To be horrified at kids being 'labelled' like this ?

[espressotogo]

DD senior school age goes back tomorrow - no exemptions and she will be masked up as requested despite my absolute disgust at the policy. The school has asserted that children with exemptions will need to provide proof and will be made to wear a badge or lanyard to show their exemption on school property and transport.
AIBU to be horrified that children will be 'badged' like this - surely not wearing the mask is sufficient to show their exemption for a policy that is advisory and with zero proof of efficacy ?

@etulosba

In the wider world (ie other countries) there is hardly any mask exemption.

My experience of the wider world has been limited since covid but I have managed to get out of the UK and that is my experience too. No exemptions in some cases.

If you can’t wear a mask or don’t want to, tough.

In the U.K., as far as I’ve seen, there has been very little or no enforcement of masks at all. Even during the first lockdown when no vaccines were available, I would guess that 80% of people coming into my local corner shop wore no masks and I refuse to believe that they were all exempt.

Very recently, every time I’ve got on a bus (London Transport) or been in a supermarket* , I’ve seen people wearing masks under their noses or on their chins. Usually at least two per bus ride. And nobody ever says anything, least of all the driver..

Pre vaccines I did once ask in Asda why no member of staff said anything to a group of four 20-something blokes, all talking at the tops of their voices with masks on their chins.
‘We’re not allowed.’

*Waitrose is the exception, nearly everyone is masked, but I don’t do most of my shopping there.

@espressotogo

That’s a link to an opinion piece.

Based on studies carried out

She’s a politician commentator as far as I can tell. Not an actual expert.

It hasn't worked in Scotland

It has worked in Scotland. Because this is what we are seeing here too : 1.in schools where kids wear masks, fewer kids have been off sick with Covid.
2. in schools where kids wear masks, there are fewer staff abscences due to Covid.
3. In the families of the kids in the schools where they are wearing masks, there are fewer cases of Covid.

It is true that the overall numbers are similar, but this is because masks are not required in non school group settings for kids, and they are still catching it in other places. But education hasn’t been impacted in the same way as it has in England.

OP- you don't seem to have mentioned that the school your DD is at, is in fact, a boarding school.
If you don't like the idea, (despite you stating she'll be wearing a mask and isn't exempt etc, you seem more anti-mask than any of the shan't/won't posters on MN) you could always remove her and send her to one where there isn't such a rule as a matter of principle rather than bleating on about something that is sensible, and has presumably been put in place for the benefit of the students it affects. Far better for them to know that X is exempt from wearing a mask than to think X is being an anti-mask idiot.

@RJnomore1

I can think of no other medical issue where our children are compelled to indicate their medical history in some way publically. Interesting adults are not.

I’m not anti mask at all - I believe the evidence is at the best it reduces transmission by 9% which is a reduction - but you are right to flag it as an issue op.

They're not asked to indicate their medical history. They are asked to demonstrate they are exempt in the exact same way a child with certain disabilites is given a blue badge that is required to be displayed in a car they are travelling in if a blue badge parking space is being used.

they should ask parents for letters then simply compile a list for the teachers to look at so they know which kids not to hassle about putting thier mask on etc
We have 1400 students. Where should this list be kept so that I can look at it when I'm on the corridor between lessons?

Not all precautions work all the time. Condoms are not 100% effective but this does not deter people from using them and benefitting from reduced transmission ofSTI's and unplanned pregnancy.
Masks are also not 100% effective but do give us the benefit of reducing transmission from nasal and oral bodily fluids.
So they are good at reducing rates of transmission in schools and should therefore be adopted as an easy and basic remedial method of protection for pupils, staff and their wider families.

@ShinyHappyPoster

It's odd that you have a DC at high school and yet write as though you've never met a teen or been in a high school or care one jot about teachers' or other pupils' health

As for the numbers in Scotland and Wales, unless there is a hard border between those countries and England, then Boris' lax policies (impacted by the numpties who don't believe in masks/vaccines/Covid) mean the numbers go up across the UK.

Er... no. It's far more to do with inadequate testing and loads of people not bothering to follow the rules up here. As witnessed by the spike in cases we had up here BEFORE England's version of the same spike.

@espressotogo

Well, not wearing a mask would also be "labelling" them 🤷🏻‍♀️

So then they are not required !

Except you are happy for them to be "labelled" by not wearing a mask.

Either you are happy with labelling or you aren't. Which is it?

You could argue that it's labelling them as actually being exempt rather than just being selfish.

I'm with you op! Ds is autistic, he's still
Primary age but nearly 11. I don't think I'll get a mask on him for shopping etc. Crossing everything September will be better by the time he's at secondary school. It has to be surely?

What actually are these mask exemptions anyway?
A lot of people say asthma, but asthma UK say you can and should wear a mask. What else? Severe learning disability?

If children are going to be targeted or singled out because of being exempt, then surely the solution is to stop the bullying and promote education of thus amongst pupils.
The problem is the targeting, not that they're exempt. My 11yo quite happily and voluntarily wears a mask, but he also knows that there are children who are exempt for a myriad of reasons and that's fine too.
If I found out that my child or any other had been targeting anyone wearing a lanyard, then I'd expect the school to address their poor behaviour, not take away the lanyards. The lanyards aren't the source of the problem.
And the hysteria over masks is ridiculous. For the majority of secondary school children, they're not a big deal. It's the adults who are whipping themselves into a frenzy over them.

@KCee30

I'm with you op! Ds is autistic, he's still Primary age but nearly 11. I don't think I'll get a mask on him for shopping etc. Crossing everything September will be better by the time he's at secondary school. It has to be surely?

But he (and anyone else) can say they are exempt if wearing a mask isn't comfortable or possible.

@espressotogo

Surely not wearing a mask is sufficient ? It is in the wider world ?

So what's to stop all children claiming exemption?

@KenDodd

What actually are these mask exemptions anyway? A lot of people say asthma, but asthma UK say you can and should wear a mask. What else? Severe learning disability?

Autism, in the case of my son. He’d happily wear a lanyard though.

@KenDodd

What actually are these mask exemptions anyway? A lot of people say asthma, but asthma UK say you can and should wear a mask. What else? Severe learning disability?

There is no specific exemption, it's just a self-report of if a mask causes you distress (physical or otherwise).