Having to wear masks for PE lessons and breaktimes outside.

[Ohdear82929]

My dc senior school are also making the children wear masks for PE lessons inside and outside and also at breaktimes outside. Does this seem excessive to you because it does it me. They've never had to do this before.

@Chessie678

Masks in pe really doesn’t sound safe if that is what is happening. They reduce oxygen intake while you are under exertion and significantly reduce performance in sport. Occasionally pre covid pro cyclists trained with them to mimic the effects of high altitude but they were very fit and under specialist supervision. Absolutely inappropriate for children of a range of fitness and some with medical conditions under the supervision of a pe teacher. Plus extremely unfair when people going to the gym don’t wear one.

This

I would certainly complain about it if true.

It really is outrageous what we are expecting children to do as we all swan off to gyms, pubs and restaurants.

I wouldn’t restrict complaints to once a term 😂

Email them. It’s ridiculous. What next? No water otherwise they have to take a mask off?

I’ve had to run in a mask before (through a train station to catch my train). I had to move it otherwise I couldn’t catch my breath!

It's what kids in Spain have been doing since September 2020. It's fine.

@OrangeBlossomsinthesun
Spain shut children in their houses for months with zero exercise or access to outside. Was that fine too? The fact that another country does something doesn’t make it ok. You could justify all sorts of horrific practices on that basis.

Yeah that was pretty shit, but kids wearing masks at school and outside is not a massive trauma. My kids have been doing it since September 2020. It's not a huge deal really.

They'd rather wear them at school and be able to go to school, which they have without interupption since Sept 2020 than endless lockdowns and burst bubbles.

That’s a false choice though if there’s no benefit to the children of wearing them at all.

I’d rather own a flamingo than see every flamingo in the world killed, but I don’t actually need to do either.

The evidence of mask effectiveness is sketchy at best, and in my opinion it is unethical for children to be forced into masks at all, but outside for exercise is the kind of thing we'll look back on in years to come wondering how we could be so a) stupid, and b) cruel.

Ours too! Adults don’t and never have to exercise (even when masks were everywhere abs no vaccinations) but we do like to ask more if our children than we do ourselves I just go with it now. There is no point trying to convince people that it’s unreasonable!

@OrangeBlossomsinthesun

It's what kids in Spain have been doing since September 2020. It's fine.

Just because another country does something does not make it OK. Some parts of the US make 2 year olds wear masks in nursery, and China ship those with asymptomatic Covid to special units. Is that ok?

@OrangeBlossomsinthesun

They'd rather wear them at school and be able to go to school, which they have without interupption since Sept 2020 than endless lockdowns and burst bubbles.

School children should not be at the mercy of Covid-neurotics. If my children's school tried this shit I would be complaining big time and it would lose any goodwill I have towards them.

It's what kids in Spain have been doing since 2020. It's fine

Why does that make it 'fine'?

I don't think it's fine at all for children to wear masks during exercise or outside!

I'm a PE teacher. Our pupils don't wear them for PE. Removed in the changing rooms walk to PE area unmasked. Do pleasing. Return. Mask on when they leave the changing rooms. Lessons outside where possible but if indoors all windows and doors open.

Total madness! From the current government guidance (pg7 if you want to reference):

"This does not apply in situations where wearing a face covering would impact on the ability to take part in exercise or strenuous activity, for example in PE lessons."

"Face coverings do not need to be worn when outdoors."

In any event, wearing face coverings in school is only a recommendation, not law, and as such:

"No pupil should be denied education on the grounds that they are not wearing a face covering."

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1044890/Schools_guidance_January_2022_.pdf