Masks for secondary school pupils - Vote?

[TDGH1234ANON]

There's enough debate how about a vote?
No = YABU
Yes = YANBU

BBC have just reported masks to be worn when a local lockdown is in place.BBC News - Face coverings U-turn for England’s secondary schools
www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-53907035
Isn't this like shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted?

I voted no. Unless they are worn correctly and take off/put on correctly then there’s no point, and I don’t see teenagers taking mask-wearing seriously

Absolutely not. The thought is as depressing as it is absurd.

@oopsiedaisy2

All we have heard for months

Kids don't transmit , kids won't catch it , if kids catch it then they won't be unwell. Kids under 11 don't need to social distance.

Week before school- kids need to wear masks!! 🤦‍♀️ I'm wondering if all staff will wear them too?

I have never understood where that came from. I have treated several.childrwn with it. Several children have died from it. Kids are testing positive, they are transmitting it, they are getting sick with it and some are dying from it.

The masks are needed even in the classroom

If WHO say they should be worn I'm inclined to believe them rather than Boris, who lets face it, doesn't care what happens to our kids or their teachers.

48 / 52 currently - says it all! 😂😬

@Leaannb are you in the NHS? Xx

[quote TDGH1234ANON]@Leaannb are you in the NHS? Xx[/quote]
No the NHS can't afford me and is the reason why I retired to the US. There is absolutely no reason why I should be paid 5 times more for the same job my friends are doing in the UK. Unfortunately I'm unable to return to the UK until December. Usually I would be leaving today from the UK. Doesn't change my stance though. Children have died from the virus and many more have developed a secondary disease from the exposure. Its not less dangerous to children. We just aren't catching it.

I think it’s a good idea for corridors and public transport, there’s a lot of children moving around in a very small space between classes. I’m hoping colleges will be the same as my DS is at higher risk and it will allow him to get back to some sort of normality sooner.

@TDGH1234ANON

BBC have just reported masks to be worn when a local lockdown is in place.BBC News - Face coverings U-turn for England’s secondary schools _www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-53907035_ Isn't this like shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted?

typical at the moment

The DfE needs to go into special measure and Gavin needs to be sacked as first steps for schools to even started trusting those muppets again

What about standard global Covid risk mitigation measures for younger primary school children? Why are younger school children scientifically "immune" to either Covid infection or as asymptomatic super spreaders? Are British children so different from this medical risk compared to those nations globally who take Covid seriously? Seems like all comparable overseas nations have forever promptly without need for debate, procrastination, endless clueless u turns (while more die and get infected) taken Covid health risks seriously and so unlike us don't have world record Covid fatalities and numbers of carriers (including possibly reinfected). Do we not need younger children to also wear some sort of Covid personal protection face covering or are they (young children) like the elderly in "care" homes to be unshielded from each other with no social distancing in over crowded schools? Are are new Nightingale schools with designed social distancing and extra teaching staff going to suddenly materialise just in time for school start? Seems all last second make it up as they go along government policy (with unpredictable u turns) so what other last minute surprises to expect apart from predictable school closures within the first two weeks of reopening as with some Scottish because of community school bubble incubation and super spread hotspots? What a shambles! Look at the shielded desks provided in many nations overseas and compare with the careless British Covid attitude!

Corridors but not classrooms seems like a fair compromise. Although the lower end of the school are going to need a fair amount of supervision putting them on and taking them off appropriately.

DS is 11 and is in what is probably a significant minority of children with mild sensory processing disorder (in his case diagnosed but not requiring any supportive measures). He can cope with wearing a mask for short periods of time but it would be an impediment to learning.

@Laaalaaaa

Mandatory in Scotland from next week - why can’t she just implement immediately. Well done nippy. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Because they need to give people the chance to buy them (and not everyone can just afford to buy them today).

There was a push for it to be implemented from the 2nd to allow a pay day before it became mandatory that she's resisted to start it from Monday.

To all those saying ‘children don’t get seriously ill’ so there’s no point them wearing masks...

Has it not occurred to you that getting schoolchildren to wear masks is far less about protecting children themselves, and far more about protecting the parents and grandparents they go home to everyday?

Whether or not you agree with masks for kids is up to you, but at least base your arguments on the actual motivations behind the proposal.

Absolutely! Children walk in corridors between classes for what 5mins at most? It can’t be much longer as they often have classes back to back. 5mins of mask wearing several times a day - I don’t get why not? Send them with sanitiser to use on hands before and after removing mask.

My DD goes to a middle school. ,years 5 to 8.....If kids over 12 have to wear them. ,This would mean half the school wearing them and half not. ludicrous.

If I get ill I'll be staying off until I'm fully better. In my mind it's a question of whether you want schools to stay staffed and therefore open, or not.

Definitely not in lessons. Maybe in corridors. Though only useful if gel available after they have touched it to stuff it in their pocket. I wear a mask at work ( nhs) and find it challenging to wear one all day, though im fine for the half an hour to do Sainsbury.
Social distancing in corridors and stairs could be improved by reducing the number of fights, as these cause bottlenecks ( according to my teens).

Id rather have some element of blended learning to reduce the numbers in school at once than have them wear masks all day.

I think they should be worn in lessons as that's when teachers will have 30+ breathing straight at them in a poorly ventilated and confined conditions. I feel the only alternative to this is part time school, but that that's on its way anyway because without consistent use of masks, staff will become ill. It might not happen in the first couple of weeks but it will be October half term.

Absolutely not. Let's be realistic here. We are talking teenagers. Teenagers who will be taking the same mask on and off all day. It will be fiddled with. It will be put on inside out after already having been worn. It will be stored in a dirty blazer pocket that is only washed a couple of times a year (if that) and also has their sandwiches in. It will be thrown around the room, at people. And you can bet that it won't even be washed every day. Yes, some will use them properly, but many/most won't. And everything I've read tells me that masks worn badly are worse than masks not being worn at all, and can actually increase transmission. It's why some sage members are/were against masks in schools. Frankly, I'm sick of this bloody useless government making policy on the basis of opinion polls or trying to appease whoever shouts the loudest, irrespective of what might actually be be the best approach.

Disclaimer: Yes I do wear a mask myself, when required to. Two of my kids will also wear one when they need to. But my youngest won't. She has ASD/sensory issues and totally freaks out at the prospect of wearing a mask. She also panics at the prospect of not following the rules, but hides her difficulties from school friends as she doesn't want to stand out. Her anxiety means her attendance is already under 80%. A policy like this, which will clearly 'other' her is likely to tip her over the edge. She has already had periods of self harming. She won't work at home (school and home have to be kept completely separate) so is already way behind after lockdown. If masks are required I can see her refusing to go to school at all. She is bright, and at a very understanding grammar school, but this may force her out of school altogether. And all for a policy that simply makes no sense in the real world.

Yadnbu

@oopsiedaisy2

All we have heard for months

Kids don't transmit , kids won't catch it , if kids catch it then they won't be unwell. Kids under 11 don't need to social distance.

Week before school- kids need to wear masks!! 🤦‍♀️ I'm wondering if all staff will wear them too?

I will be.

@FizzAfterSix

No way. Let’s end this hysteria now.

Do you fancy teaching 400 kids a week in poorly ventilated rooms where there will be minimal distancing (no kids distancing but teachers to stand in a marked out )box at front of classroom? With no PPE and doors that open into corridors and not outside?