MONTOURSVILLE, Pa. — Parents and children in the Montoursville Area School District want to make their voices heard. A protest against Pennsylvania's new school mask mandate was recently held outside the high school. The mask mandate requires all children and faculty to wear a mask when inside a school.
"We are protesting this mask mandate that has been forced on our kids here in school. They should not have to wear a mask if they don't want to," said Gallahad Mallery of Montoursville.
"I think it shouldn't be allowed because it is hard to breathe in them as it is," said Makayla Berninger, a student a Montoursville Area High School.
A few students at the high school walked out of class to join the protest. They believe the mask mandate that went into place at midnight is infringing upon their rights.
"We were trying to walk to our class, and the principal told us that we had to go to his office if we weren't going to wear a mask, and I told him no and that I am not wearing one," said Berninger.
Only students with a signed medical exemption from a physician can attend school in the Montoursville Area School District without a mask. Some parents believe that the decision should come down to them and their children.
"For parents that think it is important for their kids to wear a mask or even get a vaccine at some point, that is their choice, and that is their right. But it is also the right to parents that do not want masks and do not want vaccines as well," said Mallery.
"What we would really prefer is to have it be parental consent because no one knows their kid better than a parent and have control over whether they wear a mask or not," said Sharon Meyer of Montoursville.
According to the district, any student who shows up to school without a mask and refuses to wear one must wait outside for their parents to pick them up.