Mask refusal in schools by pupils

[Twinklingstarface]

Seems it is the pupils rebelling now rather than the parents
apple.news/A41bZE79jR9mZVAzmNVy4uQ

@AmIgoinghomeforXmas the issue in schools relates to interaction, understanding and engagement. So again totally different to your examples. I have happily worn a mask on the train, in the theatre and for appointments. However teaching and learning is a different context.

I feel dreadful for them.
Can’t wait until dropped for all pupils

@hamstersarse

I can go into the office and not wear a mask all day. Why is that?

Does your work have 1200 of the same people in it, 5 days a week?

Does your work regularly put 35 plus people in meeting rooms designed for 25 with little to no social distancing?

Are a decent proportion of your work colleagues either completely unvaccinated or have had 1 or 2 vaccines?

If the answer to all those is yes then you’re probably already wearing a mask.

If it’s no…then what relevance is your work to the argument?

I'm not convinced that the dc who are refusing to wear masks are doing so because it is impacting their ability to learn to be honest.

Obviously not wearing a mask is preferable to wearing one, in a teaching or other setting.

I wear one as dc therapist as do the dc and it would be better not to have to.

But it isn't a huge issue for most dc unless the adults around them make it one.

My dc don't really notice or care anymore and it is better than any of the alternatives.

Where we are though all indoor settings have mask wearing not just schools, which does seem a little illogical.

@DrWhoNowww

You missed out a pertinent point
If the risk to the huge and overwhelmingly of that 1200 - negligible

I'm not convinced that the dc who are refusing to wear masks are doing so because it is impacting their ability to learn to be honest.

It may do for some
But I’m not even bothered about that.
I just don’t want children and teens to have to do this. For the simple fact that - it’s not comfortable for hours and hours

Cool. I hope their teachers arent risking their health by rushing back to work following COVID.

@puppetear

Yet if your objective is to limit absences, then “Schools where face coverings were used in October 2021 saw […] a drop of 2.3 percentage points.”

Which sounds vaguely worth having, right? Until you read on…. “schools which did not use face coverings absences [saw …] a fall of 1.7 percentage points”.

This really is on the margin of effectiveness.

Re the study quoted in the BBC article that’s being referred to here:

“The UK Department of Education has released a report on a schools mask study which had major methodological flaws and (unsurprisingly) produced iffy results. It hasn't been peer reviewed or published in a scientific journal.”

mobile.twitter.com/trishgreenhalgh/status/1479469866226790405

Oh my, oh no, what a surprise etc..

I can imagine the areas that have children refusing to wear masks and I am probably right in assuming they have issues with behaviour in general. A big part of this will be down to their parents’ views on masks.
Thankfully our children attend a great school, excellent behaviour and compliance not a problem. Feel very sorry for vulnerable children in these other schools.

I've no DC in secondary so not really been following this, but if there are refusals it doesn't particularly shock me. Taking the pro-mask evidence at it very highest, any benefits are small, and there are clear downsides.

But more than that, this is a state rapidly losing the ability to meaningfully enforce measures across the population, choosing to implement them in one of the groups with least agency. Now of course there are rationales for measures in schools specifically, although whether that was Johnson's motivation for implementing them is another question. But it doesn't surprise me in the slightest that some teenagers, with their often heightened sensitivity to anything that might be viewed as unfair or inconsistent treatment, would chafe against this.

I'm not convinced that the dc who are refusing to wear masks are doing so because it is impacting their ability to learn to be honest.

Our school has mock exams this week. Some of the A level exams are 3 hours long. Imagine having to wear a mask that covers your nose and mouth during the whole 3 hours, while wearing glasses too. It's pretty unbearable!

10 months now (excluding holidays) and it is difficult to see where the harms have come because the generation in Scottish secondary schools (and primary too) have been largely forgotten.

We were told a few more weeks (in August) and yet here we are. I think at least pupils in England have had some time off, although that probably makes compliance harder.

Kids in face masks but it is fine to go to a strip club or a nightclub (or it was until Boxing Day). Even now it shocks me how little politicians care about the next generation of voters.

@Cismyfatarse

10 months now (excluding holidays) and it is difficult to see where the harms have come because the generation in Scottish secondary schools (and primary too) have been largely forgotten.

We were told a few more weeks (in August) and yet here we are. I think at least pupils in England have had some time off, although that probably makes compliance harder.

Kids in face masks but it is fine to go to a strip club or a nightclub (or it was until Boxing Day). Even now it shocks me how little politicians care about the next generation of voters.

I really feel for those in Scotland who’ve had it so long term.

At least here it’s for under a month this time

[quote hamstersarse]Given the evidence for them being introduced is bad, I don't think we can blame them or get mad at them really - they are just 'following the science'

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-59895934[/quote]
I’m not sure if you’re aware but you are spreading misinformation about masks. Here is some up to date research demonstrating the effectiveness of masks in providing protection from Covid for yourself and others. www.pnas.org/content/118/49/e2110117118

[quote Whatayear81]@DrWhoNowww

You missed out a pertinent point
If the risk to the huge and overwhelmingly of that 1200 - negligible[/quote]
@Whatayear81 it’s only pertinent if you consider the students to be the only important part of the school community.

Frankly, I think the 250 teachers and support staff at my local school are worth supporting. Especially given support staff typically seem to be made up of older, more likely to be vulnerable people and teachers need to be looked after because the teacher retention issue is going to be horrific in the next couple of years.

I don’t really think asking perfectly healthy teenagers to wear a mask for max 5 hours a day is a big deal, if they don’t like it then it’s a great opportunity to realise that sometimes you have to do things that you don’t like for the benefit of society as a whole.

I think asking teens to wear masks for 5/6 (in my son’s case, private school, it’s more like 6.5… is a big deal

@DrWhoNowww yes it is a big deal to ask teenagers to wear masks for 5 hours a day. Teachers are vaxxed and could contract omicron anywhere!

And trumpeting 'compliance' as a virtue for teens! Seriously?? I teach sixth form and yes my subject is a talky subject, others would be less affected. But I promise your teens are talking less, participating less and engaging less in their learning whilst wearing masks. Some adults here appear blinkered or incredibly selfish.

Guidance update today from the DfE goes for no expectation of masks during exams, including mocks, although candidates and invigilators can wear them if they choose.

[quote Happypootler]**@DrWhoNowww* yes it is* a big deal to ask teenagers to wear masks for 5 hours a day. Teachers are vaxxed and could contract omicron anywhere!

And trumpeting 'compliance' as a virtue for teens! Seriously?? I teach sixth form and yes my subject is a talky subject, others would be less affected. But I promise your teens are talking less, participating less and engaging less in their learning whilst wearing masks. Some adults here appear blinkered or incredibly selfish.[/quote]
I agree the downside shouldn’t just be swept aside as it is.

@TheFallenMadonna

Guidance update today from the DfE goes for no expectation of masks during exams, including mocks, although candidates and invigilators can wear them if they choose.

For the best.

@Alayalaya my dds school has high compliance and it is a comp in a deprived area.

Here is some up to date research demonstrating the effectiveness of masks in providing protection from Covid for yourself and others. www.pnas.org/content/118/49/e2110117118

That looks a really good paper.

But it looks to have quite small sample size — in skim read, it looks like the sample size might even be just seven individuals. Feels like that's probably wrong, but the number doesn't jump out.

It only seems to consider professionally manufactured masks, with no consideration of hand-made or even mass-produced non-surgical grade. It assumes that surgical masks are well-fitted, which is not a reasonable assumption.

Given that, while it's certainly a useful contribution, there is at best limited applicability to the topic of this thread.

I'd be very interested to see the results a variety of ill-fitted scenarios, along with a revised infection model based on what we know about Omnicron.

Guidance update today from the DfE goes for no expectation of masks during exams, including mocks, although candidates and invigilators can wear them if they choose.

Great!

My dc was struggling with a 3 hour mock exam whilst having to wear a mask over his mouth and nose together with glasses! He found it very difficult!!