Dozens of students in Alberta walked out of their classrooms Monday afternoon to protest the government’s decision to lift a mask mandate in schools.
Samuel Clark, a 17-year-old co-organizer of the protest, said some students gathered at the Alberta legislature in Edmonton because they are discouraged and disturbed “to think that so many people and their parents are more concerned about the cloth on their face than protecting their peers and teachers.”
“I have many friends who are immunocompromised and they are terrified. They are in Grade 12 and they really need to be at school this year to make sure they do well in some of these classes for university applications.”
Students in K-12 grade schools are no longer required to wear face coverings following an announcement by Premier Jason Kenney last week that the province would lift all pandemic restrictions in the coming weeks if COVID-19 indicators remain stable or trend downward.
Also, children 12 and under also don’t have to wear masks in any setting.
Clark said 80 per cent of students in his rural Alberta class were unmasked during an afternoon lesson on the first day the change kicked in
“I just felt like I was enclosed in. The premier needs to take care of students in this province,” he said.
Toby Maltais, a co-organizer of the protest who uses a gender-neutral pronoun, said they were diagnosed with a disease two years ago that left them immunocompromised.
“I’ve stopped eating at school to protect myself and my family,” the 17-year-old told the crowd of protesters.
“I’m so confused about how this decision was even made. It is heartbreaking to know my premier is bending a knee to the people that have no empathy toward me and my fellow immunocompromised people.”
It also remains a question if there might be more incidents of bullying in schools based on who does and doesn’t wear a mask. Wing li with the Support Our Students Alberta says the sudden nature of this change has created a tough choice for some.
She says this will add stress to parents and teachers as well and it might add the need for additional education on the nature of how COVID-19 spreads
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Earlier in the day, the Alberta Federation of Labour, on behalf of five parents with immunocompromised children, had argued a request for an emergency injunction to keep masks in place.
Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Grant Dunlop, saying there was ”no evidence of irreparable harm,” dismissed the application. Lawyers representing the union and the parents said they were planning to submit another request.
The union was also challenging Education Minister Adrianna LaGrange’s announcement that it’s now illegal for school boards to bring in their own rules to override the province.
“Removing universal masking in schools forces many children to choose between their education and their health and in some cases, their life,” Sharon Roberts, a lawyer representing the union, said in a statement.
Kenney took to Twitter to say he was content with the judge’s decision.
“Pleased to report that the Court of QB just threw-out the ridiculous application by the NDP Labour Federation to force kids to wear masks indefinitely,” his tweet said.
Although some have welcomed the step towards the removal of masking requirements after a two-year hiatus of kids going to school with their faces covered, others have adjusted to the new normal and they are anxious and worried over what may become a controversial and contested political issue.
Teachers will have the option of not wearing a mask if a province-wide mandate lifts as planned March 1. That’s when remaining school requirements, such as students having to remain with their cohort group, are also to end.
