The state's Department of Education revised its face covering policy for the upcoming school year this week, and now requires that children ages 2 or older wear masks during the school day.

This is a good thing.

The policy stipulates that students must wear masks during the school day, and that the only exceptions are when they are eating or drinking at least 6 feet apart, when wearing a mask creates an unsafe condition for operating equipment or completing a task or during “face covering breaks” that follow social distancing guidelines and last no longer than 10 minutes.

The department's exemptions include students with documented medical or mental conditions or disabilities that prevent them from wearing masks.

The policy is likely to be met with some praise and some derision among parents. Some parents will feel safer knowing there is less of a chance that other students will breathe germs onto their child. Others might not like the idea of their child having to wear a mask all day.

That's understandable, but forcing students to wear masks when returning to school — which will be among the most prominent examples of large groups of people congregating since the state shut down due to COVID-19 — could go a long way in preventing the state from seeing a spike in cases this fall. Even before COVID-19 uprooted our way of life, most people knew that children are among the fastest spreaders of germs.

Although it's likely that families have changed modes of behavior during the pandemic, many parents can attest that it takes a long time to instill in their children the importance of covering their mouths when they cough or sneeze.

When at school, children often don't wash their hands as much as they should, and crowded schools can act as incubators for germs that spread quickly through the population.

That being said, teachers will be expected to ensure that students are engaging in safer germ-reducing practices, especially washing hands, in the wake of the pandemic. But it's difficult to keep track of the actions of hundreds of students at all times.

Therefore, the Department of Education's face covering rules are a means of ensuring that germs stay inside a student's mask, rather than floating through the air and infecting others.

In the event that COVID-19 cases tick upward this fall, any policy providing protection for children is welcome.

— NCD