While masks used to be for Halloween, we now have to wear masks everywhere we go.

 Masks are an important thing to us right now during these times. Wearing them helps stop the spread of the coronavirus. English teacher Eric Dixon said wearing masks is important because “There are many people in the community that are essential and therefore forced to work. I want to help protect them by masking up.” 

When wearing masks first became mandatory a lot of people could not find any and if they did they were super expensive. The ones that were mostly being sold at first were the blue surgical masks. 

 Now, both disposable and reusable masks are available almost everywhere., and even brands like Victoria Secret, Skims, and Gap are selling masks. 

People slowly started to make masks at home with their own fabrics. Some even started selling the masks that they made. In an informal survey of 775 students and staff members, 13.4% of people who said that they make their own masks. But only 2.8% of them sell the masks that they make.

51.2% of people said they wear cloth masks, 36.4% use surgical masks, and 4% use N95 masks. Cloth masks seem to be more popular since those are reusable. Steven Salinas, a tenth grader, said, “My favorite mask is the cloth mask because it is reusable and you don’t have to buy more.” People tend to like cloth masks more because they like that they can always reuse them and because cloth ones can have designs on them.

Despite the mandate to wear masks, only 47% of the people said that they like wearing masks. Jazmine Sanchez, a sophomore, said, “I still wear them because I want to keep others and myself safe.” Gadiel Barbieri, a ninth-grader, said, “I like to wear them for safety reasons.” 

Many people like to feel that they are being safe and responsible by wearing masks. People who said they don’t like wearing them said it was because “it gets hot and my glasses get foggy” and also because “it’s hard to breathe.” 

It’s better to wear masks that fit right than ones that don’t fit and are too tight or too loose. In the survey, Emily Gomez Martinez, a sophomore, said, “I do like the ones that don’t tug on my ears.” 

Since masks are now becoming a part of our everyday outfits since we always have to wear them. Alondra Rodriguez-Mendoza, grade 12, said, “My favorite mask is a black cloth one because it matches with all of my outfits.” 

People in the survey said that they feel “uncomfortable” and “unsafe” when people don’t wear masks the right way. Valeria Lice, a freshman, said “People who don’t wear masks or don’t wear them correctly embarrass and anger me.” Some say that wearing surgical masks or N95 masks makes them feel more safe than if they were to wear cloth masks. Jose Barron, a senior, said “I like the n95 because they make me feel the safest compared to the other type of face masks”. Yet junior Genesis Lope said she prefers “cloth with a filter, It just feels better and it’s probably a bit safer.” 

Regardless of how you feel about masks, they are here for the foreseeable future and in order to keep each other safe, people need to wear them and wear them correctly