Mask instructions from school

[Summertime2]

DDs school have sent instructions that masks are to be worn in classrooms this term - fine. But also that the masks should be cloth rather than disposable as apparently more effective and better for the environment.

DD has been told they will "be challenged" if wearing a disposable mask.

AIBU to object to this? First I can find nothing online that says cloth masks are better than disposable - in fact the opposite.

Secondly - does this mean the school could also insist on cotton hankies rather than tissues? On old rags rather than sanitary towels?

Surely this is not the school's job?

Here is the email for reference - for info the email my DD received was much more firm. Let me know if IABU to tell them to get lost and DD will wear a disposable mask if we choose. Which she does as she finds it more comfortable.

Face coverings:

"Pupils now need to wear masks in lessons, practice exams, in the corridors, in all communal areas and also in classrooms at lunch and break. We would very much appreciate it if all pupils could bring their own, non-disposable, mask to school. This is helpful from a sustainability perspective but also in ensuring the effectiveness of the mask. We have contacted the girls on several occasions about the importance of using non-disposable masks but last term we saw students use more than 300 disposable masks in school each week. We would really appreciate your support in this matter. "

'Non-professional' masks are sod all use, whatever they are made of. Though I am not a Covid purist, and think we should just get on with it.
It is nobody else's business what kind of mask your children wear, OP.
On a different note, I wish period pants had been around when I was a teenager - though my DDs look at me with a mixture of horror and disgust when I mention them...

I applaud the school's actions.

Though sanitary towels apparently take 800yrs so should I accept guidance on reusable cloths instead?

Brilliant idea

Disposable masks are effective for approximately 20 minutes, and should be disposed of whenever taken off. People don't do this, they tend to wear them all day or worse multiple days. Cloth masks are effective for much longer, and can be used all day then washed.

Of course they're also better for the environment, it might not seem like much but when you think of how many are used each day it's horrifying.

Why would you have a problem with the school caring for the environment, their budget, and your child's health?

We use FFP2 masks. They are meant to be single use, but we just hang them up and air them before re-using. They last ages that way. So better protection than cloth ones, but also not as bad for the environment.

DC's school have asked for reusables because they are finding the disposable ones often break - and your average teenager has not bought a spare. A ripped/broken mask is undoubtedly less useful than one that actually fits.

YABU for referring to cloth sanitary towels as old rags.

Seem to be ignoring the comments around budget and littering

Omg the luxury of this I'm lucky if any students where any mask at all

It will all be over soon, I'd rather just get them in masks, window open and let's get through these next few weeks and then look forward to a pretty mask free future??

@Justgettingbye

Seem to be ignoring the comments around budget and littering

I would be horrified if DD littered (mask or otherwise), but will be sure to remind her of that and definitely wouldn't expect the school or anyone but me to pay for whatever mask is used.

Masks are pointless and virtue signalling only.

Do you have a reference for this? It’s just that they seem pretty standard in dentists, surgery, Chinese communities etc.

Cloth masks do next to nothing. They stop saliva flying but that's about it. So I'm astonished that the school is insisting on them. When I saw the title of this OP I thought it was going to be about insisting on FFP2s, which actually DO something. But the blue ones are still much better than cloth. OP, I'd be tempted to link one of the articles about how useless cloth masks are, and email it to them.

If I had children at school now, I'd be sending them in FFPs and refusing to comply with this.

I would send them in with an FFP2 disposable mask. Much more effective than fabric masks.
Maybe the school could look at one of the large mask recycling bins you can get.

In an August study published pre-peer review, a group of researchers from universities including Yale and Stanford found that surgical masks are 95% effective at filtering out virus particles — compared to just 37% for cloth masks.

www.cnbc.com/2021/10/15/are-cloth-masks-effective-for-covid-surgical-masks-vs-kn95-explained.html

France has banned cloth masks, by the way. Because most of them simply do nothing.

They can be really good or really terrible,” depending on what fabric is used, said Trish Greenhalgh, professor of primary health care services at the University of Oxford.

Double or triple-layer masks made of a mix of materials can be more effective, but most cloth coverings are just “fashion accessories,” according to Greenhalgh.

I've tried loads of different ones. Had lots of pretty fabric ones, but galloping round school between classes and ascending 3 flights between teaching in a cloth one is harder than a disposable, so I've gone for the unfriendly one. Cloth ones also make my skin shockingly bad.

But agree with kids breaking disposable ones and not having spares. I already supply too many kids with pens I buy myself. Bollocks to buying masks for them as well.

"Cloth masks are little more than facial decorations. There's no place for them in light of Omicron," said CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and visiting professor of health policy and management at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, on CNN Newsroom Tuesday.

edition.cnn.com/2021/12/24/health/cloth-mask-omicron-variant-wellness/index.html

I'm a teacher and there are always disposable masks on my classroom floor. Of course nobody ever claims them and I end up throwing them away. If they all had their own cloth mask that they could tell apart from somebody else's, it would be easier to reunite accidentally dropped masks with owners, and they would be more motivated not to lose them as they would get grief from their parents. The disposable ones are exactly that and I suspect the school is getting fed up with the mess and the waste. The school shouldn't insist on cloth, because heaven knows a disposable mask is better than no mask, but they can legitimately request and encourage. I'm guessing this isn't a state school?

I think you should write to the school. Type 2R surgical disposable masks are much more effective, fluid resistant (unlike reuseable masks) and much more comfortable to wear for long periods of time. Some reuseable masks really do very little to reduce the spread of covid. There's also the issue that most students/parents won't be washing the masks every night so they're likely to actually pose a risk of spreading viral particles if handled during the school day.

I live in Germany and cloth masks are banned here, they do next to nothing. You can only use surgical or FFP2/3 masks, in some states FFP only.

FFP2/3 actually do something. They’re also not cheap, which means kids don’t just throw them on the ground or ‘forget’ them, so less of an environmental issue as well. Schools aren’t littered, but there’s a general culture of avoiding waste on top of the cost of masks.

The government issued guidance on how to reuse them safely, when they were first made compulsory. I only buy a couple of them per month, because they can be worn safely multiple times.

The disposable ones are far more breathable/comfortable for long periods, and offer better protection. As for the environmental argument well ok. But the waste from a person getting through say 200 disposable masks over a couple of years is just a tiny drop on the ocean in the context of the average westerners environmental impact.

@bowlingalleyblues

Maybe they should be encouraging students to use FFP3 masks that are actually effective rather than a bit of cloth?

And FFP2. Tell them you may as well just not wear a mask. Cloth ones are actually complete garbage.

DD1 and I wear disposable masks as we find them more effective as glasses wearers.

DD2 is exempt due to age.

@Summertime2

MrsTerryPrathcett - I hadn't realised that. Though sanitary towels apparently take 800yrs so should I accept guidance on reusable cloths instead?

I'm genuinely not looking for an argument - if I was I'd be challenging the requirement to use masks. But I'm not sure it's up to the school what kind of mask is used.

It’s up to us all to look after our planet. We are in a climate emergency, plastic is made from oil. Maybe the school do encourage reusable sanitary protection (I hope you do too OP). Have you asked them. A plastic containing disposable mask cannot be compared to a tissue.

As a previous poster said and I am a teacher too - schools prefer disposables as they work more effectively against the virus. This is why track and trace ask what kind of mask you wear (scotland). School budgets are being hammered by kids abuse of free masks - many destroy just because they can - and so thats why they are maybe resorting to asking kids to use their own reusables. All staff in my area were told we have to use fluid resistant disposables because they are safer.

I voted YANBU. The environmentalist in me absolutely gets the benefits of cloth masks, but as a nurse I can breathe better with disposables. I also change them if I get a break and use 2-3 each day for better infection control. We need to find other ways to save the planet.