Some Teens Are Using Face Masks, Old Age Makeup to Buy Alcohol

Masks have become a hot topic over the past few months amid the coronavirus pandemic. There are many who have accepted the suggestion of health departments claiming that covering faces can greatly limit exposure to COVID-19 while others have resisted the concept. A small sector that seems to be accepting it, but not for necessarily the right reason, are teenagers who are using masks as a disguise when going into liquor stores.

A story in the New York Post documented a new trend in which teens have begun taking advantage of the acceptance of concealed faces by masks and using it to sneak in and get alcohol. The prank originally began by a TikTok user and has since taken off with viral videos of teens showcasing their victories. One comment shared in the story had one person claiming, “PSA: use ur fakes as much as possible [because] if you wear a mask they can’t see ur whole face [laughing out loud].” Another stated, “I hope lots of teens are out there illegally buying alcohol with face masks on, confidently not looking at all like their fake ID.”

The trend, which can easily be found on any of the major social networks, even has seen some teens get overly creative in their “disguise.” Aside from wearing a mask to cover the bottom half of their faces, one user on TikTok shared a clip of her applying makeup, drawing on wrinkles, and looking much older than her real age. Making themselves look older in the eyes has been a common theme, with some going as far as to wear much older looking clothes to complete the ensemble.

Aside from the ridiculous pranks going on, masks are among the most discussed points in the fight against the outbreak of COVID-19. Many states have enacted some type of mandate in wearing masks, whether it be in indoor settings where social distancing isn’t possible or even outside, in places like Philadelphia and now the state of New Jersey. NPR shared that a model from the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics assessed that wearing a covering of any cloth-material can prevent “17,742 and 28,030 deaths across the US before Oct. 1.” This has been a similar sentiment echoed in various other studies over the past few months as more and more are pushing everyone to mask up in the fight against the coronavirus.