Photo: Getty Images
One Las Vegas first grader followed his mom's instructions to stay masked up at school and went viral in the process.
Six-year-old Mason Peoples was camera-ready on picture day, sporting a face mask in pictures, following mom's directions to the tee.
"I'm so proud of him for sticking to his word, but I should have been more clear about my rules on this day," Nicole Peoples, Mason's mom, wrote on Facebook.
She revealed the youngster was given the option to take off his mask for the picture, but politely declined.
"No, thank you," Mason told the photographer, "I always listen to my mom!"
Mason isn't the first child to pose with their face mask, according to Good Morning America, who spoke with Matthew Comfort, branch manager for Dorian Studio, the studio that took photos at Mason's school.
"We've taken hundreds and hundreds of students this fall wearing masks," Comfort told the outlet. "It's not an isolated incident."
Comfort said the studio first asks schools if they want to give kids the option to remove the masks for photos, and if so, the photographer gives each student the option to leave it on or not.
"If students don't want to [remove their mask] because of safety concerns, we don't push them," Comfort said. "[The photographer] did exactly what she was supposed to do."
Mason's viral school picture is a sign of the times as children enter the third school year impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.
According to CDC guidelines, masks should be worn in schools by everyone regardless of vaccination status.
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