When students at a Utah high school heard about an anti-mask protest being planned by some parents, they took it upon themselves to rally together and speak out against what certainly had the potential to be a harmful demonstration.
As TODAY reported, the teens stood up at a football game held last Friday and spoke directly to those parents, imploring that they reconsider their protest plans.
Earlier that same day, members of the Washington County community stood outside Enterprise High School to object to the new mandatory mask policy.
Social media posts complaining about the policies had already begun circulating, with one reportedly encouraging fellow upset parents to commit to “No Mask Monday”.
“Do NOT send your kids to school with a mask,” the post allegedly read. “They cannot suspend the whole student body!”
Students at Enterprise became aware of the planned protest, and took it upon themselves to do something about it, fearing losing yet another school year.
During Friday night’s game, several teens lead by senior cheerleader Dallee Cobb, took to the football field while wearing face masks and addressed the people in the stands directly.
Armed with a microphone and flanked by her peers, Cobb looked up at the crowd and pleaded with them to save their school year by doing this “small, simple and selfless act”.
During her speech, Cobb reminded the audience of the effect the virus had on the 2019/2020 school year.
“We saw with the Class of 2020 how fast things we love can be taken away from us,” she said. “We, of all people, should know that wearing a mask is not fun. Neither is wearing a seat belt, or a life jacket, or pads for football, but we do all these things so that we have a future.”
“We ask that you put your mask on so that we can get our game on,” she continued. “I personally hate wearing this stupid thing, but you can bet I am doing whatever I can to be able to be here with my teammates and doing the things that I love.”
On Monday morning, students showed up to Enterprise High with masks on, proving Cobb’s passionate words had not fallen on deaf ears.
“It shows a lot of promise in the future. We’ve got great kids at Enterprise High School,” Principal Calvin Holt told KSL-TV . “We’re just happy to be back in school and we’ll do anything we can to stay here.”
Cobb’s dad said he was proud of his daughter, and of all the students who spoke out against their own community.
“I’m just proud that they were able to have the nerve to stand for what they believe in,” he told KSL-TV. “Regardless what my opinions are or anybody else in the community, I’m proud that they made a stand and they’re standing by it.”
He recorded his daughter’s speech and shared the video to Facebook where it’s currently been viewed over 10,000 times.
“This right here is 100% what it’s about,” he captioned the post . “If you don’t want to support our local teachers and administrators! Feel free to home school, send your kids to a private or charter school!”
“Don’t mess it up for our kids who choose to wear a mask and go to school and play sports!”
