Illness in the classroom and Masks - Does this seem like the kids are unmasked longer than told?

[Anonymous]

Seemingly all of the children in my prek childs classroom all have this cough that sounds absolutely terrible right now. DD just picked it up last evening but I’ve heard it at drop off and pickup from other children. The policy is that the children are masked for everything except naps and meals but is this causing the spread?

[Anonymous]

1 - masks on kids that young a are a joke
2 - everyone has kept their kids in bunkers for the last year and a half so all kinds of kids virus' are surging now that they are being brought back together

[Anonymous]

Naps and meals are most of the time they are at school! Breakfast, am snack, lunch, nap, pm snack. That’s the day!

We sent our kids back and it’s been fine, but be realistic.

[Anonymous]

Your kid is going to get sick in preschool/daycare. That's just the way it works. Any other expectation is unrealistic.

[Anonymous]

Delta is going to rip through pk because of the nap situation.

[Anonymous]

Naps + meals = at least two hours that they aren't masked.

[Anonymous]

This is why I don't think PK kids should wear masks. I think realistically they aren't doing much, and it's going to be a huge pain for teachers and just cause a ton of anxiety as people hand wring about taking them off for meals and nap.

Other countries do not mask young kids and have kept schools open and it has made virtually no difference in Covid rates. Even during Delta. This is definitely a case of security theater.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Delta is going to rip through pk because of the nap situation.

Or not: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/27/us/students-masks-classrooms-britain.html

[Anonymous]

Everyone is sick at both my kids' preschools/daycares. It happened pretty suddenly- up until this point the usual childhood colds, etc., were unusually infrequent. I think reopening as crossed a threshold allowing normal illnesses to spread again. And since kids haven't been picking these up slowly, they're all coming at once.

And I agree with the poster saying masks on preschoolers are a joke. They don't fit, and kids can't wear them properly all day long.

[Anonymous]

I have been screaming this from the roof tops since the mask mandates began in preschool: Young children can not EFFECTIVELY wear masks for long periods of time. I work in daycare and Bless their little hearts, they try and we try but it is just safety theater.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1 - masks on kids that young a are a joke
2 - everyone has kept their kids in bunkers for the last year and a half so all kinds of kids virus' are surging now that they are being brought back together

+1. Plus more evidence is coming out that cloth is not really all that effective, and the vast majority of toddlers/preschoolers are wearing cloth masks (including mine!). wish we'd just follow the WHO on this and not require masks under age 5, it's just dumb.

[Anonymous]

I personally would want to know why the kids were allowed with the cough and whether they were out for the appropriate amount of time before coming back to school. My kid's preschool teacher was at school with a nasty cough over the summer and never took a day off. It infuriated me (and she is part of the senior management and came back from retirement to help during COVID, so it is not a situation where she needed the income and had no other option). Then a bunch of the kids got it, including my kid's best friend who ended up with a not-insignificant respiratory illness (not COVID).

I don't think the school or kids are doing anything out of the ordinary with regard to following or not following the rules, but this is simply what is going to happen. How far apart and where are they during naps? What about eating? As much as they can be outdoors for things, the best.