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 ?

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

Agree OP. This is how the unvaccinated children will be treated too in the future. More singling out and finger pointing.

Wearing a lanyard is labelling them no more than being the only kid not wearing a mask.

@imip how is having a lanyard any different to not wearing a mask with regard to drawing attention to the existence of an exemption. How on earth is it possible for someone to 'hide' the fact that they are exempt. Am I missing something here.
Surely wearing a lanyard is better as otherwise the teachers would have to keep checking by asking questions instead. Does this not cause more upset than a quick glance for the existence of a lanyard.

In the wider world people also aren't being told they have to wear a particular tie, blazer etc.
DS2's school has said mask now counts as part of the uniform, which they are super strict on, and will send kid home if they are not correctly dressed. They will have same attitude to not wearing a mask as not wearing a tie. So unless a kid wants to be stopped continuously and told to put on a mask - as they would be stopped continuously and told to put on a tie - they have to wear a lanyard.
Now, I am not saying I agree with their attitude to uniform in the slightest. I don't. But it does show that schools are not the same as the wider world in general.

Since when have masks been part of uniform ???

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

So then they are not required !

It is an advisory policy - not a legal one !

Ds is autistic but can wear a mask, however if he couldn’t cope he would also feel uncomfortable wearing a lanyard. He already feels different as it is and doesn’t like to to talk about his autism with friends. The school know he has autism, I have to agree that a lanyard should be unnecessary as they should know which kids are exempt. There must be a less noticeable way of identifying exempt pupils

At our high school kids with an exemption have a star or something besides their name on the register only one school bus so similar on that too. Mask wearing in Scotland secondary never stopped so majority of kids at my and school wear them no bother

It will help teachers to know which students to remind and which to leave alone, to avoid harassing them with reminders all day.

Leave them all alone.

I think some posters have never set foot in a secondary school 😳. It’s not like primary where you have one teacher that knows their kids and what they can and can’t do. Kids are all over the place interacting with staff who don’t know them from Adam! How do those teachers know which kids to leave be and which kids to remind to put their masks on??

@steppemum

Very interesting interview I heard last night OP.

In US the maks wearing in schools varies from school district to school district.
Some have been made to wear masks for months, others have never had to.
They are now analysing data from the different districts. Obviously taking into account rural v. urban etc they have found

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.

Now I am not a fan of masks, but those figures were pretty compelling.

I work in a school in the US. My district has had a strict mask mandate the whole time (there are NO exceptions). My school has not had a ton of Covid cases, and we have had none that could be traced back to students getting it at school. Other districts in my area that have not had mask mandates have had many outbreaks. Several of them have had to go back to virtual for different amounts of time when things were getting bad.

I don't agree with children of any age wearing masks, utterly pointless and futile. The telegraph listed so many countries in the world that have never masked their children and it was terrifying that we are one of the few countries insisting on our children wearing masks for 8 hour every day. There is a brilliant article written by a teen explaining why it is so difficult and the impact on her and her friends.
The nanny state UK are actively damaging children on a daily basis simply to get the schools to open.

I can not tell you how much I disagree with this policy and it just goes on and on. I hope the kids find it within themselves to stand up to this.

My sons school reintroduced wearing masks months ago now, he has no issue with wearing one nor do any of his friends.
I will add to that that his school has managed to remain open over recent months with no year or class closures either.

As has been said, it's just so teachers know which students to remind/ask and which ones not to. Makes everyone's life easier so why not? Why is it horrifying? Seems like such an overreaction.

@BeMoreGoldfish

I think some posters have never set foot in a secondary school 😳. It’s not like primary where you have one teacher that knows their kids and what they can and can’t do. Kids are all over the place interacting with staff who don’t know them from Adam! How do those teachers know which kids to leave be and which kids to remind to put their masks on??

Exactly.

Very interesting interview I heard last night OP.

In US the maks wearing in schools varies from school district to school district.
Some have been made to wear masks for months, others have never had to.
They are now analysing data from the different districts. Obviously taking into account rural v. urban etc they have found

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.

Now I am not a fan of masks, but those figures were pretty compelling.

Do you have a link to the study ? Interesting that our government have not been able to evidence this

Loafs of kids in my sons class are apparently exempt but many, their parents won't allow it. There are are least 10 and one mum I know well who thinks covid is a conspiracy.

Since when have masks been part of uniform ???

For our school, since the email we got yesterday.

Do you work in a school op ? A busy high school with over 1000 pupils crammed into classrooms and busy corridors ?