Full time mask wearing in schools

[JS87]

Would you be prepared for your child to wear a mask in lessons etc (even in primary school in say KS2 upwards) if it meant they caught less colds/coughs/temps and didn't have to keep isolating to get a cold? I would definitely be happy for DS 9 to wear one if it meant he got to spend more time in school

Gingetandtilly how many do you all three go through a day? Must be at least 4 each? So 12 plus a day?

@GingerandTilly are you in the UK? Which year group do you teach? Do you wear the mask the whole time you teach? I’m a fellow teacher and am pretty amazed at this.

Absolutely not.

No i dont see how you could wear a mask all day i struggle to wear it for the half hour im doing shopping

www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-03/nurses-do-not-want-public-to-complain-about-coronavirus-masks/12512436

😷

No, I do not support it.

I’m a high school teacher in a city (non U.K.) where mask-wearing has been the norm since April. Schools shut in March, we were fully remote until the end of last year. As we decided how to reopen over the summer, there was never any question about whether or not we or the kids would wear masks. I wear one from the moment I step outside. I bike to work, get to school, teach all day, bike home, and take it off when I get in. The kids (age 14 - 18) wear masks at all times when they’re in the building except when they’re eating. It’s just... not a big deal. I don’t even notice it now, especially when I’m wearing a surgical mask.

Obviously, I understand it creates sensory/ claustrophobic issues for many people, but I don’t understand why it’s seen in the U.K. as such an infringement of civil liberties/ something that would prevent a NT teenager from concentrating.

[quote OverTheRubicon]**@Keepdistance* I would prefer it on the outside of my kid's mask than in their lungs.*

But that's not the choice. The mask is almost entirely to stop them spreading if they have it - it's if they have it that the virus ends up on the outside of their mask as their breath condenses, and is therefore a risk when they inevitably fiddle with it, adjust it, take it on and off to eat etc.

Masks make a lot of sense on public transport or in unavoidably crowded places for single trips but are very hard to justify being worn in a haphazard way in schools.[/quote]
This is the most ridiculous argument against masks . I hear it all the time and it just makes no sense to me. People who are carrying the virus ( which community masks are meant to partly contain) would be breathing over every surface and everyone around them.

Yes wearers might fiddle with the mask and pass the virus onto their hands and then onto another surface but that infection vector is much less powerful one for infection than unrestrained breathing, talking or coughing near someone else or over surfaces.

So if you are wearing the mask but sometimes adjusting it , saying they could make things worse makes no sense to me. I admit masks likely only help a bit in that example or possibly make no difference but make things worse? I don't believe that, despite what Jenny Harries said. If they are worn well with proper hand hygiene, I can't believe masks don't make some difference and at worst they make no difference..

As for all that talk about just don't touch your face, mask or no mssk. Who really manages never to do that? Almost no one. Yet we continue to try to remember not to (which we should). No one says well it's not worth reducing touching your face if you can't stop completely. So why say masks don't reduce every vector for transmission so why bother? I assume.it is because masks are a bit inconvenient for most people ( I am not including those with medical exemptions where it is more than a bit of inconvenience and they shouldn't have to wear them of course)

For fuck's sake. NO. Absolutely not.

Absolutely not. My main concern is the lack of research into the long term safety of wearing damn and fungal/bacteria ridden cloth over the space that takes in clean air. Probably ok for an hour at the shops. Several hours at school? Erm no. “Oops, we didn’t realise it could increase the risk of asthma and pneumonia. We thought it would make people feel better”.

Away with this nonsense

lljkk I teach in Singapore and I can assure you that there is no struggle getting or keeping schools open. Schools have been open full time since June and none have been closed or are operating part time. Every child from age 4 up wears a mask, apart from a small handful of very young who wear a shield. They've been doing it for months and are all totally fine and having a good time at school. What's more, there is barely any covid here now so its helping. .

Live in Dubai, all children over the age of 6 wear masks full time. No issues at all in our school. My kids don’t bat an eyelid at them now and in fact my youngest asks to wear one... no idea why there is is still so much mask fuss and resistance in the UK.

And for those saying the masks get damp etc, our school has a policy that we have to send 3 masks a day and the kids are directed to change them. They take them off to eat and for PE.

@Goingdooolally all teachers here in Dubai wear a mask and often a face shield too. I sure they don’t love it but at my kids (all through nursery - 6th form) school they all seem super happy to be back and adjusting. Masks have been mandatory outside of the house here since the lockdown lifted so I guess as population we have just accepted it.

Show me the research that a cloth mask is effective or safe - the research is on the disposable ones (and even then is mixed due to confounding factors such as eye protection)

I find it disgusting to force children under 10 to wear one for extended time.

My DD in year9 does this already.

We're in Germany. In our state children from year 5 upwards have to wear them atm.

I'm always amazed by how low the expectstions a significant minority of MN posters have of children are. It's pretty depressing reading.

Mask wearing is going Well and masks are washed daily. None of the children (aged 9+) are flicking/ pinging them, they just wear them. The same way they manage to wear other items of clothing...

The main problem (which was the same in June and July when we we're back without masks except in the school buses) is that children aren't observing social distancing before school, when walking to school and hanging around waiting for the doors to be unlocked. At least that's outside.

Hello, I am in the UK. I’m clinically vulnerable as is my husband and I also care for my elderly Mum. I love teaching so didn’t want to leave my job. Nor did I want to pull my own kids out of school so mask wearing felt like a way to make us all feel a bit safer - especially as we’re in an area with high transmissions and local lockdown.

I teach KS1. I wear a medical grade mask because of my health condition but cover it with a more child friendly mask over the top. My class just expect me to wear a mask now and like to comment on the different styles! I wear it all the time indoors and just project my voice and use hand gestures more. Not ideal but do-able and I’ve just got used to it. I also wear a face shield in close proximity as my class is very young so can’t social distance. You can’t help them with shoe laces, listen to them read, help them hold a pencil correctly or do first aid etc etc from 2 or even 1m away!

My own primary aged kids wear filter masks. They go in wearing one and have a clean mask in a zip lock bag in their packed lunch. They wear their mask all the time indoors except when eating / drinking. They remove it for lunch then put a clean one on. They also take it off when outside for break times and PE so they get regular mask breaks.

Both kids have done really well. I’m fortunate in having two kids who can manage this safely and sensibly - I know some others might struggle. But what helped was talking about mask wearing and showing them what to do beforehand especially as the school aren’t supervising their mask use. It’s now second nature to them and they are wearing masks in all their Dojo photos. I was worried about them ‘standing out’ but because they are not wearing them outdoors at break time ( they put them in their pocket as soon as they get outdoors) this hasn’t been a problem. In fact their friends are now starting to wear masks more too.

Boris admitted kids can transmit and there is increasing evidence that this virus is airborne. There are not enough tests and lots of symptomatic at school with no real way of telling what they’ve got. For families like mine with medical conditions to worry about - mask wearing is the only thing we have to keep us slightly safer whilst working / learning at school. The only other option we have is for me to resign and homeschool. I haven’t ruled that out but wanted to try us all wearing masks first.

I find it disgusting to force children under 10 to wear one for extended time

But OK for one over 10. Do explain.

My son wouldn't be able to keep one on and this would be the same for most of the children in his special school. Also many of them have little understanding of speech and rely on facial expression to understand and remain calm.

@lljkk the closure of schools in Korea and Hong Kong was not due to outbreaks within the schools. It was done as part of an overall strategy to stop spread quickly, many other things were closed as well. Look at their daily rates - SK 150 cases per day with a population of 50 million. HK 10 cases per day with 8 million. Both South Korea and Hong Kong are having children back in school next week and they will all be wearing masks.

The thing people are missing with masks is that it’s been shown wearing them reduces the amount of virus spread from person to person, and a lower viral load is linked to better recovery outcomes. So even wearing them badly or incorrectly some of the time will help with making those infected less ill.

@lljkk ... HK parents have little faith in the current situation.
Bit of a leap - there's a whole heap of issue leading to this conclusion, not just COVID.

I'm genuinely flummoxed why UK kids can't wear masks when kids from many other countries do.

@Ploughingthrough

lljkk I teach in Singapore and I can assure you that there is no struggle getting or keeping schools open. Schools have been open full time since June and none have been closed or are operating part time. Every child from age 4 up wears a mask, apart from a small handful of very young who wear a shield. They've been doing it for months and are all totally fine and having a good time at school. What's more, there is barely any covid here now so its helping. .

I’m also abroad and I have constant conversations with other British people here about how stubborn everyone back home is being about masks particularly in school. It’s a bit embarrassing actually.

turnitonagain agree. It seems bizarre and a little embarrassing that people are objecting so heavily. It really isn't a big drama. They just get on and wear it, and we all get on with our day, and the best bit is the kids (including my own!) are in school every day getting an education and not being sent home for non-existent testing.
There is nothing 'disgusting' about children wearing masks - they are all part of the wider goal to stop the spread of covid and return to a normal life sooner.

My son is 5. He wear a mask and glasses, and even he can cope.