Rhea County High School Photos Go Viral After Students Return With No Social Distancing, Masks

Another high school is going viral after photos surfaced of students’ return to the classroom, which showed no social distancing between teens and little to no masks.

The school in the photos, which was identified as Rhea County High School in Evensville, Tennessee, had students return for their first full day of in-person classes on Monday, and according to local affiliate NBC station WRCBtv, masks were not required of students or teachers at the school. However, that policy, which was known prior to everyone coming back into the building, didn’t stop photos of the crowded hallways from going viral.

One image in particular, which gained traction on Reddit, showed crowds of students gathered together in a hallway at the school, with only a couple clearly wearing masks and none standing six feet apart, as recommended by social distancing guidelines.

Many commented on the photo on the site, indicating that the school said they couldn’t enforce a mask-wearing policy, and some called the statement out, recalling times in their own high schools where other dress code policies were enforced.

“I got sent home in high school for wearing shorts above the knee, too provocative for the boys I guess,” one commented.

“I was literally on the news in high school for refusing to tuck in my shirt. It made the news. Like TV news. This mask thing is absurd,” another added.

“Now is the perfect time for kids to wear whatever they want to school,” someone else chimed in. “The principles are saying that they can’t make people wear masks, If that’s the case then they can’t make students adhere to the dress code either. The schools can’t have it both ways.”

However, many associated with the school expressed that they didn’t feel concerned about the situation, telling WRCB that they didn’t think there was a problem with what was going on in the school.

“I feel just as safe there as I do anywhere else,” 11th-grade student Allison Prescott said.

The photos of Rhea County come just one week after another photo went viral of crowded hallways at North Paulding High School in Dallas, Georgia, which saw the student who posted the image initially suspended for sharing the image online. That school has since shut down all in-person classes, following nine positive COVID-19 tests amongst students and staff.