Written by the Beverly Media Group Editorial Board

“Put your mask over your nose.” 

“Masks don’t belong on your chin.” 

“Where is your mask?”

 These are the things we’ve heard teachers say countless times, but why should they have to? It is not hard to keep yourself accountable. Wear your mask. Pick up your trash. Be respectful. Yes, these are difficult, unprecedented times. However, that is not an excuse to be inconsiderate to the people around you, both at school and outside of school. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still recommend that people should wear masks indoors to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and its variants. The pandemic is not over. With the emergence of the Omnicron variant, students need to be more cautious and considerate toward others. Recently, the variant was detected in California, so as a student body, we need to protect ourselves and others by practicing safe practices, like wearing a mask over the nose. Our teachers shouldn’t have to tell us to do this–we should want to do it for our own safety and the safety of our fellow students. 

Click on the graphic below to view the effects of COVID-19 on the human body.

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Respect does not just apply to wearing a mask and following safe COVID protocols. Respect also applies to picking up after yourself during school. Leaving trash has become a conspicuous problem, as the trash around campus unmistakably belongs to students. It’s time to step up and pick up after ourselves. The custodian should not have extra work today because of inconsiderate people. It’s not the teachers’ responsibility to pick up after us either.

 Let’s do better.