What’s the logic behind asking even vaccinated adolescents and adults to mask? First, it recognizes that we’re still concerned that vaccinated people may occasionally be able to transmit the virus, and that any school that includes children under 12 will have a large unvaccinated and therefore vulnerable population. Vaccinated people wear masks to help protect their community — and to grant themselves an addition layer of protection against breakthrough infections in the setting of the highly transmissible delta variant. Yes, they’re kept overwhelmingly safe by their vaccines, and they may choose to go without masks in other settings, but when you’re trying to open schools safely in a pandemic, you take every extra precaution, and you’re grateful for every additional degree of safety. Especially when the layer of protection is so cheap and easy, as masks are.

Second, having everyone wear masks takes away the burden of verifying who is actually vaccinated and enforcing mask mandates on some people but not others. Schools won’t have to single out particular students or teachers. No one will have to feel self-conscious about wearing a mask, because masks will be the norm. They won’t be a badge of your immune status; they’ll be a sign of your commitment to keeping everyone — including yourself — uninfected and safe.

A masked classroom will be a safer classroom, and children, who have been coping with anxiety and stress all through the pandemic, will be able to understand that.