9 out of 20 students in my class are apparently exempt from mask wearing

[Workyticket]

Taught them in a small room with a slit of a window for 1.5 hours

6 of those 9 had chosen not to take a lateral flow test because their Mum said they didn't have to

Schools and colleges are safe though. Apparently

At my Dds secondary there has been 100% take up for the tests and according to my daughter all wearing masks. I wonder how many jobs the kids that do refuse they won't be able to do if future if they can't wear masks. I guess for medical exemptions it rules out surgical roles, science labs, not able to ride a motorcycle due to needing to wear a helmet, probably loads more that require ppe too.

@Sleepyblueocean

"I have told the school my DD will not be wearing a mask in class."

Your daughter must be primary aged. I would expect a secondary age pupil to be allowed to decide for themselves even when their parent doesn’t agree with them.

Nope she is year 8.

She hates masks. I have reviewed the academic evidence and see no reason to force her into one when the intervention is unproven and no academic has even looked into the potential effects of masks ( physical and psychological). There are theories that masks increase risk of Covid spread - they force air to exit though the sides of masks which has a nebuliser effect hence breaking large droplets into finer smaller aerosols that linger in the air for longer.

Unproven because no-one has studied it but the way glasses mist up it wouldn't surprise me.

The heading of the thread may need to be changed if we are right that mask wearing is voluntary even if the teenager is not exempt from the existing rules for trains and shops.

9 out of 20 (as is their right) are choosing not to wear masks - might be a better title.

She is LFT testing though despite the documented questions about unreliability.

If LFT's are so realiable, why force a kid who has just got a negative test into a mask anyway? Its pointless.

It's just stupid. Kids are sent home for wearing the wrong shoes or having pink hair ffs so it's not as though the English government or English schools are shy of denying children education for spurious reasons. But there's no enforcement of mask wearing which is a genuine health and safety matter with implications for the health and wellbeing of employees if not adhered to.

"Nope she is year 8.

She hates masks"

My point was that I don't think a parent of a secondary age pupil should be 'banning' their child from wearing a mask.

Unproven because no-one has studied it but the way glasses mist up it wouldn't surprise me.

Glasses mist up if you breathe on them. I don't think it needs a study to prove this?

Parents: MY child doesn't want to wear the PE kit because it's itchy. He'll wear his own ADIDAS branded clothes. MY child wants to take the later bus and will be late every morning. MY child doesn't want to do the LFT because it makes her eyes water and ruins her make up. MY child, MY child. Then we wonder why kids don't want to stick to the rules and are not ready for work when they come out of school.

Stick to the rules. Your child is not special.

@Sleepyblueocean

"Nope she is year 8.

She hates masks"

My point was that I don't think a parent of a secondary age pupil should be 'banning' their child from wearing a mask.

I haven't banned her from it, she doesn't want to. We have had age appropriate discussions re. the evidence or lack of it. I am very keen on her using critical thinking before she agrees to do something and have always taught her to do so.

And re. the glasses misting up - I meant how they mist up when you wear masks, not when you blow on them to clean them! This is evidence of your breath escaping under high pressure from the edges of your mask. Its why FFP3 masks have such a tight seal.

ElderMillennial
People are selectively ignoring the long term impact of Covid on a percentage of those who have it.
Unfortunately, there's enough people with an axe to grind against schools/teachers that any sense seems to go out the window in favour of the argument that goes "but teachers aren't more likely to die, and anyway (insert whataboutery for another job here)".

It's reasonable for all employees to have appropriate measures in place for health and safety.

It's unreasonable for anyone to tell any employee that they should suck up risks at work as long as they aren't at high risk of dying.

Then again, when you look at some threads where posters have concerns about workplace terms, conditions and safety, there is almost always a number of posters who tell the OP to get a grip because someone they know had to work 892 hours a week and was only allowed 2 minute timed toilet breaks.

The idea of decent terms, conditions, health and safety for all as standard doesn't seem to occur to some people. It's a race to the bottom for some and those seeking to undermine working conditions must be loving how easy it is to whip up fury and division between workers.

@Nandocushion

Sorry to hear it OP. In my DC's two US schools - one public and one private - mask wearing is non-negotiable. If you don't wear one, you don't attend in person, no exceptions for any reason. This is for children age 3 all the way up to 18 btw.

Same where I live in Spain. Age 5 up, I believe. All day every day, since September. No issues. No complaining. They get on with it.

Absolutely non negotiable, also for everyone when outside your home. Non negotiable.

OP my Dsis is a teacher too, it is shocking for you. I am very sorry.

I thought if you didn't take tests you had to stay home? Seems crazy to allow almost half a class to not only not take tests but also not wear masks. some may genuinely be exempt but not that many - I don't care about the ones taking the piss but they're also risking the health of the teacher and everyone else in the class.

The ones taking precautions shouldn't be forced to be subjected to that

That's terrible, my 17 year old wouldn't even dare not test or wear her mask, she absolutely knows it's for everyone. I really feel for you

I thought if you didn't take tests you had to stay home?

No, they are not compulsory.

You might be confused with the old plan to allow close contacts of positive cases to stay in school if they took daily LFTs. In that case, if you refused, you still had to isolate. That plan has been 'paused'.

That's very disappointing.
My children's secondary (y7-y13) has 97% uptake of testing equivalent to only 1 child in 30 not being tested. We've also been told 1-2 per class of 28 are not wearing a mask (this decreased when proof had to be provided - are you able to ask for proof? )
I'm really disappointed with our fe college dc1 attends compared to the school. Since September dc1 has had two days of face to face lessons (for a practical subject), they are now testing them this week and next by bringing them into college mostly on public transport, making them wait in lines for over an hour to be sent home to await results on said transport. They will not be having live lessons till after Easter at the earliest. What a waste of resources, time and what a risk to put people under (not just the students). My dc1 is group 6 but not yet vaccinated so perhaps I'm a bit more concerned than some. The college seem not to have educated the students or asked for proof of exemption for when they return (mask wearing was low in September). Is lack of education the issue?
I do hope that you'll soon be vaccinated (along with your many students who are able to) to protect in particular those who are sticking to the rules (including those none mask wearing who are unable to wear a mask).

I am sorry for you OP. I was pleasantly surprised to hear from my son that his whole class all did the LFT yesterday - I haven’t asked him if they are all wearing masks though . He was furious when he learnt that children were allowed in without a test - he’s 12.

I'd actually consider keeping my child out of school if her class (6th form) has too many people refusing testing/masks. If people have the right to refuse to wear/test 'just because' then I should have the right to refuse to send my child into that environment

I'm hopeful as they've been great so far - testing this week and not in school until next week and uptake seems to have been good so far.

talking spreads it a lot more than normal breathing so the students who cannot wear masks should remain silent while indoors until they are vaccinated in a few weeks.

^^ I am afraid each student has a very different idea about the virus and nearly all I have met do not understand what it means to be asymptomatic or have the virus and shed it before knowing. They also have little understanding of what air borne means and there has been ZERO clear leadership on this at all.
No comprehensive video...nothing.....

Year 8 - is that 12? I would be so unimpressed if I had a 12 year old sat in my classroom refusing to wear a mask because her mum had read the studies and wants her to be a critical thinker

@GalesThisMorning

Year 8 - is that 12? I would be so unimpressed if I had a 12 year old sat in my classroom refusing to wear a mask because her mum had read the studies and wants her to be a critical thinker

Read back what you've just written.

I can't believe this is where we've come to.

The failure rates for Lateral Flow Tests are quite high, the government are denying this but the situation in care homes indicates that many care staff who have been surprised to test positive on a lateral flow test then test negative on a PCR. I suspect the uptake of testing would increase if there were a stock of PCR tests to do immediately if there was a positive lateral flow. A false positive could take both parents out of work for 10 days with no pay, plus any older working siblings. The only answer is vaccination and they need to really get on with this so everyone is vaccinated at the first possible opportunity. I went for my second vaccination last week, the hub was very empty and they were doing second vaccinations for the hub staff as there were lots of cancelled appointments.
In the present circumstances i would not allow any children I had to be lateral flow tested, though not wearing masks is inexcusable.

If I was in charge, I would exclude any pupil who refusd to wear a mask and all those who were not getting tested.
This kind of behaviour is why we have one of the highest death rates from Covid in the entire World, ten times worse than any avergae year's deaths from flu and pneumonia combined.

*Vintagevixen

Sleepyblueocean
"I have told the school my DD will not be wearing a mask in class."

Your daughter must be primary aged. I would expect a secondary age pupil to be allowed to decide for themselves even when their parent doesn’t agree with them.
Nope she is year 8.

She hates masks. I have reviewed the academic evidence and see no reason to force her into one when the intervention is unproven and no academic has even looked into the potential effects of masks ( physical and psychological). There are theories that masks increase risk of Covid spread - they force air to exit though the sides of masks which has a nebuliser effect hence breaking large droplets into finer smaller aerosols that linger in the air for longer.

Unproven because no-one has studied it but the way glasses mist up it wouldn't surprise me.*

Here you go, a comprehensive review of the science: www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02801-8
In summary, looking the at various available studies the conclusion is that cloth masks help reduce transmission. There masks that work better than cloth masks and there could be (and will be) better studies to show the effectiveness of cloth masks but overall, wearing a cloth mask helps stop the spread of COVID.

I hate wearing a mask and I’m sorry your daughter doesn’t like it either. But sometimes we have to do something unpleasant to prevent something much worst happening. Hopefully It will only be for a few months.

Id be interested to know what your school is counting as reason for exemption for the mask wearing? Ours have been very thorough and pretty much only SENCO kids are exempt. Even children with asthma etc are expected to wear them. Sounds like the school is at fault.

Imo legislation should be put in place for those without confirmed medical conditions to be educated in school but in a separate room from their peers with online provision. A rota of fully vaccinated cover teachers should supervise.
This would operate similarly to existing behaviour control measures.