Mikayla Smith is a freshman high school student from Oklahoma who had undergone a tonsils removal surgery just recently. Since she still had scabs in her throat, her mother bought her a mask because she feared the girl could be exposed to germs when around other students.
After Mikayla entered the school wearing the mask, school officials asked her to remove it because it violated the dress code policy.
When she got home that day telling her mom what had happened, she got really frustrated. After trying to explain the officials how her daughter wore the mask as a health precaution, she was told the rules said no masks allowed.
Mikayla’s mom asked to review the school’s handbook, but she didn’t find any written policy regarding wearing medical masks during lesson time. Meanwhile, Mikayla was removed from classes.
The school then told the Smiths how they would offer Mikayla an actual medical mask, as the one she already had apparently wasn’t used for medical purposes.
“A medical mask has three layers including a paper filter. The district health coordinator provided a box of surgical grade medical masks to help protect the student from sickness. A ‘rave’ mask is just cloth, similar to pulling a t-shirt over your mouth. It won’t protect from germs. When a judgement is to be made regarding distractive items or dress code, a site principal will make the decision. Mid-Del Schools provided a medical mask for a student to wear while at school.”
The mom didn’t want to accept what the school had to offer, so she called the local news outlet instead and hoped her story would spread. Her purpose was to change the school policies regarding wearing medical masks.
Many people do wear masks when they feel threatened by viruses, or when they are sick and don’t want to spread the germs on others. These masks, however, are thin and usually white or light blue in color. Mikayla’s mask was thicker and black. Her mom also admitted how she was the one to decide her daughter should wear a mask. The girl wasn’t advised to do so by the doctor.
In cases wearing a mask is prescribed by a doctor, then teachers and students should get clearance from school administrators. It’s unclear whether the Smiths asked for one before Mikayla went to school with her mask that day.
You can take a look at the whole story in the video below.
Do you think she should have been allowed to wear the mask? What are your thoughts on wearing medical masks at school or in the public places?