Why won't the government insist that children wear masks at school?

[cansu]

I am a teacher and I want to be at work. I hate remote learning. However I am more worried now than I have ever been about covid. I really wish that we could see the govmt really try much harder to make school safer and really listen to staff.
I do not understand why we are so reluctant to ensure the use of masks in school environments and I include primary in this.
All children, except for those whose special needs prevent it, wear a mask in school lessons and in all communal areas inside. No mask = no school. If parents send their child in without a mask, they are sent home. If pupils refuse to wear them, they are sent home.

@cansu

And for all those who say they don't mind if teachers wear them but their kids can't or won't. The mask you wear protects others. So when I wear my mask in school, I protect children and other adults. Who is protecting me?

This is so true. I am appalled by the parents on here literally not giving a shit about teachers but wanting the teachers to protect their little darlings. If I was a teacher I would have long since quit - the way they are treated is like they are slaves designed to serve families, not employees with the right to be safe and be treated with respect. The abuse they get from parents and their inability to take any actions against malicious children are already bad enough but covid has exposed a whole new level.

Worst of all it's women doing it to other women. Why do 'women's jobs' always end up here? Poorly paid, treated like shit and exoo op expendable? Just beyond depressing.

heydoggee
I also thought that my child and other children with asd would not cope with seeing their teachers wearing masks. It has truly not been an issue. Yes, there will be kids that struggle but certainly not the majority.

I completely agree @Iamnottheone my youngest coped much better with the lockdown than the older! Mine both have masks and wear them sometimes when out so I know it can be done and of course can only speak for my own 5yo who seems to struggle to keep it on, perfectly willing and able to wear just similar to our glove issue that he is constantly fiddling with it and removing. I have some sympathy as he's very small for his age and my own mask I have to keep adjusting (small head) so I get it's hard until they become used to it and it is habitual.

He could insist children wear masks in schools, except you’d find a large percentage of them suddenly have health problems that mean they’re exempt (exactly the same way a large majority are somehow disabled to the point where they’re unable to wear a mask despite being fit and healthy before the need for a mask came around).

*a large majority of adults

There'll certainly be a study in years to come as to how come the UK had the worst figures at every stage of Covid and was virtually the only country with such a large % of the population so freaked out by a bit of common responsibility the word "mask" had to be changed to "face covering" etc.

I was in a classroom where a few of the dc arrived wearing masks. It was an absolute nightmare. They were taking them off and leaving them lying around and idly spinning them round on a finger while they were working.

At lunchtime there were some left behind and the lunchtime staff had to deal with random masks that they didn't want to touch and nobody knew who they belonged to.

At home time there was the inevitable 'hi, Josh was wearing a mask with Paw Patrol on it but he doesn't have it now'.

I despair at this 'it's my right to do whatever the hell I want' attitude. We live in a society, which means we look out for each other. I don't like wearing a mask either, but it may save someone's life, and only a minor convenience to me, so I get on with it. Children will too.

We follow all sorts of other laws without bellyaching about our 'human rights', so why not this one?

So yes, kids should wear masks in schools. It isn't hard, and it will mean schools can stay open safely for longer.

WestSideBoom
I get that. I am a teacher so have seen the same. I have picked up masks left on desks and under chairs. I think though that this could change if we were emboldened and backed up in asking for much better standards. Kids can be made to look after their mask, wear it properly, store it in a bag when not using it etc IF schools and parents enforce it. If parents were asked to pick up their child as they were not following these instructions, you can bet your life that the child would do better the next day. If kids lost their break because they had abandoned their mask on the floor, they would remember next time. But we don't because we don't have the authority or backing by senior leaders, parents and the government.

Instead I am left picking up discarded masks, cleaning desks and chairs 5x a day with a spray and a load of paper towels. Bins are over flowing. Kids don't wash their hands properly. The school day doesn't allow extra time for these things to happen. The days of standing behind a 2m line do not exist. I have to fight my way along crowded corridors and past kids in busy doorways. I am close to kids all the time. Some forget or don't bother with their masks in the corridors even. We need an acceptance that it is more than just a 'good thing to do if you can' and an actually 'you must do it if you want to be in school'.

I would be more than happy to have the same measures as other key workers like NHS staff and supermarket staff.

I don’t think masks are appropriate for schools unfortunately

All the 3+ year olds wear masks at the school I work at (not U.K.). We have had issues with getting 1 student out of 200+ students to wear a mask in more than 6 months. That’s it. 1 student. Students can also stay home and live stream the classes but most choose to come in.

My DD also attends school masked. She has ASD and a lot of sensory challenges. She loves her mask because she feels more secure and hidden from view. (I know this isn’t all kids with ASD - just my DDs perspective). At the start she chewed the mask a lot. But now she chews gum instead as an accommodation which provides great sensory feedback and she’s been a lot more settled and less hyperkinetic in general this year. There are quite a few great picture books now that explain the importance of mask wearing to very young children, and we have done a lot of social and emotional work with these groups of kids to help them understand COVID/masks/hygiene etc. They really do get it.

Yes, it’s not ideal. But nor is being at home for an extended period for most children, and all the evidence says masks help reduce transmission. I find these mask threads so bizarre!

SilverOnToast Thank you for posting such a practical post. If only we had a practical and sensible education secretary to take this kind of lead, we wouldn't be in this dreadful scenario with no one knowing what to do now.

The reason we have a problem in U.K.“I don’t want my little Tommy wearing a mask in class The poor little thing.” This is saying fuck you school staff other children and parents I don’t care about anyone’s health as long as Tommy doesn’t have to wear a mask. Will people just grow the fuck up. Shit parents with this attitude are the first to complain when the schools shut

I don’t think school are safe without masks unfortunately

@Newdonewhugh

I know you are scared but the people who oppose your ideas are scared too. I don’t want my child to wear a mask. I have completely different views to you. The society you want to create scares me, just as much as you are scared now. We are all just trying to do the best for our families. This isn’t a battle of who is right and who is wrong.

I agree. Who knows if there is long term consequences to a child's developing brain if they wear a mask that doesn't allow sufficient air flow and they are breathing in too much carbon dioxide for 5 hours a day? I do not want my healthy children to be put at risk in order to make some scared adults feel better, a fear which I believe is out of perspective (I am aware many will argue that my concerns about children wearing masks are out of perspective). I also doubt that children wearing masks is particularly effective in reducing transmission as they will not be that great at remembering they shouldn't touch them.

Children are very good at following rules it’s the parents with the selfish attitude that aren’t. Karma wil come

And to say that parents are shit (as per comment above) if they don't want their kids to wear a mask is ridiculous. A good parents always priorities their kids, and that is what a lot of parents will be doing when they say they won't let them wear a mask. If people have looked after their health, are slim and eat well, exercise, take their own precautions, I believe the risks of the virus to be small. And of course people who are 70 years plus have an increased risk of dying, purely by being 70 years plus!

I think close schools they is some serious twisted views about carbon dioxide. Its untrue masks do not cause this problem get off your Twitter sites or don’t send your child to school when masks are brought in you will soon change your mind than

YANBU children in other countries do manage, I think it is from 6yo in France. They also seem to have less of an issue with so many people claiming they are exempt than here in the UK.

As the poster above says if your fat and don’t exercise and eat crap than you deserve to die or get ill. What a lovely parent

@cansu

SilverOnToast Thank you for posting such a practical post. If only we had a practical and sensible education secretary to take this kind of lead, we wouldn't be in this dreadful scenario with no one knowing what to do now.

ITS NIT THE GOVERNMENTS FAULT. PARENTS WONT WEAR MASKS SND EONT KET THEIR CHILDREN DO SO BUT WAMG SCHOOLS OPEN EXCEPT WHEN THEY DONT.

Jesus. There's some wilful stupidity on this thread.

1. children will not understand why some peers are exempt.
2. young children wearing masks tend to touch and fiddle with them which then defeats the point. Remember there are children in reception not much past 4 years old.
3. communication is incredibly important for young children and wearing masks limits it hugely.

I try to make my 4 year old wear one in the supermarket and its disastrous and that's only for 20 mins. He has a choice of two different style masks and both fit him well. I've tried bribes, punishment, talking to him about it, and still he:

• takes it off
• pulls it under his nose
• touches/pulls at it

If I try and make him keep it over his nose he gets very agitated and panicky. He's a neurotypical child and is otherwise well behaved.

I totally agree though that secondary age children should be able to manage.

The carbon dioxide myth has been debunked many many times by scientists.

@LabiaMinoraPissusFlapus
Who knows if there is long term consequences to a child's developing brain if they wear a mask that doesn't allow sufficient air flow and they are breathing in too much carbon dioxide for 5 hours a day?

Masks do not restrict the flow of air - oxygen and carbon dioxide pass through them without an issue. It has been proven that wearing a mask does not change the oxygen saturation level in your blood. This is propoganda posted by anti-mask groups such as Us4Them and has no basis in science.

I have no idea. Kids at school wear uniforms without much problem, enforcing masks wouldn't be much more difficult.

You'd want your kid to wear shoes at school in winter, I don't see why you wouldn't want them to wear a mask now.