In addition to masks, schools should mandate helmets. Too many kids get hurt on the playground. According to the CDC, every year more than 200,000 children ages 14 and younger go to emergency departments for playground-related injuries. By contrast, also according to the CDC, less than 11,000 children ages 17 and younger have been hospitalized for COVID-19 during the entire 2 and ½ years of the pandemic.

Don’t worry about kids resisting this new mandate. They’ve dutifully worn their masks and I’m sure they’ll dutifully wear their helmets. If some of them do complain, remind them that they, as children, have a duty to society to keep themselves out of the hospital.