As of November 16, one in five worldwide cases of COVID-19 originated from the USA. We are well on our way to surpassing 14 million total cases. As this is all happening, a new craze, coined “foco,” has spread over the internet. It entails large groups of teens dressing up and taking pictures at a random location. 

Foco is short for “fake homecoming,” since schools have all cancelled the real homecoming (I wonder why they did that? Maybe it was to prevent those large gatherings that doctors keep warning us about?). Foco normally consists of a group of students going to one of the memorials, or meeting in someone’s backyard, and taking group photos. These include photos of mask-less kids, flaunting their entitlement as if breaking social distancing rules is something to be proud of.

We need to realize the immense privilege students who do this have. And an unfortunate side effect of privilege is naivety. Do we not realize that the very act of converging in big groups is quite literally going against COVID-19 safety guidelines? Also, if someone in the group does get COVID, they likely have the opportunity and insurance to go to the hospital, if needed, and get care. Many can’t do that. Those of us with privilege need to use it to keep the less privileged safe. Who are we to tell others to stay inside when we don’t do it ourselves? 

The memorials are almost always busy, and walking around mask-less is dangerous in large crowds. Furthermore, they are endangering themselves and through that, their families. I’ve even had friends do foco, and honestly it’s kind of embarrassing. I mean, yay, you went out in a large group without a mask. Congrats? 

Now, I’m going to be transparent here. I have definitely seen my friends and been in their houses. But there is a difference between going to one person’s house and only seeing them, to traveling in a big group downtown and being consistently without a mask. 

Yes, I’d love to dress up and go downtown with my friends. It honestly sounds pretty fun. But for the sake of myself, and those around me, I stay home and continue following the guidelines. Cases in DC are spiking again, with around 200 new cases each day. We all need to continue to be careful and remain vigilant and realize that the pandemic is far from over, especially if actions such as foco continue.