"It's upsetting and it's annoying, but it's only for a few weeks as of right now," he said. "It shouldn't be too bad."

Contact education reporter Jennifer Pignolet at jpignolet@gannett.com, at 330-996-3216 or on Twitter @JenPignolet. Contact Tawney Beans at tbeans@gannett.com, and Krista Kano at kkano@gannett.com.