if you have a tall 8-10 year old...

[elliejjtiny]

Have you/they been questioned about why they aren't wearing a mask?

Just wondering as I have a shortish nearly 11 year old and a tall 8 year old who are the same height. Nearly 11 year old will have to start wearing a mask soon so wondering if my 8 year old should start wearing an exemption lanyard. I admit I'm probably over thinking this and nobody will care less whether my 8 year old is still young enough to not need to wear a mask or not.

My ds is very tall for his age. He never got questioned when not wearing one but most of the time he chose to wear one anyway.

My Ds aged 9 looks about 11/12 and wears a mask. He says he feels bad not wearing one and doesn’t want people giving him funny looks. He likes the snood type ones.

DS2 has just turned 11 (in Y6). He went into a shop with his friend after school the other day while he was still 10 (well known Supermarket) and was refused entry as he didn’t have a mask. He is definitely not tall and actually looks younger than 10.

No. Thought had honestly not occurred to me either.

Luckily, if in mask environments we're usually out with my large spouse, which would put most busybodies off since they're generally cowards. For any still daft enough to try it I'm pretty skilled at public fuck offs.

Thankyou everyone. I'm in England and fairly rural. I've had people question why my 13 year old is in a wheelchair, why we have a blue badge and various other things before so I was expecting more questions over this.

8 year-old is deaf and has a speech delay so really hoping to avoid wearing masks at the moment. I could probably get away with saying he is exempt when he is 11 but my cousin manages to wear one despite being severely autistic with severe learning difficulties so I feel we should suck it up when the time comes. At the beginning of the pandemic the rules at our hospital were that everyone over the age of 3 had to wear a mask. My 8 year-old managed it but it was very difficult to communicate with him and the mask got in the way of his hearing aids as well. I was glad when the hospital changed the rules and anyone under 11 didn't have to wear one.

Thankyou everyone. I'm in England and fairly rural. I've had people question why my 13 year old is in a wheelchair, why we have a blue badge and various other things before so I was expecting more questions over this

People can be arseholes, unfortunately.

I work in a shop and generally check that people are exempt if they come in without a mask or lanyard. Our customers include a high proportion of elderly/vulnerable people, so we take mask-wearing and ventilation very seriously. But if someone looks under 15 and isn't wearing a mask while their relatives are, I assume that they just look old for their age. If they are primary school age, they will always be with an adult anyway, so if they adult is wearing a mask, I assume the child has a good reason for not wearing them, and if no-one in the group does, I'd approach the adult with a general reminder that we require everyone who isn't exempt to wear a mask.

I'm a mask fan but you shouldn't suck it up. Not in your case.

Just don't.

And both of you practise doing a Hard Stare.

@liveforsummer huh I didn't realise 🤷🏻‍♀️ and dd and all her friends wear them anyways.

OP - I think it's perfectly reasonable for your 8yo not to wear one (and you if they need to be able to see your mouth)