Childs School insisting on face masks in lessons

[GrapefruitsAreNotTheOnlyFruit]

My son's school are now insisting face masks are worn at all times indoors except when eating. It's secondary age group. I think this is going to impact on learning but I don't know what if anything I can do about it. I don't know how effective it will be either. If they are supposed to wear them for hours I think they will be fiddling with them, taking them on and off etc. What do people think?

@RafaIsTheKingOfClay and where did I say I’m anti mask? I specifically said I wear them in all the places needed. Just because I’m not saying how great they are and making a 4 year old who doesn’t have to wear one, wear one, how is that ‘anti-mask’?!

@Shakirasma

Well I'm in the minority on here who think it's shit, OP. Poor kids and young people with fuck all risk, continuing to bear the brunt of the measures

Yes because it should all be about the kids, stuff the thousands of staff who have to work in close quarters with them with no protection whatsoever. As long as the kids are educated and allowed to be kids, a few dead staff as collateral damage is a fair trade off I'm sure!

This exactly. What I can’t believe is the amount of people on here who won’t a) support something as simple as masks in schools and b) can’t look overseas and think that if it works elsewhere, it might work in the UK. In the UAE we’ve had mask wearing everywhere outside of your house for months. Low numbers, around 400 deaths in total.

As long as the kids are educated and allowed to be kids, a few dead staff as collateral damage is a fair trade off I'm sure!

Is there any evidence teachers are catching covid more frequently than non teachers?

Well in my region we have at least 10 teachers with COVID, Shauna against a total of approx 350 active cases (that’s 1 in 35, or roughly 3%). Since teachers don’t make up anywhere close to 3% of the population, absolutely they are catching it in far higher proportion. Unfortunately, this information doesn’t exist more generally.

Love the idea of 4yr olds learning phonics with everyone wearing fucking masks.

@klippya

Love the idea of 4yr olds learning phonics with everyone wearing fucking masks.

The OP is about secondary school though. They're past phonics then.

How will it impact on learning?

Teacher with hearing difficulties here. Honestly I have to ask some students to pull their mask down because I literally have no ideas what they are saying.

Hercwasonaroll has a very good point. I have a ds in year 7 with a moderate hearing loss whos aided and also has radio aids. Luckily the school have provided clear full face visors for the teachers, but he still struggles to hear his friends and other peers in class though as its all muffled.

@Shakirasma

Well I'm in the minority on here who think it's shit, OP. Poor kids and young people with fuck all risk, continuing to bear the brunt of the measures

Yes because it should all be about the kids, stuff the thousands of staff who have to work in close quarters with them with no protection whatsoever. As long as the kids are educated and allowed to be kids, a few dead staff as collateral damage is a fair trade off I'm sure!

Yes because that's exactly what I said. Round up all the remaining teachers (cant believe most haven't already been offed by the kids) and get rid!

Don't sneeringly suggest that because I'm prepared to acknowledge it IS shit for kids and young people, it's "all about" them. It sure as hell hasn't been. They are least at risk and will be burdened with the cost of this for their entire working lives.
What you demand is that school kids put up with their disproportionate allocation of the shit with a smile, in exchange for the basic education that the majority in the UK have already benefitted from.

Luckily the school have provided clear full face visors for the teachers, but he still struggles to hear his friends and other peers in class though as its all muffled

Bad luck for anything ne in the class who is vulnerable or who has a vulnerable person in their household, as visors do not offer protection (other than to the wearer against splatter) and indeed in some home nations they must not be worn without a mask.

Surely it is a mask with a clear panel that is the adaptation that is reasonable here - in balancing the need to protect all with the need for lips to be visible?

Secondary school is one thing particularly in the older ages but I wouldn’t want to see it in infants. I just don’t think you can teach phonics properly or engage in masks. I know my communication is not as clear in a mask. I think you also have to factor in education styles. We tend to be quite participative, group work, discussion etc. Other countries do much more rote learning

I don’t think you can view schools as being one entity. There are clear and massive differences needed between approaches for 4 year olds and 16 year olds.

I’m a teacher. We have had 3 children with Covid and had to close their classes as a result. Surprisingly none of the other children in those classes have been infected. The children don’t wear face masks. Teachers wear visors when teaching small groups eg for phonics. Try teaching letter sounds to 6 year olds if they cant see your mouth!!! The whole point of face masks isn’t to protect yourself. Despite the best efforts, children will fiddle with their masks so if they do have the virus, boom, its now on their hands and being spread.
I struggle to wear my mask when going round the supermarket, its disorientating, I can’t hear people properly as I rely on lip reading a little, I have eczema and it’s got much worse on my face. I’d be dead set on children wearing them all day in lessons unless there was clear scientific evidence that it stopped transmission more than any other measure.

@FuckeryOmbudsman

Luckily the school have provided clear full face visors for the teachers, but he still struggles to hear his friends and other peers in class though as its all muffled

Bad luck for anything ne in the class who is vulnerable or who has a vulnerable person in their household, as visors do not offer protection (other than to the wearer against splatter) and indeed in some home nations they must not be worn without a mask.

Surely it is a mask with a clear panel that is the adaptation that is reasonable here - in balancing the need to protect all with the need for lips to be visible?

Again, masks and visors, unless they are actual PPE, do NOT protect the wearer. That’s why, in the rules on when a school or workplace has to send people home if they’ve been in contact with a Covid infection, it states that the wearing of masks or visors does not negate the requirement to send them home.

The trouble is we don't have the real data for infection rates in schools. Even when there is a positive case no one else can get tested unless they develop the 3 classic adult symptoms and not getting ill doesn't mean not being infected and unable to pass it on.

We're having to argue opinions because we are being deprived of real data.

There should be a testing process of eg. a randomly selected class in each school regularly. We are being deliberately deprived of facts.

Come on OP. You know the score. Masks are amazing, everyone should wear them at all times, with a massive grin on their faces because they just love their masks SOOOOOO much.

I would not want my child wearing a mask for 6 or 7 hours a day either.

This is a real shame I think and I hope it doesn't happen at my childrens' schools. I am actively working to not make my children afraid or obsessed with germs. Certain unhealthy coronophobes are pushing their fear onto others. I am happy to take some precautions but this is a step too far.

I work in a secondary school and although it's not compulsory, many pupils have decided to wear their masks all day except to eat. This is not affecting their learning in particular. We have found that those pupils either have a health issue themselves (diabetes mostly) or have a vulnerable family member.

It's really not affecting their learning at all and they manage fine.

I would struggle to see this in a primary school though, but secondary school kids are much more capable that we give them credit for.

My kids have been wearing masks in lessons since September, their whole school has.

The kids have got on with it tbh

I wash them every night and they have a clean one each day

I think they should be compulsory in high schools, at least from age 13/14 when the risk gets higher.
I don’t think they should in primary school where the bubbles are smaller and can be kept apart easily. I have an eight year old with speech problems, he struggles to be understood as it is and this makes him quiet in class. This could only get worse with mask wearing. The younger ages who are developing speech and language all the time and learning phonics would surely be adversely affected. I think in primary it should be outdoor clothing, loads of ventilation, outdoor lessons every day at some point. Schools should get supplies of outdoor clothing (donated if possible) for children who don’t have enough. This way the children would be learning, having fun, getting fresh air etc all through the winter. We would be building tougher kids. All kids should be given free vitamins at school also and bring in free fruit, milk etc. Really simple cheap solutions to getting healthier, more active children but no one ever thinks outside the box. It’s just masks or no masks

In my son’s school (in the US) there are mask free zones where they can go and chill out several times a day and all pupils must go to mask free zone a few times at least. And obviously they take it off to eat.
There are many creative ways to deal with this. (Our classrooms also have plexiglass so kids can sit around a table and do a semblance of group work. They are not sitting far apart from each other). But this requires some investment obviously.

The outdoor stuff is fine in England but where I live it drops to -20 so that’s not possible. Although by state law our kids get to play outside till it’s -12 and they have snow gear in their school cubicles to enable this.

As OP child is secondary, it should be fine and not affect learning. If your child struggles with Auditory processing disorder or similar, there should be exceptions made and you should be able to work with the school to see what can be done. In general, it’s fine. Lots of jobs require masks without covid (Surgeon, builder) and you speak up, it’s not impossible.

I don’t see the point of primary children in masks as they can’t follow hygiene practise. With parents who can enforce correct use, yes, but not at school. They’ll be fiddling with me, removing them etc. It’s also useful for them to see the shapes made by mouths as they progress in speaking, even more so if lessons are taken in a second language.

I wish people in the UK would stop being so blooyd delicate. Countless other countries managed full lockdowns; not even allowed out for walks, they manage to wear masks at all time including kids in school, they manage to keep their distance and not flood beaches and hill walking locations.

We honestly look like absolute idiots going on about feeling sad, how it's unfair, and now poor kids need to wear a mask. Get a grip

I would support this in our secondary school and hope they introduce it. Both kids have said they'd be fine with it.

@OpheliasCrayon

Oh that's ridiculous. I have to wear one at school at all times and I fiddle with it non stop. I cannot imagine it will improve children's learning.

Also aren't they quite pointless? If face coverings were working surely infections wouldn't be going up

Maybe infections would be going up much faster.