My name is Erin Jasper and I am now a senior at Milford High School. On July 14, 2020, the governor of New Hampshire, Chris Sununu, hosted a press conference, where he released New Hampshire’s back to school COVID-19 guidelines. As a freshly out of quarantine high school student, I take issue with these “guidelines”.

Sununu stated that students will not be required to wear masks in schools, however, they are encouraged. The governor recommended that inside the classroom(s), desks need to be placed 3-6 feet apart. These guidelines threaten the lives of all New Hampshire students. Masks have been proven to slow the spread of COVID-19. Allowing students to do without masks in school is a horrible idea because we have not seen our classmates since late March, and we have not been quarantining all together. The majority of us are going to be excited to see our classmates again, but how is administration going to enforce social distancing, especially in the hallways? Under these circumstances, wearing masks has proven to be the only option. Imagine how high the number of cases in NH will reach when we all interact together at once.

Secondly, if desks are only 3 feet apart, students will have a higher risk of contracting COVID-19 through coughing, spit droplets, sneezing, etc. The virus can be spread by people who do not even have symptoms, so not properly social distancing inside the classroom will continue to spread the virus.

To prevent the spread of COVID-19, Chris Sununu needs to mandate a law that requires masks to be worn in all New Hampshire schools. If masks are not required to be worn in NH schools, then COVID-19 will continue to spread. These guidelines make light of how serious the virus is. Considering all of the deaths that COVID-19 has caused (and will continue to cause if masks are not required to be worn in schools), I would hope that Chris Sununu would care more about New Hampshire’s students and teachers.

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