Wearing a mask is extremely important. Not only are you protecting yourself, but others around you. Why take the chance of abusing that? Well, you shouldn’t.

Walking down the hall of Crofton High School, it’s no secret that some did not get the memo on how to wear a mask. Your ears are not a hook that your mask can just hang on. Your mask is not a headband or a bandana. Masks are made to protect your entire face. No, they don’t go under your nose, or above your mouth, but are supposed to entirely cover your face. Your nose and mouth should not be visible, only showing your eyes. 

The reason for this being so difficult is beyond me; it is not that hard to put a cloth on your face in order to save people’s lives. Refusing to wear a mask or wearing a mask incorrectly on purpose is as overwhelmingly selfish as it is annoying. 

COVID-19 is a respiratory illness, which means it can be transmitted through your mouth and your nose. 

According to discovermagazine.com, the CDC states that wearing a mask that exposes your nose is extremely dangerous. The nose is one of the easier places to attract illnesses. Breathing uncovered air through your nose can cause the cells in your nose to pick up bacteria and spread throughout the body. 

It may seem like nothing, but considering you can contract the disease solely through your nose, it may be a good idea to cover it up so you protect yourself and so that no one else has to breathe in your air that could be potentially sick. 

Believe me, I don’t like wearing them any more than you do. The difference between me and people who think it is a joke is exactly that. The masks get on my last nerve; I feel cut off socially, it is hard to talk, and it is just frustrating. But I keep it on my face because I know I’m keeping people from dying. I am helping people survive one day at a time, by putting a designed piece of pink silky fabric on. 

And for me, preventing people from dying is enough to put up with a minor annoyance.