Number of masks needed for a school day

[MyMagicStars]

Considering this question as DD4 goes into her PGCE year! How many would masks your DC need for travelling around the site on an average school day? DS4 calculates that for many, bus to school, to form, to first lesson, to second lesson, to break, from break, to third lesson, to lunch, to fourth, to final class and then on the bus home means that some DC could end up needing 11 masks. Obviously disposable ones are bad for the planet, and also, how will DC store so many?
I’m very pro-mask, but realise many DC will reuse used ones, possibly making the risk worse- how would/will your DC prepare?

because of needing to remove them for lessons (along Scottish guidelines)
This is not accurate, there is no need or requirement to remove in lessons, it's just that it isn't a requirement to keep on in lessons.
Mine is in a Tupperware box. Plenty of YouTube videos about safe use of face coverings.

We’ll probably start with good intentions but in reality we are going to end up with reusable masks in all sorts of places and will just grab the nearest one. It’s a gesture, watching people shop - they put the same one on and off repeatedly, as do I!

[quote ineedaholidaynow]@InDeoEstMeaFiducia how many sinks do you think schools have to cope with students having to wash their hands regularly?[/quote]
The same ones they had before; there's no need for more because all of this is a PR tick-boxing exercise.

@BillywilliamV

They don't NEED any masks, its a load of PR bollocks!

True, but look at the number of those ordering the disposable ones. More pollution for the kids to live with on top of having their education screwed and their job prospects fucked. But hey, covid is king.

Is the WHO a giant,global PR exercise then?

They're definitely not an absolute monarchy .

A few washable ones. And some spare for when my dd loses one. Or you can get the ones with replaceable filters.

Believe it or not I have witnessed teens sharing used masks when one didn't have a mask getting on a bus her friend gave her one but said it was used, she happily accepted. I think whatever good intentions we have as parents in reality most secondary students and older will just stick on any old mask scrunched up in the bottom of their bag or pocket.

"Can't believe some people don't wash their masks every day."

Worn the same one for weeks now.

After you take them off you aren’t supposed to put them back on. hence if I go out I rarely take mine off.

I washed my reusable one last night after my friend picked it up and used it to go into a restaurant for the loo 🙄

I'm not sure anyone has considered the cost if this is mandated.

Pretty much most people I see wearing masks touch and adjust them quite a lot and pull them up and down over their chins, stick them in their bags or pockets. I really am not sure about their effectiveness in the way that they are being used like this but I guess it's all we've got right now in order to feel safe.

Also wondering if schools will have a supply of masks for students to buy one if they have lost or forgotten theirs.

I can see the headlines already 'Child sent home from school for not having a mask' in place of 'Child sent home from school for wearing the wrong uniform'.

@Bonkerz

We use a clothes disinfectant spray in a small bottle between wears

Are you not then breathing in the disinfectant?

The same ones they had before theres no need for more because all of this is a PR box ticking exercise

Yep agree with the PR point. However the amount of toilets and sinks the child can access are now restricted. In DS school each year has been assigned a toilet block that only his year can use. Previously all children will of just used whichever toilet is closest now it could mean going over to the other side of the school to use their allocated one. I can see all this actually being quite disruptive tbh.

@Uhoh2020 Toilet facilities have always been an issue at DCs school. Just not enough of them and frequently out of order, rarely any soap. I hope this issue is given as much priority as face masks.

I assume the people who aren’t washing their masks because they think they are clever and sticking two fingers up at the Government wash their clothes more often. It sounds grim COVID or no COVID. If I used a handkerchief rather than a tissue I would wash that after it had been used near my nose so why wouldn’t you wash a mask

Can't believe some people don't wash their masks every day.

It's the new 'how often do you change your bedsheets/shower'! Covid really has opened up a wealth of new opportunities!

What if kids lose their masks? Do they get sent home? Just asking as DD1 has been known to lose an entire PE kit (it came back eventually) so I don't hold out much hope for a tiny square of cloth.

Yes, I wonder if they will be provided with another one?

The words I hear most out of DH's mouth at the moment are 'I've lost my fucking mask again!'

I dare say they'll have disposable masks available for purchase from the office, paid on pupil school dinner accounts.

Most schools won’t have to wear masks

It’s communal areas in lockdown schools only 🤷‍♀️

@hopefulhalf

Can I ask what all your DCs have been doing up to now ? The requirement for masks isn't new or have your secondary aged DCs not gone in to a shop or a bus all Summer ?

I doubt my DC has been on a bus more than once or twice in his life, mainly due to where we live. He's occasionally (less than 5 times) been in a shop so hasn't really needed one.

Ive picked up a couple of clear plastic pencil cases for £1 each, they can shove the dirty mask in there and I'll wash them with mine each day as I have to wear them at work.

All Secondary school pupils (unless have exemptions) have to wear masks on buses to get to school (whether public or dedicated school bus) so I assume many of them should already have a supply of masks

The same ones they had before; there's no need for more because all of this is a PR tick-boxing exercise.

Maybe it is PR tick boxing or maybe it isn't but if the requirement is there to do it then they have to do it.

DS will be smelling of gin in school since I bought a job lot of anti-bac from a local friend who runs a gin distillery