Reply to Will your DC wear mask to school when Youngkin lifts school mask mandate next week?

Forum Index » VA Public Schools other than FCPS

Reply to "Will your DC wear mask to school when Youngkin lifts school mask mandate next week?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I just read this from a lifelong progressive who has been advocating throughout COVID for platforms of the progressive party during the pandemic like paid leave, universal health care, etc. ALL things that SHOULD have come out of this pandemic if we actually believed in our principles and I thought this was great.  I don’t know why we abandoned following European policies, especially when it comes to kids: Masking kids—let’s start with school age kids. Do you think it is a good idea?  If so, what ages?

At this point, with vaccines available to all children five and older and significant natural immunity in the population, I think masks should be optional at all levels for both children and teachers. For those who want to wear them, schools could provide free surgical masks (students and teachers) and medical respirator masks (older students and teachers) through the end of the academic year. Prior to widespread vaccine availability, I think the WHO, UNICEF, and ECDC guidance made sense: no masks for children under five, limited masking for children under 12, and masking like adults for children 12 and older.

Masking is problematic for literacy instruction and socializing, so I think it was never appropriate to mandate student masks in pre-K or primary school classrooms.

Now let’s talk about masking 2-4 year olds. Only the USA, under the guidance of the American Academy of Pediatrics and CDC does this. Is it sensible?

I think it’s absurd to require children under five to mask. The French explicitly prohibit student masks in their nursery schools. It’s probably even unwise for staff and teachers caring for and educating children this young to mask. One French study shared by the European Commission found that young children in child care and pre-K settings often responded negatively to masked teachers. Of course, I think teachers should always have the choice to mask, but let’s not pretend that there were never harms associated with masked teachers and caregivers interacting with young children.

It’s also worth noting that masked educators are particularly problematic for children with special needs. A child with an IEP for a language delay will be served by a mask speech therapist in New York — is it a good idea for a child already suffering from a language delay to receive interventions from a masked therapist whose speech will be muffled? Norwegian guidance explicitly advises speech therapists and special educators — professionals meeting one-on-one with students — against masking. https://vinayprasadmdmph.substack.com/p/anthony-lamesa-the-interview[/quote]

I disagree with you about under 5 masking but your point about the downsides of masking for special needs students is valid.  But the answer to that is not necessarily broad unmasking.  If the service is one on one, arguably virtual can be relatively more effective (especially if the provider and the student can both be unmasked).  For example, we have kept our OG private tutor virtual because she can see my child’s lips when reading since he has not need to wear a mask when virtual. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics