WATCH: PROF. GIORDANO: Indoor mask mandates on campus are ‘illogical’

As K-12 schools, colleges, and universities reinstate mask mandates, The National Desk recently shared an interview with Campus Reform Higher Education Fellow Nicholas Giordano about the issue.

The National Desk’s coverage comes as schools and universities, including Paterson Public Schools in New Jersey and the University of Massachusetts Boston, begin the New Year by reinstating indoor masking.  

Giordano appeared on The National Desk shortly after the State University of New York (SUNY) at Purchase reinstated masking. He argued “that masking ‘inhibits the learning environment in the classroom’” because his students were more likely to engage with one another without the mask requirement. 

[RELATED: College reintroduces indoor masking as rest of university system sticks with ‘advisory’]

“In school, you’re going to have to wear a mask, but when you go to a shopping mall or a grocery store, well, then you don’t have to wear a mask even though you’re surrounded by people,” Giordano told The National Desk. “It’s illogical.” 

The National Desk asked Giordano about the K-12 learning losses measured by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), or “The Nation’s Report Card.” A Stanford economist predicted that the decline in eighth grade math scores will result in the average student earning 5.6 percent less over his or her lifetime, Campus Reform reported. 

“The lockdowns increased the academic achievement gap,” Giordano argued. 

[RELATED: Campus Countdown: SUNY reintroduces indoor mask mandate]

He shared potential solutions to close the gap. 

“What we need is stronger curricul[a],” Giordano said. Schools “cycled through” struggling students, but Giordano told The National Desk that schools should “expand the school year” for a short period.  

Watch the full video above.