When can we lose masks in elementary school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hate that because DC did such a poor job of getting kids back into classrooms (compared with other school systems in the country) that we are now expected to just be happy that they will finally offer in-person learning and accept whatever other restrictions are added, even when they make no sense according to the science.

My four-year old has been masked in daycare this year. He just got referred by his pediatrician for speech therapy. Of course, maybe he would have been anyway, but I can't help but think his articulation has been affected by being masked and by having friends and teachers masked. Masking is a reasonable (and necessary!) measure to flatten the curve, when cases are high, etc. But there are costs too, and those need to be weighed against the real risks. At this point in time, young children shouldn't be masked.

Are you and your 4 year old masked 24 hours a day? Your child would have been referred to speech no matter what. I know that’s hard to hear but this one year did not cause this.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:What’s the rationale for dropping masks indoors since they are not vaccinated? I agree, no masks outdoors though.

Because they are uncomfortable, interfere with teaching, and uneccesary when there’s extremely low community spread.

This is all not a big deal, also a good amount of language is body language, which masks don't cover. Kids will be fine, the only ones I'd be concerned for are those who are deaf/hard of hearing or Autistic.

Masks are a safety measure, kids aren't vaccinated. I'd rather this then MORE distance learning....

What are your credentials in the area of child development?

Funny enough I have an MS in childhood development and a specialty certification in ASD.
So no, masks aren't the end all be all for children. If your child gets speech, the speech therapist will likely wear a clear mask for the session, only to help them see the movement more clearly, NOT for the child to understand what they are saying.

Please stop trying to validate not wearing a mask, solely because you or your child doesn't like it.

No one has provided any good reason they SHOULD wear it, with all willing adults vaccinated and case rates incredibly low. The only thing I’ve seen from the pro-mask people in this thread is defensiveness, hostility, and personal attacks.

I think that is your feelings that you are projecting. I understand you cannot fully gauge the tone in my message but I feel no hostility towards you. You, or someone asked for my credentials so I gave them.

And to note, I don't want to wear a mask either, I hate them and I find it hard to breathe, which does not help my generalized anxiety. I am in no way pro mask, however if medical professionals state they are necessary for school then fine. If DCPS says mask with no medical backing, fine. It won't be forever, I can wait. As long as we are in person.

[Anonymous]

A "techie" version: a paper in the past couple weeks in Science on COVID and in-person schooling: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/372/6546/1092
And a NY Times op-ed version: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/08/opinion/blueprint-reopening-schools.html
(by different people)

[Anonymous]

I think the CDC will need to give updated guidance otherwise every school district will be left crafting their own plan under varying political and staffing pressures.

[Anonymous]

Just wanted to note that wearing a mask at school is actively inhibiting my 4yo social experience in a negative way. She just has a face that is hard to read behind a mask. Some people "smile with their eyes" or just have expressive faces under a mask. My kid is shy and does not. She is also soft spoken, and wearing masks means the teachers don't always hear her when she says she has to go to the bathroom or asks for help with something. She also struggles with approaching other kids, especially when one of her parents isn't around to assist (we are working on this). I think masks make it harder because when we work with her on this skill, seeing a kids smiling or looking approachable makes a HUGE difference. It is so much easier to get her acclimated to playing with other kids when we do unmasked gatherings with friends outdoors, even when she doesn't know the kids well or there's an age gap. Much harder in masks.

It is already hard for shy, quiet kids in school, and masks make it much, much worse. I'm not saying we should never have worn them, but if the plan is for my kid to wear a mask until vaccination, I just think people should know it makes school hard for her every single day.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I agree with PP, they may still change it. Easier to dial back.

I do hope people vaccinate children. It will help reduce the chance of circulating variants in the winter.

You understand the odds of a vaccine being approved for young children before winter is basically nil, right? Maybe older elementary kids. But there is virtually no way that ECE or 1st-2nd grade kids will be able to get a vaccine in 2021, and the odds for 2022 aren't even that great.

But if 80% of adults and older kids are vaccinated, it likely won't matter. Which is one of the reasons the vaccine is likely to be approved -- it will seem to unnecessarily risky to use a relatively new vaccine on small children against a virus that exists only in very small numbers, if at all, and poses a limited risk to them. This isn't polio. All the cost/benefits of Covid are reversed from what they were during the polio crisis.

But how can this be the case if Pfizer is saying they will submit for an EUA for 5-11-year-olds in September? Or do you mean that FDA will require full approval of the vaccine? In that case I agree that kids under 12 will be waiting much longer.

The EUA may not be approved. It shouldn’t be, as there is no Covid emergency for kids.

Sure, Jan. Just like we wouldn’t get a vaccine. Or it would take 13 years. Or blah blah blah.

No, totally different kind of question. Although I'm afraid it is more likely for the EUA for young kids to be approved in the US due to political pressure than it was at the beginning of the pandemic that we would be so fortunate to get a vaccine that is 95% effective.

If this virus affected everyone the way it affects kids, there never would have been a public health emergency, no restrictions or social distancing requirements, and no one would have poured money and research resources into vaccines. Covid 19 would have been just another obscure virus known only to a small group of specialized scientists.

So, given that fact, it's tough to see how covid is an "emergency" for kids that requires an EUA for the vaccine.

[Anonymous]

Masks are off in MD schools now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Masks are off in MD schools now.

What school systems?

[Anonymous]

Fauci says vaccines for all kids by end of 2021. Children are dying in droves in Brazil from the variant - which will likely come here at some point. It seems odd to go to war over four months more of mask wearing - but people are selfish AF, so...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just wanted to note that wearing a mask at school is actively inhibiting my 4yo social experience in a negative way. She just has a face that is hard to read behind a mask. Some people "smile with their eyes" or just have expressive faces under a mask. My kid is shy and does not. She is also soft spoken, and wearing masks means the teachers don't always hear her when she says she has to go to the bathroom or asks for help with something. She also struggles with approaching other kids, especially when one of her parents isn't around to assist (we are working on this). I think masks make it harder because when we work with her on this skill, seeing a kids smiling or looking approachable makes a HUGE difference. It is so much easier to get her acclimated to playing with other kids when we do unmasked gatherings with friends outdoors, even when she doesn't know the kids well or there's an age gap. Much harder in masks.

It is already hard for shy, quiet kids in school, and masks make it much, much worse. I'm not saying we should never have worn them, but if the plan is for my kid to wear a mask until vaccination, I just think people should know it makes school hard for her every single day.

+1. This describes my 4 yo (and my sentiments) exactly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fauci says vaccines for all kids by end of 2021. Children are dying in droves in Brazil from the variant - which will likely come here at some point. It seems odd to go to war over four months more of mask wearing - but people are selfish AF, so...

No, children are not “dying in droves.”

[Anonymous]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2021/06/04/opinion/Brazil-covid-children.amp.html

The gamma variant, found in Brazil, accounts for 7% of cases in the US.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fauci says vaccines for all kids by end of 2021. Children are dying in droves in Brazil from the variant - which will likely come here at some point. It seems odd to go to war over four months more of mask wearing - but people are selfish AF, so...

No, children are not “dying in droves.”

“Droves” simply means a large number. >2,000 children died in Brazil. That may not be directly applicable to the US.

[Anonymous]

How about if parents and older siblings of child are vaccinated, that kid doesn’t have to wear a mask.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How about if parents and older siblings of child are vaccinated, that kid doesn’t have to wear a mask.

Impossible to implement.