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Original poster

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

387 replies

espressotogo · 04/01/2022 10:55

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 ?

OP posts:
firef1y · 04/01/2022 11:43

@Mamamia7962

Well I suppose the alternative if children don't wear masks is home schooling again

I don't see a problem with wearing a lanyard if you are exempt.

Because it is yet another thing that others the child, makes them stand out as different and can make them a target.

Thankfully my 11yo is in special school, but the original plan was to send this obviously very different and vulnerable child to a mainstream school, his behaviour would have made him different enough and a target. Let's mark him out as even more different because he can't wear a mask (well actually he can wear one but there's not much point because he seeks sensory input by chewing so the mask would be soaked in seconds).
He does have a lanyard for out and about, but guess what, he chews that too. So that can't stay on long.

And as someone who is exempt (for a similar reason albeit my issue isn't that I seek sensory input so much as struggle to cope with too much input), I now refuse to where my lanyard. I'm happy to simply say I'm exempt, but I'm not going to tell people why.

Sleepyquest · 04/01/2022 11:45

Get a life. If your child has a genuine reason not to wear one, inform the school and get child to wear the lanyard or badge. Why make it into a big deal?? The school are trying to protect other pupils and staff members. Your child is not number one priority.

SnoopyRahRah · 04/01/2022 11:45

I'm sorry but why are your disgusted at this? Very over dramatic. Masks are better than home schooling surely?

RJnomore1 · 04/01/2022 11:46

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.

herecomesthsun · 04/01/2022 11:46

@espressotogo

Mask wearing does make a difference. There are plenty of studies to prove it, but besides that common fucking sense tell you that wearing one helps to stop transmission.

Show me one ???

I showed you two. Smile
ancientgran · 04/01/2022 11:46

@imip

My teen with ASD would be very upset to have to wear a badge/lanyard at school and I think a blanket policy like this would be unlawful. My teen can sometimes wear a mask, and cannot at other times. She has an EHCP, her teacher should know. She can carry an exemption card perhaps and bring it out on request, but she would feel that this would label her as different amongst her peers and wouldn’t want to draw attention.
Won't not wearing a mask label her as different if her peers are wearing masks? That will be more obvious that a badge won't it?
Whitefire · 04/01/2022 11:46

@Parker231

Why are U.K. school children incapable of wearing a mask and wearing it properly. Other countries manage and many do not accept any exemptions
I'm not sure "not offering exemptions" is something to be proud of.
grapewine · 04/01/2022 11:48

"Muzzled" children?

The dramatics!

SavoyCabbage · 04/01/2022 11:50

Won't not wearing a mask label her as different if her peers are wearing masks? That will be more obvious that a badge won't it?
Exactly, she's going to stick out like a sore thumb anyway. The lanyard is to stop other people reminding them that they have forgotten to put their mask on. It would be happening all of the time otherwise.

saleorbouy · 04/01/2022 11:50

espressotogo 1142

Mask wearing does make a difference. There are plenty of studies to prove it, but besides that common fucking sense tell you that wearing one helps to stop transmission.

Show me one ???

Really, the very fact that they have been worn in hospital operating theatres, dentists surgeries and pharmaceutical production facilities to maintain sterile environments and reduce contamination.
Would that be a good enough example?
If someone sneezes do you prefer that they catch the germs and snot in a tissue or are you OK with being covered with their nasal and oral spray?
The same principles with mask wearing, i.e. the mask arrests saliva and nasal secretions and reduces the spread of the virus.

FflosFfantastig · 04/01/2022 11:50

It's absolutely abhorrent. I'm with you OP. Medical conditions should be personal to the individual.

isitfree · 04/01/2022 11:50

Big bloody YAWN!!!!!!

Miathecat · 04/01/2022 11:50

Secondary schools in Scotland have been wearing masks since they returned from home schooling over a year ago, head teachers hand them out at the front door every morning to those not wearing an exemption lanyard. My kids want to wear a mask, the kids are anxious about mixing with so many on a daily basis and don’t give a jot about wearing one all the time, they don’t even notice anymore. England needs to get a grip.

ancientgran · 04/01/2022 11:51

@Twobirdsinatree

Just not wearing a mask isnt sufficient.. but I do think requiring badges and lanyards is too much.. 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 If they are actually going to realistically enforce this they do need to know which kids have genuine reason not to wear a mask. Just because you don't agree with it yourself doesnt mean the school can just be half arsed about it... they are required to do a reasonable job if enforcing it
That would be fun at my local comp with more than 2,000 kids. I wonder how many teachers know every child by name? I wonder how big the list would be that they'd need to memorise?
noblegiraffe · 04/01/2022 11:52

No, a teen not wearing a mask is not 'proof they are exempt'.

When you get kids piling into the corridors from outside, some will forget to put them on. Or have forgotten to bring them. Or have just broken or lost it.

Surely you don't want an exempt kid to be reminded to put their mask on over and over?

LethargicActress · 04/01/2022 11:52

You didn’t ask, but yanbu. Mask wearing should be optional.

KurtWilde · 04/01/2022 11:53

Assume you have a much better plan for ending the pandemic without school closures OP?

In what way will a child wearing a badge saying there exempt from wearing a mask make any difference to when the pandemic ends?

noblegiraffe · 04/01/2022 11:54

There is a brilliant article written by a teen explaining why it is so difficult and the impact on her and her friends.

That laughable letter either dictated by or directly written by Us4Them?

Seen them tweet fake bullshit before too.

lesenfantsdelesperance · 04/01/2022 11:54

@Twobirdsinatree

Just not wearing a mask isnt sufficient.. but I do think requiring badges and lanyards is too much.. 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 If they are actually going to realistically enforce this they do need to know which kids have genuine reason not to wear a mask. Just because you don't agree with it yourself doesnt mean the school can just be half arsed about it... they are required to do a reasonable job if enforcing it
This is so naive. Or it's false, I don't know. Does anybody really think that teachers only interact with the children that they teach?
noblegiraffe · 04/01/2022 11:55

simply compile a list for the teachers to look at so they know which kids not to hassle

Grin there speaks someone who doesn't have a clue.

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 04/01/2022 11:58

If you’re ‘horrified’ at this, you must have led an exceedingly sheltered life.

DrJakes · 04/01/2022 11:58

@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 ?
Zero proof of efficacy? Perhaps you've not had the opportunity to acquaint yourself with the findings from this systematic review?
BHX3000 · 04/01/2022 11:59

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

It actually isn’t. Where I live you prove your exemption by carrying with you an official document from your GP everywhere you go. If you’re simply ‘not wearing a mask’ you won’t be allowed into the supermarket, train, etc. None of this self exemption madness. Genuinely exempt people have to prove they are so.

Mask wearing in schools does work. But where I live it’s also compulsory to wear an FFP2 in secondary schools (FFP2 or medical grade in primaries), and it’s been proven they reduce transmission when worn properly and by everybody who is able to. They removed the requirement for a couple of weeks in October and cases rocketed. So they’re back as part of ‘uniform’.

Cloth masks worn half-heartedly by some of the kids won’t do shit. If a proper rule is in place and students adhere to it, it will work.

mumto2teenagers · 04/01/2022 11:59

YABU.

With this policy in place, the children who are exempt will not have to wear a mask, and all children who are not exempt will have to wear a mask.

With the policy you suggest, that any one who is exempt just doesn't wear the mask you will still get the exempt children without masks but you will also get the children who are not exempt not wearing them and no way for the teachers to enforce it. Without the badges, how would a teacher know whether the child is exempt, the child has forgotten to bring their mask or they just can't be bothered to wear it.

SeasonFinale · 04/01/2022 12:00

@espressotogo

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

Our government can't evidence it yet because this is the first time that masks all day is being required Hmm