Grass Roots Mask Advocacy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids (7 and 6) have been in school and camps since March, and I’ve spent a lot of time watching them play outside and in class, and I’ve had frank conversations with one of my kid’s teachers about masks. The honest truth is that young kids your child’s age do not mask appropriately. The masks are a farce, which the teacher admitted she agreed with. Half the class had their mask falling under their noses, the other half is wiping snot then pulling the mask back up with their snotty hands, kids are playing every chance they can within inches of each other, not to mention that no one’s mask fits securely like a properly fitted n95. My best proof of this beyond seeing it all with my own eyes is that my kids have taken how countless viruses since March despite “strict” protocols at school and camp. Oh, and masks are all off to eat. Tl;dr if you’re kid is that vulnerable and/or you’re that worried, your only real solution is to keep your child out of in-person school until he/she can be vaccinated

This. On ES and preschool it’s total theatre. Especially now that parents have discovered fake compliance masks that are breathable.

[Anonymous]

I remember readying a really sweet story about a classroom with a kid with CF and pre-COVID, all the kids in his class wore masks during flu season. It helped protect the kid with CF and the others kids were less likely to get sick too. In a situation like this I would happily have my kid wear a mask. It would be a nice teachable moment about empathy.

[jsmith123]

Anonymous wrote:I remember readying a really sweet story about a classroom with a kid with CF and pre-COVID, all the kids in his class wore masks during flu season. It helped protect the kid with CF and the others kids were less likely to get sick too. In a situation like this I would happily have my kid wear a mask. It would be a nice teachable moment about empathy.

That is really sweet. I feel like something like this would be tough to organize right now because of how political mask wearing is in certain places, plus the fatigue of everything after the past year.

OP, if you are really worried about your son, I would definitely consider a fully remote school option for him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I remember readying a really sweet story about a classroom with a kid with CF and pre-COVID, all the kids in his class wore masks during flu season. It helped protect the kid with CF and the others kids were less likely to get sick too. In a situation like this I would happily have my kid wear a mask. It would be a nice teachable moment about empathy.

I have a friend whose child has not only CF but additional lung damage. He is going to in-person school in fall at the advise of his doctors - not sure what the masking situation will be (our county/state hasn't put anything concrete out). This is part of why I earlier asked the OP what the child's doctor said.

[Anonymous]

No way. What did your kid do prior to 2020?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My medically vulnerable 7 year old child who was privileged to be shielded for nearly a year will be back at school this fall. Many of us are in that boat. I tried searching through posts to find if this had already been posted. Have other parents living in places where the local government has made mask requirements in schools unlawful figured out ways to advocate or ‘encourage’ masks in any way in their children’s schools if you are in a district where without the law the schools would almost for sure follow CDC rules and require masking? Writing to administrators? Reaching out to parents? Just curious if there’s any grass roots ways to help encourage masks within a neighborhood elementary. Perhaps that’s better than trying to go district wide (though this is of course about the ENTIRE community not just our neighborhood school). My son has underlying health conditions and did remote all last year but that’s not an option this year and I’m considering reaching out to his teacher and maybe trying to email parents to talk about masks, wouldn’t help us make friends but perhaps appeal to parents who need to understand the particular danger this is placing on vulnerable children. It feels like we are walking a tightrope at the moment. I don’t know how I can channel my nervous energy to do everything I can to try to improve the public health guidance in a state that has wiped its hands of Covid safety tools.

CAn you drop your email? We are in a similar boat and would love to connect

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My medically vulnerable 7 year old child who was privileged to be shielded for nearly a year will be back at school this fall. Many of us are in that boat. I tried searching through posts to find if this had already been posted. Have other parents living in places where the local government has made mask requirements in schools unlawful figured out ways to advocate or ‘encourage’ masks in any way in their children’s schools if you are in a district where without the law the schools would almost for sure follow CDC rules and require masking? Writing to administrators? Reaching out to parents? Just curious if there’s any grass roots ways to help encourage masks within a neighborhood elementary. Perhaps that’s better than trying to go district wide (though this is of course about the ENTIRE community not just our neighborhood school). My son has underlying health conditions and did remote all last year but that’s not an option this year and I’m considering reaching out to his teacher and maybe trying to email parents to talk about masks, wouldn’t help us make friends but perhaps appeal to parents who need to understand the particular danger this is placing on vulnerable children. It feels like we are walking a tightrope at the moment. I don’t know how I can channel my nervous energy to do everything I can to try to improve the public health guidance in a state that has wiped its hands of Covid safety tools.

I am so sorry you are in this spot. That said, masks on kids will not keep your child safe in school. If school is unsafe, keep them home until there is a vaccine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No way. What did your kid do prior to 2020?

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:COVID scares me because it is unpredictable. There seem to be some people who are more vulnerable then others but a decent percentage of people who have become serious ill or died are not in the groups that are deemed at risk. For many people COVID was nothing, they were asymptomatic. For other people it was “like the flu”. And for others, have never had an issue recovering from the flu, it was pure hell even when not hospitalized. Toss in the long term COVID cases and the comparisons to the flu are not helpful.

I can fully understand a parent of a kid who is medically vulnerable being worried about COVID. The patterns of illness are murky at best, the treatments are not really understood yet, and the lingering effects are real. So I don’t think comparing what a parent does during the flu season for kids who are vulnerable is fair. I know some who pull their kid from school, I know some who prepare for a long bout of the flu. But you can prepare for the flu and have an idea of how to treat and handle the flu. COVID is different. And while I might be comfortable that my healthy kid is statistically unlikely to have much to worry about, the parent of a kid who is vulnerable has a whole host of reasons to not be comfortable.

And I do worry that my medically healthy kid will be the kid who is the exception to the rule because I have seen enough exceptions to the rule with COVID to think that the rules are less rules and more vague guidelines.

What do you mean Covid is unpredictable? 331 kids 0-17 have died of Covid and it’s likely an overcount. All were medically fragile. Age is the biggest risk factor.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1191568/reported-deaths-from-covid-by-age-us/

Covid is not an equal opportunity virus and we have known this since the NYC spring nursing home genocide.

My kid wearing a mask will not protect OP’s kid from contracting the virus. Best case the mask reminds the kids that Sars Cov 2 is still a threat and serves as a reminder to stay away from each other. That said, I doubt a group of kids who haven’t had normal school and activities for the last 16 months are really going to keep any kind of distance in the classroom.

The district should accommodate your child as they have for respiratory viruses prior to 2020.

[Anonymous]

I don't know jow representative the responses here are of your school environment. They're clearly pushing for no masks and thus trying to discourage you rather than answer your question.
Of you could get a better sense of the covid values of the school's parent community, you might find out whether or not such a plea from a parent to/through the PTA could be well received. But I personally cannot relate to the majority of them - I don't get the mask hatred at all.
My kids in DCPS will continue to wear masks and avoid in-class eatingin the Fall. By then I expect a clearer picture of yolo delta schooling through data from the UK.

[Anonymous]

Why don’t you put your kid in an N95 mask? Then it doesn’t matter who else is or is not masking.

I’m on the other side of this, and want masks off in the fall in the community number remain low. My child is deaf and needs to see lips to participate properly in the classroom. I supported masks last year but I don’t see the same risk this year.

However, I realize that the decisions made are from a public Health perspective, trying to meet the needs of the most kids, so they won’t make an exception for my child’s classroom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No way. What did your kid do prior to 2020?

+1

+2

[Anonymous]

People like you are so entitled. You need to homeschool your kid. How did you manage pre covid life? The flu is much more dangerous for kids.

Your kid doesn't get to dictate everyone else's life.

[Anonymous]

The OP is not entitled because she thinks she wants to ask the school to reach out to her kids class and ask if kids would wear masks because her kid is vulnerable. She is advocating for her kid and asking people to do something, not make it mandatory. Classrooms adjust behavior and expectations all the time. DS loves snacks with nuts but he cannot bring those to school because a kid in his class has a nut allergy. So the snacks with nuts stay at home. I am sure some classes have large accommodations for classmates.

There is a way to say no politely without being an ass. You can think that mask wearing is theatre and still be polite. I am not a huge fan of masks but it is a comfort thing for me. I wear masks when required. DS is the same way, he wears it without complaint but prefers not to. He would wear it if it could help a classmate feel more comfortable at school, even if we didn’t think it was all that effective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The OP is not entitled because she thinks she wants to ask the school to reach out to her kids class and ask if kids would wear masks because her kid is vulnerable. She is advocating for her kid and asking people to do something, not make it mandatory. Classrooms adjust behavior and expectations all the time. DS loves snacks with nuts but he cannot bring those to school because a kid in his class has a nut allergy. So the snacks with nuts stay at home. I am sure some classes have large accommodations for classmates.

There is a way to say no politely without being an ass. You can think that mask wearing is theatre and still be polite. I am not a huge fan of masks but it is a comfort thing for me. I wear masks when required. DS is the same way, he wears it without complaint but prefers not to. He would wear it if it could help a classmate feel more comfortable at school, even if we didn’t think it was all that effective.

Do he would pretend to be helping someone stay safe by covering his own face in school for another year? No chance face coverings don’t impede communication, social learning, and kids’ sense of identity. OP this isn’t zero cost to our kids and there is no evidence it would make an impact on transmission. Why haven’t you told us what your doctor said? My father is immunocompromised and was told to stay home until vaccinated. Not to leave the house, period.