Reply to Call to Action: Help create a safe learning environment for medically fragile students

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Reply to "Call to Action: Help create a safe learning environment for medically fragile students"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I know this sounds horrible but I would be devastated and not really onboard if I were asked to mask my kindergartener. 5 year olds don't mask very well, it would be super distracting for the teacher to enforce, and this age is such a critical time in kids' social development. We had a really bad experience with masking our child when she was 2. She is older now but has been through a lot. [/quote]

It really is a critical time for their social development. Imagine if you were in OP’s shoes and had to hear so many people telling you that the best solution is to keep an “eager student” at home.

And at the same time - isn’t empathy and compassion an important part of social development? Kids want to help others, and they understand more than we give them credit for. If it’s approached as “here is this thing we can do to protect a friend in our community” and they make it part of the daily routine and make it fun with little songs, etc, like we do with hand washing and listening, it could work and not be traumatic. [/quote]

That doesn't change the fact that masks obscure people's faces and studies have clearly shown that affects children's ability to interpret emotions.

I sympathize with OP and her child. I think it's a really tough situation. But other people's children matter too, so there needs to be a very clear, dramatic  benefit to masking 5 year olds. Compassion and empathy extend to everyone. I am not convinced there is one.[/quote]

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