From 30 November 2021, there are some places where you must wear a face covering by law, such as public transport, shops, auction houses, post offices and many more, but a very big change is the enforcement of masks in schools again. As of the 30th of November students have been advised  to wear masks in communal areas, as are staff and visitors at all schools and childcare settings. But the real question is how will this affect students? Will students feel comfortable and happy to wear a mask around school?

Many students may feel comfortable enough and not mind this new law and may even wear a face mask in the classroom, however many students don’t feel the same way with many saying it is giving them déjà vu to the beginning of last year which then led to a lockdown and that school was there time to socialise with peers without having to constantly worry about the spread of covid and wearing a mask. This freedom has now been taken away from students. Inaya Salam said “I don’t like wearing a mask in school as it gets hot and uncomfortable I don’t understand how wearing a mask in communal areas and then not wearing a mask in classrooms will have an impact on Covid when we are all mixing anyways, a different approach should be taken to tackle Covid.” However some students have had a different opinion Angel Mukoro said “I think it’s important to ensure that our school says open  instead of going back into another lockdown, where we might miss out on important parts of our education, like we did last year.” Many students are conflicted on their opinion of face masks in school, however the government should really question how this new law will affect the mental health and emotional well-being of students.