Common Ground Seniors Launch #MaskUpNHV

Common Ground High School seniors unveiled a fashionable fix designed to slow the spread of Covid-19: a social media mask-wearing campaign in which young people show off their favorite face coverings, and encourage their peers to do the same.

A half-dozen seniors from the West Rock environmental charter school joined Mayor Justin Elicker and city Health Director Maritza Bond Wednesday morning to announce the launch of that campaign during the city’s latest Covid-19 virtual presser, which was held online via Zoom and YouTube Live.

The campaign is called #MaskUpNHV.

Pioneered by Common Ground seniors in collaboration with the city’s Health Department, the campaign encourages young people from across the city to post a picture of themselves wearing their favorite masks on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, wherever.

Along with that face-covered selfie, young people should use the hashtag #MaskUpNHV, tag the city’s Health Department @nhpublichealth, and include a few words on why they think it’s important to mask-up during the ongoing pandemic.

“Us teenagers, we use social media a lot,” Common Ground student Dayanara Chacon said during Wednesday’s presser. And what she and her peers see all too often is images of social media influencers partying as if Covid-19 does not exist.

This social media campaign strives to flip that script, she said, by showing young people wearing masks — over their mouths and noses — as a demonstration of one simple, and even fashionable, way that they can do their part to slow the spread of the virus.

“Having teenagers like us say, yeah, this is a problem we have to take seriously” may do the trick to get fellow young New Haveners on board with mask wearing. ​“I look ten times better with this,” she said with a (masked) smile as she donned a white face covering. ​“Masks can really change the fashion industry.”

Her classmate Sierra Vazquez (pictured), who first approached her teacher and school mentor Emily Schmidt with the mask-campaign idea earlier this fall, agreed.

“Social media is such a large platform, and it’s easy to spread the word on things,” she said. ​“Everybody’s on their phone, checking their Instagram, their TikTok. It’s a daily thing. If others can see how important it is, they’ll understand why we’re doing what we’re doing.”

During Wednesday’s press conference, Common Ground students spoke about more than just the new social media campaign. They also opened up about how Covid has affected them personally, at school and at home, and has motivated them to ramp up outreach to fellow young people about the importance of doing anything they can to stem the spread of the virus.

Emalee Ocasio (pictured) said her grades have dropped since classes moved online, in large part because ​“I’ve had so much going on with my mom and babysitting kids in the family.”

She said her mom has Lupis, and is therefore particularly vulnerable to suffering severely if she contracts Covid-19.

“I’ve just been on the edge about everything,” Ocasio said. ​“It’s a really stressful situation. It’s been hard.”

Ebriana Eden (pictured) said she’s around very young children all the time at home. She said she’s worried that young people she knows don’t take Covid seriously, go out in groups without wearing masks, and might inadvertently transmit the virus to others.

She said wearing a mask helps her feel a bit more confident that she won’t accidentally bring the virus home and spread it to her family.

“I’ve seen the major toll it’s taken on the whole community,” Vazquez said. ​“We’re losing family members.” She said the pandemic has upended every aspect of students’ lives, from going to school in-person, seeing family members, working part-time jobs, and seeing friends.

“Coronavirus has kind of disrupted it” she said. ​“It’s hard. Coronavirus is taking over.”

Thus the new social-media campaign, added Chacon.

“Most teenagers, they just want to hang out with their friends,” she said. ​“This Covid thing is really bumming them out. And when they do hang out, they forget about rules.”

She urged her peers to remember to keep a social distance of at least six feet from others when out in public. And to always wear a mask when around others.

“Even if it may not affects us,” she said about the coronavirus, ​“we can give it to our loved ones.”

For months, public health experts have promoted mask wearing as one of the most effective tools for deterring the spread of the novel coronavirus. The state requires residents to wear masks whenever out in public and unable to maintain at least a six-foot distance from others.

This new social media campaign follows up on the city’s billboard promotions this spring that showed prominent New Haveners wearing masks and encouraging others to do the same. Ad it comes soon after the city scrapped plans to launch a ​“mask census” whereby volunteers or city staffers would gather data on mask compliance at bus stops, train stations, and entrances to buildings.