Why not masks for all in secondary schools ?

[countryroses]

Why not ?

@FlySheMust

If they want to wear them for their own protection, then fine. Secondary teachers should be allowed to do the same. But like it or not, the risk for teenagers is tiny and they have already sacrificed enough for the sake of other people.

It is hardly a sacrifice, FFS. They are to protect those working with them as well as themselves. There is plenty of evidence that face coverings help prevent the spread. Teenagers really aren't that precious.

I wasn’t talking about mask wearing being a sacrifice, I meant what they have already sacrificed in terms of their education, social lives and everything else that important to you when you’re a teenager.

I realise that they are there to protect staff working with them, but I wouldn’t want the kids I work with to be uncomfortable to protect me, I’ll protect myself thanks very much and would rather let kids be kids.

@NailsNeedDoing

Well there's evidence masks reduce transmission.

And a few schools in Scotland have closed already.

You do the math.

I suspect that it's because masks in schools will turn into masks in offices and masks in the Commons which the police won't want to enforce and adults won't want to comply with.

Johnson seems to want to entice people back to work rather than wfh and masks in workplaces will stop that from happening

Many pupils will have to wear masks on the school bus, be it public transport or dedicated school bus. Families are going to have to provide masks for that.

A few schools. That’s all you can say? Give me some actual numbers that prove masks in schools will prevent deaths and I may begin to think that asking every secondary pupil to do something that I consider to be horrible is worth it. But until then, I think it’s too big an ask for too little gain.

Schools being closed doesn’t mean anyone in them is actually dying of this virus. At the moment schools will close if a few people have a bit of a chest infection for a couple of weeks.

"Medical exemptions should be made for those who cannot due to health or SEN."

The exemption side won't be straightforward.
It would have to be done in the same way it is for adults.

Weren’t we here a few weeks back? How “awful” it’ll be if masks were made mandatory in shops etc. Fast forward to where we are now....oh yeah masks are being wore in shops and some other indoor spaces-that will be secondary schools in a few weeks!

In my work setting I wear a mask when meeting with the public and other professionals. My job basically involves everyone talking a lot! It is so much harder it is to understand people when they are masked up. I am a tiny bit hard of hearing and at first assumed it was just me, but all of my colleagues are struggling even just to hear people properly, never mind pick up on non verbal nuances when people's faces are 60% covered. I just can't imagine masks in an education setting for this reason, unless teaching went back a few decades to a teacher talks, pupils listen and write kind of model.

*worn

My children go back to school in Ireland next week.
In secondary school masks must be worn where 2 metre distance cannot be maintained which is basically everywhere in the building.
The school has been reorganised so that students desks are 1 metre apart and teacher is 2 metres away. Teacher can wear a visor rather than a mask.
The layout of the school and the timetable have been changed so there will be minimal moving around by students and each year group will be in a separate section of the school.
All students must carry a self care package with 3 masks, tissues, hand sanitizer and wipes. It is envisaged that students may need to change masks during the day.
All students have a 2 hour Covid induction session before full return to school to allow for learning on correct way of wearing masks etc
Unless permission is given in advance no mask means no school.

@Inniu

My children go back to school in Ireland next week. In secondary school masks must be worn where 2 metre distance cannot be maintained which is basically everywhere in the building. The school has been reorganised so that students desks are 1 metre apart and teacher is 2 metres away. Teacher can wear a visor rather than a mask. The layout of the school and the timetable have been changed so there will be minimal moving around by students and each year group will be in a separate section of the school. All students must carry a self care package with 3 masks, tissues, hand sanitizer and wipes. It is envisaged that students may need to change masks during the day. All students have a 2 hour Covid induction session before full return to school to allow for learning on correct way of wearing masks etc Unless permission is given in advance no mask means no school.

This sounds fantastic. And here were are in England arguing about basic safety measures such as wearing masks 🤷‍♀️

Wow @NebularNerd that sounds just what we want in England. How have they fitted the desks in though as many of our classrooms wouldn’t have enough space to do that?

@mac12

Bless em, mustn’t be uncomfortable. What resilient giants the kids in China, South Korea, France, Belgium, Canada etc etc must be. It’s a pandemic. Unprecedented global health crisis. Kids are not unaffected. Transmission does not stop at the school gate. Come on, we can be smarter than this - why not implement more outside time for regular mask free breaks throughout the day? There’s so much we could do to try & cut community transmission before winter hits.

Agree.

The way secondary school kids would mistreat mask wearing (alongside the way they are poorly worn by so many adults, visit any English supermarket to observe that) would probably lead to MORE infections. Of course according to people on here everyone becomes immune whilst wearing a mask! No other sensible measures are then needed, never mind people are touching masks/faces constantly to adjust them and then spreading the germs around on their hands. Wales have the right idea on this one.

I’ll protect myself thanks very much and would rather let kids be kids.

That's great! Could you let other secondary teachers know how you are proposing to protect yourself, beyond washing your hands now and again?

@Inniu do you know whether many parents have complained over these plans? I haven’t seen anything on here.

Sorry @NebularNerd I tagged you incorrectly in my earlier post.

Why start yet another mask thread then bugger off and fail to engage?

Taking a guess but I'm thinking you personally don't have to wear a mask all day every day OP? I can assure you they're very uncomfortable. Besides from I've seen 99.9% of adults can't seem to wear a mask correctly so there's no chance children will. Wearing one incorrectly actually increases the risk of transmission to the wearer so completely pointless in schools.

DS’s school are allowing pupils to wear masks if they want and are going to give a lesson on how to wear them properly and taking them on and off safely. They will need named bags to put used reusable ones in (about 90% of the Secondary pupils will be coming to school by bus)

I haven’t heard anyone objecting to secondary school pupils wearing masks in school in Ireland but I am sure some people do.

In my kids school to make room for distancing everything other than desks and chairs have been removed from the classrooms. And everything other than essential specialist rooms like labs and kitchens have been converted to classrooms. So canteen, assembly hall, library, computer rooms, prayer rooms, locker rooms are all gone.
There are marking everywhere and hand sanitizer at every door.
Canteen food is pre order and delivery now and staggered break times so less space needed to eat lunch.

@Inniu

My children go back to school in Ireland next week. In secondary school masks must be worn where 2 metre distance cannot be maintained which is basically everywhere in the building. The school has been reorganised so that students desks are 1 metre apart and teacher is 2 metres away. Teacher can wear a visor rather than a mask. The layout of the school and the timetable have been changed so there will be minimal moving around by students and each year group will be in a separate section of the school. All students must carry a self care package with 3 masks, tissues, hand sanitizer and wipes. It is envisaged that students may need to change masks during the day. All students have a 2 hour Covid induction session before full return to school to allow for learning on correct way of wearing masks etc Unless permission is given in advance no mask means no school.

Same here in Irish secondary school. Mandatory masks, sanitiser in classroom, minimal movement. Some schools are saying no lockers, or staggered finish times etc. One dd is getting a cloth mask from school but I don't know if that is in every school. I have bought some (you can get them for a couple of euros) and made some so will have plenty for each child to bring in 3 per day and I will wash with our clothes.

No complaints in general on social media or from anyone I know. I don't love the idea that they will have to wear a mask all day, I worry
about communication being compromised, about comfort etc but it is necessary and I suppose it will help with containing droplets expelled as kids speak so that will hopefully reduce the risk to each other. We will see in 3 or 4 weeks!

Quite a lot of children rely on either lip reading and / or facial expressions. Not to mention it’s bloody uncomfortable for all day!

Of course there will be cases in schools and closures, there are still cases in communities so these will obviously find their way into schools. The Dundee school was only closed because of the needs of the students though.

All that proves is that the system works, an outbreak was identified and contained. There's no evidence that anything would have been different had masks been worn.

A secondary school in Scotland has said From Monday, teachers and pupils at James Gillespie's High School "must wear face coverings indoors whilst moving around between classes". Hopefully the first of many.

Ireland seems to have its act together.

Well done Mumsnettas in England.

Your Tally has reached over 100 whiny reasons why not.

Yet England is a world-beating 2nd place for most deaths per capita.

I think you are over-thinking this and history will show you are mistaken.

Why not take care of our secondary children and their teachers with something that, at worst, does no harm and at best (scientifically proven) stops 1000s of avoidable deaths.

Just a fortnite left to act before schools reopen.