AIBU in agreeing with the NASUWT that masks should be worn in schools by over 11s?

[DomDoesWotHeWants]

www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/28/unions-call-for-teachers-in-england-to-be-able-to-wear-face-masks

Given that they have to be worn almost everywhere else indoors by over 11s it would be the right thing to do. Adults working in schools have as much right to be protected as bus drivers and shop workers.

So AIBU in agreeing with the NASUWT that masks should be worn in schools by over 11s?

I’m a teacher and would definitely feel safer about teaching with masks or visors. Me and my husband are both clinically vulnerable and whilst I love my job in normal circumstances, I’m really worried about September. Until this point I’d never had a day off but am now considering resigning. Not giving teachers the option of protection makes it feel like the government couldn’t care less about teachers and their families.

Sorry, that should be without hearing aides. I do wish I could have them!

Teams in class no go. No phone policy and lots of out kids don't have their own.

Cash for masks would be great yes. We don't have sewing machines still.....

I'm still not convinced masks are the answer. I don't know what is, but masks are just horrible.

Do you need the concept of sampling explaining to you?

No, but again, it's a small number and just a sample.

Do you want someone to explain the difference between a school uniform and wearing a mask during a global pandemic?

Again, no. Uniforms are absolutely pointless, and as far as I'm concerned masks on kids are almost just as pointless. They won't be changed regularly, they will have to be removed for certain activities, kids will fiddle with them constantly having them on for 6 hours a day. Christ, adults can't be trusted to wear them properly not much chance of kids doing it. Pointless.

Better than asking the kids, iminaglass would be asking the Royal Society.

They say:

Provide realistic guidance and substantial extra resources to ensure schools can minimise chains of transmission ( for example: parental guidance on when to keep their child at home applying the precautionary principle; rigorous hygiene; physical distancing and reduced mixing; extra teachers; PPE - including face coverings for teachers, older children and those with underlying heath issues ; management of staffrooms; regular testing; and prioritisation for vaccines for teachers).

I’m sure that should have equal weight with the opinion of Josh in Y7.

www.tes.com/news/coronavirus-give-teachers-ppe-keep-schools-open-say-researchers

@TiredMummyXYZ

I’m a teacher and would definitely feel safer about teaching with masks or visors. Me and my husband are both clinically vulnerable and whilst I love my job in normal circumstances, I’m really worried about September. Until this point I’d never had a day off but am now considering resigning. Not giving teachers the option of protection makes it feel like the government couldn’t care less about teachers and their families.

sorry to read this, horrible situation for you.

Iminaglasscaseofemotion

I see that's the only part of my entire post you picked up on though. You done?

Nope, if you can't take the shit that you give out, maybe you think more about what you are saying/posting before you do so.

but then you clearly believe that you deserve to be held to different rules than others,

Hercules I have said several times how kids wearing masks would enable teachers to take theirs off briefly whilst teaching from the front of the class so that lip readers would be catered for.

We could also utilise mini white boards etc or give that child a laptop and chat function for one to one questions and clarifications.

I don’t know if you missed me saying that? What do you think of that? I appreciate that doesn’t address staff with hearing problems but it doesn’t fit with declaring we might as well tell deaf students to stay at home. That is inaccurate and unfair when I for one have been trying to come up with solutions.

I'm still not convinced masks are the answer. I don't know what is, but masks are just horrible.

They are horrible. But the alternative being offered is nothing. No protection. Standing with hundreds of different kids facing you less than 2m away in enclosed and poorly ventilated small spaces for hours a day. What the SAGE group described as one of the highest risk settings.

@noblegiraffe nail on head. Masks are horrible. But they are something when we are being asked to do something unsafe. If they make it only 1% safer then that's better for me. And my students.

@runbummyrun no reply ? I would like to know what jobs are all back to normal - I might apply for one.

We've been told no mini whiteboards due to infection control.

We don't really have laptops (that work reliably).

Masks off while teaching has to be a necessity. It's simply not fair to expect students to miss out on explanations. Visors are a good compromise.

*Nope, if you can't take the shit that you give out, maybe you think more about what you are saying/posting before you do so.

but then you clearly believe that you deserve to be held to different rules than others,*

What shit have I given out? I have an opinion, but I forgot, some people think your not allowed to have an opinion that differs from theirs on here. No matter how many people disagree with me, no matter if they do make mask mandatory in schools, I still don't have to agree with it.

I would have thought visors were a good option until I read that case study from Switzerland where all the hotel staff who wore visors got infected, and none of the mask-wearing ones did.
I would think making changes re phone access and white boards would be a better step than banning masks - ie make reasonable adjustments.

mumsneedwine my job is back to normal. I'm a childminder.

@motherrunner

I am a secondary school teacher and echo what *@Letseatgrandma* has just said. In September I will have ONE 20 minute break all day. That means ONE opportunity to wash my hands from 8-4. I teach over 200 pupils a day and will come into contact with many more as will be required to do 3 duties a day. If other enclosed places require masks/visors/partitions to be ‘Covid secure’ then I would like to be afforded the same protection. Classrooms are not big enough to ensure 1m (let alone 2) for me to be away from the front rows. For me to be 1m away from row 1 I would have to stand in the corridor. The classrooms in my school can not be adequately ventilated, all windows open a fraction due to Health and Safety regs and all doors open onto corridors which so have a through draft due to fire doors. If masks offer some protection than I would like that. Some is better than nothing.

While I know that the size of your classroom can’t be changed, or windows altered there is absolutely nothing stopping you from regularly using hand sanitiser and not touching your face. I have lots of sympathy for teachers but the facts remain unchanged - doing the basic things right makes a huge difference.

I always enjoy reading these threads. I live in a boarding school so we have no alternative but to plunge in as normal with no PPE as this is our home so we'll just have to suck it up. I'm not even an employee, I'm just a spouse.

No I think it's daft, incredibly so
Is it not going to be an anxious time enough for kids without chucking responsible mask wearing and changing into the mix?
Wearing masks is a total false flag, there is enough online of medical professionals who are entirely baffled by the government's sudden switch to compulsive mask wearing in certain detail environments
Wearing a mask for hours a day will actually be more likely to lead to ill health, you are effectively breathing in your own bacteria and co2 rather than taking in fresh oxygen each time. This can lead to plurisy for starters.
And what about kids with anxiety, behaviour issues or other hidden disabilities? Not only do you risk them feeling forced to wear a mask and suffering ill health or mental health issues as a result, if they do take advance of an exemption, imagine the bullying for not wearing one, or the fact that some kids prefer not to be defined by a disability or learning issue.
Where are they meant to get 3 masks at least per day?
It's bad enough they won't be able to interact with mates the same way, they've missed months of education and social interaction and now have to comprehend one way systems and staggered start and stop times, masks are just too much.

@Iminaglasscaseofemotion that's good news.The childminders I know are using bubbles so good you are back to normal. What are you doing if a child has a cough ?

nothing stopping you from regularly using hand sanitiser and not touching your face.

Back to the ‘wash your hands’ that worked out so well for Boris?

@LadyofTheManners so why do medical professionals wear masks if they are pointless ?

@Muchtoomuchtodo it's an air bourn virus. So travels via breathe. Surfaces are only a v small part of transmission.

It's bad enough they won't be able to interact with mates the same way, they've missed months of education and social interaction and now have to comprehend one way systems and staggered start and stop times, masks are just too much.

Then frankly, they need to get over it! This is a fucking pandemic!!

@LadyofTheManners what's worse for their mental health. A mask or making you sick ?

@Xiaoxiong

I always enjoy reading these threads. I live in a boarding school so we have no alternative but to plunge in as normal with no PPE as this is our home so we'll just have to suck it up. I'm not even an employee, I'm just a spouse.

If it's boarding you have a lot of control over what the pupils do put of hours, so not really the same.

Are you enforcing any social distancing and how big is the school?