Shared Values

Amid these restrictions on freedom, I’d like to mention some things community members are free to do: voice their opinions in a public forum, like a school board meeting; write to leaders whose decisions they find concerning; and gather in protest to unite their voices. America is not totalitarian. As many people have said in the past few months, we live in a free country, and that’s a saying I endorse. (How free? Well, we’re tied with the UK for the 17th spot on the Human Freedom Index, which isn’t half bad.)

Anti-maskers are valid in harboring concerns over pandemic restrictions. It has been a tumultuous, scary time. Over the past year and a half, we’ve had to do a lot of things we’d rather not: stay in our homes, limit our gatherings, and wear face coverings. We’ve been bombarded with a great deal of new information and have watched the world painfully transform. 

The recurring sentiment—on both sides—has been that everyone just wants the best for their children, and I believe that. As someone who is not a parent, I concede that I don’t understand what it’s like to be concerned about a child’s wellbeing at this level. 

And if there is one thing we can all agree upon, it is that everyone is exhausted, upset, and in mourning for what we’ve lost during the past year and a half, whether that’s our normal lives, our jobs, our education, our health, or our loved ones. We all just want to get out of this thing—this thing that has killed over 5 million people at this point. But we need to find a way to agree upon essential tenets of our society in order to find solutions and rebuild.

With Governor Wolf’s recent announcement that schools will be able to determine their own masking policies by January 17th, as well as the recent challenge to the statewide mandate, this issue has not lost its relevance. And the broader questions—about freedom, about truth—will never lose their relevance.

I would not like this article to be construed as a device meant to sow division. I believe that to move forward from this pandemic, we have to find a way to unite. But we need to unite over facts and shared values. That is an immense challenge, but I have faith that we can to rise to it.

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Editors’ note: All opinions expressed on The Uproar are a reflection solely of the beliefs of the bylined author and not the journalism program at NASH.  We continue to welcome school-appropriate comments and guest articles.