WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — Masks in schools have sparked debates around the country, and parents in Houston County are making their opinions known.
Veronica Davison says everyone should have a choice, and she chooses not to put her children in a mask.
"It's not your job to worry about my kid. God entrusted that child to me, my care, I'm to raise her. I don't need anybody else telling me how to do it," she said.
With an elementary and high-schooler, she says she's been at school-board meetings to stand for a choice.
"We just feel like we got to keep pushing, keep putting the pressure on because there's a lot of complaints coming from those who want to mandate masks," Davison said.
Meanwhile, Linda Durden, a mom, and nurse practitioner says mask up.
"We returned to school, and the numbers have been unequivocally rising. Our hospitals are full, our children are the ones at risk," she said.
Davison and other Houston County parents opposing masks started a petition.
So far, more than 800 people have signed it, but as a health professional, Durden says it concerns her.
"A lot of things on there are more emotional points than they are points actually based in the science, and we have to face this with actual facts. It's emotional for all of us that we're going through this but what we really have to take is a fact-based approach," Durden explained.
Davison says every family should choose for themselves.
"I'm not here to change other people's minds. That's up to them to decide if they want to use a mask and put their children in a mask but let me decide for my own," she said.
According to their records posted online, Houston County schools reported 57 student COVID-19 cases in the first week of school, more than 200 in the second, and 444 last week.