Masking off-ramp coming soon?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you want people to wear a mask indoors for the rest of their lives, because Covid isn’t going away? That’s a bit nuts. The point is that at some point, we need to decide that Covid is under control enough to categorize it as endemic. We’re probably pretty close to that in the DC area - vaccination rates are high, deaths and hospitalizations due to Covid are relatively low. That’s an endemic state.

No, once numbers are down again as low as they were in early summer, I think the mask mandates can go away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a teacher at an elementary school where kids have to wear masks all day, including at recess.
Very few kids have a problem wearing their mask at recess. I supervise recess duty for half an hour daily at my school for first graders. They all are perfectly able to wear masks. It simply isn't a problem.

I’m having a different experience as a teacher. I find them difficult and uncomfortable and am thinking about leaving after this year if they are required for longer. It’s getting worse for the students and teachers wearing them all day, not better. Some of you don’t mind. Others dread it and are being compliant. I have a choice and can quit my job. These kids don’t and should not have to mask forever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a teacher at an elementary school where kids have to wear masks all day, including at recess.
Very few kids have a problem wearing their mask at recess. I supervise recess duty for half an hour daily at my school for first graders. They all are perfectly able to wear masks. It simply isn't a problem.

I’m having a different experience as a teacher. I find them difficult and uncomfortable and am thinking about leaving after this year if they are required for longer. It’s getting worse for the students and teachers wearing them all day, not better. Some of you don’t mind. Others dread it and are being compliant. I have a choice and can quit my job. These kids don’t and should not have to mask forever.

I think when people take the masks off, they'll realize how much stress and anxiety they were adding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a teacher at an elementary school where kids have to wear masks all day, including at recess.
Very few kids have a problem wearing their mask at recess. I supervise recess duty for half an hour daily at my school for first graders. They all are perfectly able to wear masks. It simply isn't a problem.

My child’s teacher made a similar comment. I was blown away because my son constantly asks when he can stop wearing it.

Yeah, with all due respect to the teachers, the kids do what they're told to do but my daughter asks at least 3 times a week when she can stop wearing the mask. Just because they follow the rules, doesn't mean "it simply isn't a problem".

It's hard for these young kids to navigate social relationships with each other and new adults when they cannot see any facial expressions. Also some of them still have speech issues they are working through and the masks make it even more difficult on this front. It's not normal. To me, of course mask indoors where the benefit is still evident at this point in time when they are not able to be vaccinated. But masking outside is theater and it is has real negatives that outweigh doing it.

Sure kids want to stop masking. We teachers do, too. I have to wear it all day along with a voice amplifier so the kids can hear me!
But kids are absolutely capable of wearing these masks at recess. They complain to parents because you are their parents. My teen complains to me too. But she can wear her mask at practice and at her outdoor job. We can do hard things.

The science shows you don’t need to mask outdoors. Why is you or anyone doing the hard thing exactly?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 9th grader doesn’t feel safe at school unmasked. They chose to eat outside alone (chilling out and watching YouTube) rather than unmask with someone else. Says they have plenty of other opptys to socialize, when masks are on. I hope masks stay for the duration!

This is a sad post. Really.

Some of you have messed up your kids hardcore over this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a teacher at an elementary school where kids have to wear masks all day, including at recess.
Very few kids have a problem wearing their mask at recess. I supervise recess duty for half an hour daily at my school for first graders. They all are perfectly able to wear masks. It simply isn't a problem.

My child’s teacher made a similar comment. I was blown away because my son constantly asks when he can stop wearing it.

Yeah, with all due respect to the teachers, the kids do what they're told to do but my daughter asks at least 3 times a week when she can stop wearing the mask. Just because they follow the rules, doesn't mean "it simply isn't a problem".

It's hard for these young kids to navigate social relationships with each other and new adults when they cannot see any facial expressions. Also some of them still have speech issues they are working through and the masks make it even more difficult on this front. It's not normal. To me, of course mask indoors where the benefit is still evident at this point in time when they are not able to be vaccinated. But masking outside is theater and it is has real negatives that outweigh doing it.

Sure kids want to stop masking. We teachers do, too. I have to wear it all day along with a voice amplifier so the kids can hear me!
But kids are absolutely capable of wearing these masks at recess. They complain to parents because you are their parents. My teen complains to me too. But she can wear her mask at practice and at her outdoor job. We can do hard things.

The science shows you don’t need to mask outdoors. Why is you or anyone doing the hard thing exactly?

Because they want to be the best at doing something useless and unnecessary, because it feels good and earns the respect of other illogical people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
The science shows you don’t need to mask outdoors. Why is you or anyone doing the hard thing exactly?

I thought that changed with delta?

But honestly, the reason to have kids wear masks at recess is that it keeps the rule consistent -- at school we wear masks all the time (except eating). They don't have a chance to go outside, remove and lose their masks, forget to put it back on. It's just part of what they wear, like their shoes and shirt and pants, and hair ribbons. It's part of the outfit.

I just got my booster so I'm totally fine now with unmasked, unvaccinated people in my workspace, though. I'd be fine with removing the mask mandate both outdoors and inside from a vaccinated adult perspective. The masks are to protect the kids from illness from each other at this point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
The science shows you don’t need to mask outdoors. Why is you or anyone doing the hard thing exactly?

I thought that changed with delta?

But honestly, the reason to have kids wear masks at recess is that it keeps the rule consistent -- at school we wear masks all the time (except eating). They don't have a chance to go outside, remove and lose their masks, forget to put it back on. It's just part of what they wear, like their shoes and shirt and pants, and hair ribbons. It's part of the outfit.

I just got my booster so I'm totally fine now with unmasked, unvaccinated people in my workspace, though. I'd be fine with removing the mask mandate both outdoors and inside from a vaccinated adult perspective. The masks are to protect the kids from illness from each other at this point.

Not buying this. Kids also don't wear hats, gloves, scarves, warm coats, and boots inside either. They know the difference between indoor and outdoor items.

[Anonymous]

FWIW, masks make it pretty much impossible for teachers to hear what my DS says at school. He's in PK and soft spoken and with a mask it's just impossible. Sometimes they'll pick up words here and there but mostly they hear nothing. He seems to understand the teachers well enough.

I am just thinking about what this means for him long term. I don't know what to do. All PKs here are required to wear masks, even when the kids are outside. The earliest kids this age will be eligible for a vaccine is probably January and that's very optimistic. Plus not everyone is going to vaccinate kids this young.

I feel desperate about this. I don't love wearing a mask but it also isn't that bad -- it makes some social stuff hard but it's not the end of the world. I'm trying to decide what it means for a child at age 3 or 4 to go a year or more without being able to properly communicate with his teachers. I'm trying to think of what it might mean for him and these other kids psychologically. I don't think they can understand each other either except when shouting at each other on the playground.

This is one of those things that makes me start exploring moving somewhere else so our kid could go to school without a mask, even if it meant being in a place that would be a lot less comfortable for us politically. Or look into homeschool options -- if I went part-time at work and I found a homeschooling collective and people were okay with kids being unmasked when gathering for outdoor activities, at least, maybe I could give him a more normal life.

I hate when people say "kids don't mind masks! stop complaining!" My kid doesn't mind his mask. He's good about wearing it (doesn't pull it down off his nose even) and never complains about it. But no one at school can understand what he's saying. How is this okay?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Not buying this. Kids also don't wear hats, gloves, scarves, warm coats, and boots inside either. They know the difference between indoor and outdoor items.

Bad example -- those are items kids are constantly losing.

My sister teaches at a school where kids take their masks of at recess and she says it is a lot of trouble to get then to put masks back on afterwards; the masks are lost, ripped, thrown away, whatever. She has started requiring kids to bring 2 masks daily if they plan to take it off at recess for this reason.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FWIW, masks make it pretty much impossible for teachers to hear what my DS says at school. He's in PK and soft spoken and with a mask it's just impossible. Sometimes they'll pick up words here and there but mostly they hear nothing. He seems to understand the teachers well enough.

I am just thinking about what this means for him long term. I don't know what to do. All PKs here are required to wear masks, even when the kids are outside. The earliest kids this age will be eligible for a vaccine is probably January and that's very optimistic. Plus not everyone is going to vaccinate kids this young.

I feel desperate about this. I don't love wearing a mask but it also isn't that bad -- it makes some social stuff hard but it's not the end of the world. I'm trying to decide what it means for a child at age 3 or 4 to go a year or more without being able to properly communicate with his teachers. I'm trying to think of what it might mean for him and these other kids psychologically. I don't think they can understand each other either except when shouting at each other on the playground.

This is one of those things that makes me start exploring moving somewhere else so our kid could go to school without a mask, even if it meant being in a place that would be a lot less comfortable for us politically. Or look into homeschool options -- if I went part-time at work and I found a homeschooling collective and people were okay with kids being unmasked when gathering for outdoor activities, at least, maybe I could give him a more normal life.

I hate when people say "kids don't mind masks! stop complaining!" My kid doesn't mind his mask. He's good about wearing it (doesn't pull it down off his nose even) and never complains about it. But no one at school can understand what he's saying. How is this okay?

This is so sad. I hope this area comes to its senses sooner rather than later. I have mild hearing loss and it is really hard to hear people wearing masks, so I get where you are coming from.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 9th grader doesn’t feel safe at school unmasked. They chose to eat outside alone (chilling out and watching YouTube) rather than unmask with someone else. Says they have plenty of other opptys to socialize, when masks are on. I hope masks stay for the duration!

This is a sad post. Really.

Some of you have messed up your kids hardcore over this.

+1 Truly messed up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the anti-maskers in this thread: my five-year old son is immunocompromised and we would not feel safe having him school if there was no mask mandates before he's vaccinated. Sometimes you have to stop thinking about yourself and what amounts to a minor inconvenience so my son can go to school and, you know, not get really sick from a horrible disease.

Do you mean stop thinking about yourselves and think only of me, me, me?

You mean, like the PP is doing? It does seem that the needs of the minority have been outweighing the needs of the many throughout this pandemic. PP, it must be very difficult manaing the condition--having lost two children, I greatly undertand the fear. But there were, and remain, many greater risks to your child. This country simply cannot go on in masks indefinitely to protect a small portion of its population. I'm sorry, but we just can't.

[Anonymous]

As for hearing, it’s an issue. I have to ask students to speak up and repeat themselves all day. I can’t hear them when they are soft spoken and in the middle or back. For some, it’s hard to raise their hand and talk in front of the class in a normal year. And now the teacher is saying they can’t be heard and to say it again. It’s awful.

[Anonymous]

The European equivalent of the CDC does not recommend masking kids under 12 and the following countries are NOT masking elementary school kids in schools (not an exclusive list):
1) United Kingdom
2) Ireland
3) The Netherlands
4) France (particular states)
5) Germany (particular states)
6) Switzerland
7) Slovenia
8 Portugal
9) Iceland
10) Norway
11) Sweden
12) Denmark
13) Finland
14) Australia
15) New Zealand