Parents weigh in on returning to school amid COVID-19 - CBS News poll

As the school year gets underway, a majority of parents nationwide support requiring students to wear masks, as most express at least some concern about their children contracting the coronavirus at school. Parents are split, however, on whether schools should require vaccines for children currently eligible to get one, but those most concerned about their kids getting the virus overwhelmingly favor that requirement. 

Like other views about coronavirus that we see among the broader public, views among parents also divide largely along political lines. Republicans have long been less concerned than Democrats about getting the virus, and here too, we see the same partisan divide with regard to parents' concern about their children contracting the virus in school.  With debates over mask mandates in schools taking place across the country, far more parents support requiring masks for students in their children's school than making them optional.