Video of Teacher Singing About Masks to Masked Preschool Children Goes Viral

A video of a teacher singing a song about masks to a group of masked children in a classroom has gone viral.

The clip was posted on Twitter by an account with the handle @libsoftiktok on Sunday, and has since amassed more than 350,000 views.

"Preschool teacher films herself singing cringey mask song to masked toodlers [sic]," the tweet said.

It wasn't immediately clear when or where the video was filmed, but it shows a group of apparently pre-school age children wearing face coverings inside a classroom.

Some children appear to sing along with their teacher.

"I wear a mask to school, I wear a mask to school, hi-ho, the derry-o, I wear a mask to school," she is heard singing.

She continues: "It helps to keep me safe, it helps to keep, hi-ho, the derry-o, it helps to keep me safe. It keeps my friends safe. It keeps my friends safe, hi-ho, the derry-o, it keeps my friends safe."

The @libsoftiktok account has been contacted for additional comment.

The video went viral as children returned to school for the start of the academic year.

Disputes over mandating masks are playing out in school districts across the country, particularly in Republican-run states that have prohibited local governments from imposing mask requirements.

Last week, a federal judge in South Carolina overturned the state's ban on mask mandates. A judge in Arizona also struck down laws that block schools from requiring masks.

Meanwhile, a fifth of all cases of COVID-19 in children since the start of the pandemic were diagnosed between August 13 and September 16.

"This surge appears to be due to two principal factors: the resumption of in-person schooling (and particularly schooling in places without masks), and the emergence of the delta variant, which is more than twice as contagious as previous variants," the the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) said in a recent court document.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released three studies last month that found school districts without mask requirements were more likely to have coronavirus outbreaks.

The CDC recommends that masks should be mandatory for all students age 2 or older, as well as staff, teachers and visitors in K-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status.

"In addition to universal indoor masking, CDC recommends schools maintain at least 3 feet of physical distance between students within classrooms to reduce transmission risk," the CDC says on its website.