Anonymous
02/08/2022 12:27
Subject: When should DC drop its school mask mandate?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:mom and teacher here. masks are NBD. at all. the people who care so much about masks are not the kids at school.
Masks are big deals for kids that are in speech therapy and need to see mouth and tongue placement.
Masks are needed for immunocompromised individuals that can't be vaccinated. So your child can't see someone's mouth and tongue and has trouble speaking, while my child can die because of covid. Some of you are so selfish.
Talk about selfish. You think the entire education population should sacrifice their own education and social development, mental health and overall well being in an fruitless attempt to maybe, slightly reduce risk of exposure [although no data shows that it actually does] to a few - even while those few still are free to promote their own social life and mental well being by eating out in restaurants, going to bars, and generally participating in society while also protecting themselves by vetting vaccinated, wearing masks, and having priority access to the entire suite of medical treatments if they do get sick? Read the room. The rest of society is done with this false narrative that we somehow need to continually make sacrifices to "protect the vulnerable". Its not working and its not fair.
Nobody's education, social development or mental health is suffering because of masks. You are ridiculous.
-NP
No, the PP is absolutely right. Only in America would anyone argue for the continued masking of all kids to protect an individual's special need. And only in America would someone advance the false narrative that masks have no costs to children's education and social development.
You are literally just making things up. Masks are effective in reducing the spread of COVID and they do not have any serious social/emotional/educational impacts on children. Google is your friend. I found these in under 5 minutes:
"A recent study (Ruba and Pollak, 2020) investigated the implications of mask-wearing on inferring emotions from facial configurations using a sample of children aged between 7 and 13 years old. They revealed that children could make above-chance inferences about emotions even when parts of the faces were covered, concluding that masks are unlikely to produce serious impairments of children’s social interactions."
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33362251/
"While there may be some challenges for children incurred by others wearing masks, in combination with other contextual cues, masks are unlikely to dramatically impair children’s social interactions in their everyday lives.”
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0243708
"In this survey study of 6654 childcare professionals from all 50 states, child masking at baseline (May 22 to June 8, 2020) was associated with a 13% reduction in program closure within the following year, and continued child masking throughout the 1-year study period was associated with a 14% reduction in program closure."
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2788457
Safety of masks:
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/11/3935
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-55451-w
I totally believe that you spent no more than five minutes thinking about this and copying these links to buttress your agenda. As for the childcare center study you cited, here is a link to Vinay Prasad (who evaluates medical studies for a living) going over how poorly designed it was:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivIEnk2sbIg
Anonymous
02/08/2022 12:26
Subject: Re:When should DC drop its school mask mandate?
My kid was diagnosed with speech issues during the pandemic. He's receiving services where they are both masked. Obviously I don't have access to the counterfactual here, and as was pointed out, no one has run the study on this yet so we don't have access to that as possible body of knowledge. But this obviously isn't ideal. He has trouble with certain sounds, and masks impede both comprehension and seeing each other's mouths. It's not how anyone would choose to do this if what we were trying to do was provide effective services for children.
He is vaccinated. So is the person providing services. They are both tested regularly. And no one thinks this is going to end before the end of the year even if rates plummet. No one would publicly defend this, because of course it doesn't make sense. My kid is collateral damage. Of course I am not ok with this.
He is vaccinated. So is the person providing services. They are both tested regularly. And no one thinks this is going to end before the end of the year even if rates plummet. No one would publicly defend this, because of course it doesn't make sense. My kid is collateral damage. Of course I am not ok with this.
Anonymous
02/08/2022 12:21
Subject: When should DC drop its school mask mandate?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:mom and teacher here. masks are NBD. at all. the people who care so much about masks are not the kids at school.
Masks are big deals for kids that are in speech therapy and need to see mouth and tongue placement.
Masks are needed for immunocompromised individuals that can't be vaccinated. So your child can't see someone's mouth and tongue and has trouble speaking, while my child can die because of covid. Some of you are so selfish.
Talk about selfish. You think the entire education population should sacrifice their own education and social development, mental health and overall well being in an fruitless attempt to maybe, slightly reduce risk of exposure [although no data shows that it actually does] to a few - even while those few still are free to promote their own social life and mental well being by eating out in restaurants, going to bars, and generally participating in society while also protecting themselves by vetting vaccinated, wearing masks, and having priority access to the entire suite of medical treatments if they do get sick? Read the room. The rest of society is done with this false narrative that we somehow need to continually make sacrifices to "protect the vulnerable". Its not working and its not fair.
Nobody's education, social development or mental health is suffering because of masks. You are ridiculous.
-NP
No, the PP is absolutely right. Only in America would anyone argue for the continued masking of all kids to protect an individual's special need. And only in America would someone advance the false narrative that masks have no costs to children's education and social development.
You are literally just making things up. Masks are effective in reducing the spread of COVID and they do not have any serious social/emotional/educational impacts on children. Google is your friend. I found these in under 5 minutes:
"A recent study (Ruba and Pollak, 2020) investigated the implications of mask-wearing on inferring emotions from facial configurations using a sample of children aged between 7 and 13 years old. They revealed that children could make above-chance inferences about emotions even when parts of the faces were covered, concluding that masks are unlikely to produce serious impairments of children’s social interactions."
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33362251/
"While there may be some challenges for children incurred by others wearing masks, in combination with other contextual cues, masks are unlikely to dramatically impair children’s social interactions in their everyday lives.”
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0243708
"In this survey study of 6654 childcare professionals from all 50 states, child masking at baseline (May 22 to June 8, 2020) was associated with a 13% reduction in program closure within the following year, and continued child masking throughout the 1-year study period was associated with a 14% reduction in program closure."
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2788457
Safety of masks:
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/11/3935
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-55451-w
I am glad Google helped fill your agenda. I am also the PP about masks preventing my child from receiving proper speech therapy. While I appreciate your ability to use Google, I will go with what the specialists at Children's Hospitals have told me. Masks are a disservice to children with speech issues. They cannot see lip and tongue placement. For 2 years now my child has received less than mediocre speech therapy in DCPS. Our neurodevelopmental doc has mentioned that we should possibly give virtual speech lessons another try; however, virtual sessions 3x a week for 30 minutes is hard for a child with special needs. The doctor recommended virtual as masks would not be worn during sessions (obviously) and my child could see proper lip and tongue placement.
For what it's worth, my child was part of a Pfizer covid vaccine study and he's been vaccinated for over a year now. So you're welcome for helping out immunocompromised children.
Yeah, it's hilarious that the PP is trying to put someone in their place by condescendingly recommending to use Google to find a small, flawed, ideologically motivated study, believing that it proves once and for all that masks don't have *any* negative effect on children. Nothing makes you look more foolish than thinking this question is solved for all time because Google spit out a link to a "study" - even more so when you are apparently unaware that your two links are both references to the same study. I also love how the abstract of that study says that the WHO recommends masks to slow the spread of Covid, while conveniently glossing over the fact that the WHO does explicitly *not* recommend masking children under 5, and masking under-12 year olds only in specific circumstances.
Anonymous
02/08/2022 12:18
Subject: Re:When should DC drop its school mask mandate?
To get back to OP's topic and subject sentence: DC should drop the mask mandate as soon as possible!
Anonymous
02/08/2022 12:13
Subject: When should DC drop its school mask mandate?
Anonymous wrote:So none of you have any studies AT ALL to back up the BS you are spewing about masks being harmful. Got it.
Many many many many children had speech issues prior to the pandemic (including my own, diagnosed years before the pandemic). I get that you would like to blame your kids' speech issues on masks, but that's not the reason your kid needs speech therapy.
So what you are saying is that your chid was diagnosed and treated for speech issues during a time when no one in school wore masks and there was no issue with your child getting speech therapy from an unmasked therapist? And now your child is older and "doesn't mind" wearing a mask, so you feel like you can tell parents whose kids were diagnosed with speech issues during the pandemic, and now have to fight (often unsuccessfully) to get unmasked speech therapy that they can't complain? And you feel confident that masks have NO IMPACT on speech issues?
There is no study that says masking for 2+ years is fine for young kids. There is also no study that says it harms them. That's because WE ARE THE STUDY. You are fortunate that your kid is too old to part of this grand experiment in masking children under the age of 6 for years at a time and seeing how it impacts them. Your child got to go to preschool and kindergarten and likely 1st grade without a mask, got to attend speech therapy without a mask, etc. How wonderful for your child. How dare you tell me that I can't want that for my own child, especially when there is dwindling evidence that mask usage in this age group does anything to protect anyone.
Anonymous
02/08/2022 12:11
Subject: When should DC drop its school mask mandate?
Anonymous wrote:So none of you have any studies AT ALL to back up the BS you are spewing about masks being harmful. Got it.
Many many many many children had speech issues prior to the pandemic (including my own, diagnosed years before the pandemic). I get that you would like to blame your kids' speech issues on masks, but that's not the reason your kid needs speech therapy.
My pediatrician mentioned that there is a marked increase in referrals for speech. I am concerned about my own 2 year old who has spent her life around masked people all day long. You can keep you kid in a mask for eternity, but those that want to get rid of them should be allowed.
Anonymous
02/08/2022 12:04
Subject: When should DC drop its school mask mandate?
Anonymous wrote:So none of you have any studies AT ALL to back up the BS you are spewing about masks being harmful. Got it.
Many many many many children had speech issues prior to the pandemic (including my own, diagnosed years before the pandemic). I get that you would like to blame your kids' speech issues on masks, but that's not the reason your kid needs speech therapy.
DP, but wow. People are very calmly telling you of their experiences with their special needs kids. They are saying that their childrens' progress is hurt by masking.
I mean, you sound like one of the anti-maskers saying that there have always been immunocompromised kids, so who cares about them now.
Anonymous
02/08/2022 12:01
Subject: When should DC drop its school mask mandate?
So none of you have any studies AT ALL to back up the BS you are spewing about masks being harmful. Got it.
Many many many many children had speech issues prior to the pandemic (including my own, diagnosed years before the pandemic). I get that you would like to blame your kids' speech issues on masks, but that's not the reason your kid needs speech therapy.
Many many many many children had speech issues prior to the pandemic (including my own, diagnosed years before the pandemic). I get that you would like to blame your kids' speech issues on masks, but that's not the reason your kid needs speech therapy.
Anonymous
02/08/2022 11:58
Subject: When should DC drop its school mask mandate?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:mom and teacher here. masks are NBD. at all. the people who care so much about masks are not the kids at school.
Masks are big deals for kids that are in speech therapy and need to see mouth and tongue placement.
Masks are needed for immunocompromised individuals that can't be vaccinated. So your child can't see someone's mouth and tongue and has trouble speaking, while my child can die because of covid. Some of you are so selfish.
Talk about selfish. You think the entire education population should sacrifice their own education and social development, mental health and overall well being in an fruitless attempt to maybe, slightly reduce risk of exposure [although no data shows that it actually does] to a few - even while those few still are free to promote their own social life and mental well being by eating out in restaurants, going to bars, and generally participating in society while also protecting themselves by vetting vaccinated, wearing masks, and having priority access to the entire suite of medical treatments if they do get sick? Read the room. The rest of society is done with this false narrative that we somehow need to continually make sacrifices to "protect the vulnerable". Its not working and its not fair.
Nobody's education, social development or mental health is suffering because of masks. You are ridiculous.
-NP
No, the PP is absolutely right. Only in America would anyone argue for the continued masking of all kids to protect an individual's special need. And only in America would someone advance the false narrative that masks have no costs to children's education and social development.
You are literally just making things up. Masks are effective in reducing the spread of COVID and they do not have any serious social/emotional/educational impacts on children. Google is your friend. I found these in under 5 minutes:
"A recent study (Ruba and Pollak, 2020) investigated the implications of mask-wearing on inferring emotions from facial configurations using a sample of children aged between 7 and 13 years old. They revealed that children could make above-chance inferences about emotions even when parts of the faces were covered, concluding that masks are unlikely to produce serious impairments of children’s social interactions."
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33362251/
"While there may be some challenges for children incurred by others wearing masks, in combination with other contextual cues, masks are unlikely to dramatically impair children’s social interactions in their everyday lives.”
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0243708
"In this survey study of 6654 childcare professionals from all 50 states, child masking at baseline (May 22 to June 8, 2020) was associated with a 13% reduction in program closure within the following year, and continued child masking throughout the 1-year study period was associated with a 14% reduction in program closure."
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2788457
Safety of masks:
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/11/3935
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-55451-w
I am glad Google helped fill your agenda. I am also the PP about masks preventing my child from receiving proper speech therapy. While I appreciate your ability to use Google, I will go with what the specialists at Children's Hospitals have told me. Masks are a disservice to children with speech issues. They cannot see lip and tongue placement. For 2 years now my child has received less than mediocre speech therapy in DCPS. Our neurodevelopmental doc has mentioned that we should possibly give virtual speech lessons another try; however, virtual sessions 3x a week for 30 minutes is hard for a child with special needs. The doctor recommended virtual as masks would not be worn during sessions (obviously) and my child could see proper lip and tongue placement.
For what it's worth, my child was part of a Pfizer covid vaccine study and he's been vaccinated for over a year now. So you're welcome for helping out immunocompromised children.
Anonymous
02/08/2022 11:33
Subject: When should DC drop its school mask mandate?
+1. I'm happy to show you my bills for private speech and literacy therapy over the past two years in a futile attempt to keep up with DCPS's failures.
Anonymous
02/08/2022 11:27
Subject: Re:When should DC drop its school mask mandate?
None of those studies look at the long term effect if daily mask wearing on children during the literacy and socialization acquisition years of PK through 2nd or 3rd grade.
I don’t need a study to tell me that masking means my child struggles to communicate at school. Her teacher has told me she can’t understand my kid at school and that the children struggle to hear each other and it has inhibited friendships and communications.
Most of the literature around masking looks at whether it has a negative impact in the moment. Like if I put on a mask and then smile at my kid, can she tell I’m smiling? Yes. Great, that’s one of many reasons why most of us did not complain when asked to mask our 2yo kids 2 years ago.
But when you sit there and explain to me that this means there is no negative impact to a child under the age of 6 spending the first 2-3 years of her school career in a masked environment, you sound insane. Of course there’s a negative impact. I see it every day.
I don’t need a study to tell me that masking means my child struggles to communicate at school. Her teacher has told me she can’t understand my kid at school and that the children struggle to hear each other and it has inhibited friendships and communications.
Most of the literature around masking looks at whether it has a negative impact in the moment. Like if I put on a mask and then smile at my kid, can she tell I’m smiling? Yes. Great, that’s one of many reasons why most of us did not complain when asked to mask our 2yo kids 2 years ago.
But when you sit there and explain to me that this means there is no negative impact to a child under the age of 6 spending the first 2-3 years of her school career in a masked environment, you sound insane. Of course there’s a negative impact. I see it every day.
Anonymous
02/08/2022 11:14
Subject: When should DC drop its school mask mandate?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:mom and teacher here. masks are NBD. at all. the people who care so much about masks are not the kids at school.
Masks are big deals for kids that are in speech therapy and need to see mouth and tongue placement.
Masks are needed for immunocompromised individuals that can't be vaccinated. So your child can't see someone's mouth and tongue and has trouble speaking, while my child can die because of covid. Some of you are so selfish.
Talk about selfish. You think the entire education population should sacrifice their own education and social development, mental health and overall well being in an fruitless attempt to maybe, slightly reduce risk of exposure [although no data shows that it actually does] to a few - even while those few still are free to promote their own social life and mental well being by eating out in restaurants, going to bars, and generally participating in society while also protecting themselves by vetting vaccinated, wearing masks, and having priority access to the entire suite of medical treatments if they do get sick? Read the room. The rest of society is done with this false narrative that we somehow need to continually make sacrifices to "protect the vulnerable". Its not working and its not fair.
Nobody's education, social development or mental health is suffering because of masks. You are ridiculous.
-NP
No, the PP is absolutely right. Only in America would anyone argue for the continued masking of all kids to protect an individual's special need. And only in America would someone advance the false narrative that masks have no costs to children's education and social development.
You are literally just making things up. Masks are effective in reducing the spread of COVID and they do not have any serious social/emotional/educational impacts on children. Google is your friend. I found these in under 5 minutes:
"A recent study (Ruba and Pollak, 2020) investigated the implications of mask-wearing on inferring emotions from facial configurations using a sample of children aged between 7 and 13 years old. They revealed that children could make above-chance inferences about emotions even when parts of the faces were covered, concluding that masks are unlikely to produce serious impairments of children’s social interactions."
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33362251/
"While there may be some challenges for children incurred by others wearing masks, in combination with other contextual cues, masks are unlikely to dramatically impair children’s social interactions in their everyday lives.”
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0243708
"In this survey study of 6654 childcare professionals from all 50 states, child masking at baseline (May 22 to June 8, 2020) was associated with a 13% reduction in program closure within the following year, and continued child masking throughout the 1-year study period was associated with a 14% reduction in program closure."
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2788457
Safety of masks:
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/11/3935
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-55451-w
Anonymous
02/08/2022 11:11
Subject: When should DC drop its school mask mandate?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I’m sure DC will be among the last to drop so I’m not holding my breath. At most, I think we might see dropping it for outdoor activities / drop off/ pick up as that’s really just COVID theatre.
I've not worn a mask at drop off or pickup in months, and no one seems to care. I'm not the only one, either.
You're a rebel and inconsiderate. It's all about you and how inconvenient wearing a mask is for you but never thinking of others.
PP here. Whether I wear a mask or not outside at pickup and drop off has zero impact on anyone else. It's not like I'm sharing an elevator maskless or something like that.
This. Masks outside are pure theater. I still wear one at pickup, even though I otherwise have never masked outdoors, because I would literally be the only one unmasked at our school. But unlike a lot of other parents, I take it off as soon as I start leaving the school grounds and am not near anyone anymore.
What's hilarious are the parents and kids who wear theirs walking all the way home. Outside. With hardly anyone around.
Yes. Many of those at our school. I really don't get it. I chalk it up to virtue signaling, but maybe it's legitimate anxiety.
I will say I have done it recently because I'm very cold all the time.
Same. It's been freezing. Don't worry about what others are doing.
Anonymous
02/08/2022 11:09
Subject: When should DC drop its school mask mandate?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I’m sure DC will be among the last to drop so I’m not holding my breath. At most, I think we might see dropping it for outdoor activities / drop off/ pick up as that’s really just COVID theatre.
I've not worn a mask at drop off or pickup in months, and no one seems to care. I'm not the only one, either.
You're a rebel and inconsiderate. It's all about you and how inconvenient wearing a mask is for you but never thinking of others.
PP here. Whether I wear a mask or not outside at pickup and drop off has zero impact on anyone else. It's not like I'm sharing an elevator maskless or something like that.
This. Masks outside are pure theater. I still wear one at pickup, even though I otherwise have never masked outdoors, because I would literally be the only one unmasked at our school. But unlike a lot of other parents, I take it off as soon as I start leaving the school grounds and am not near anyone anymore.
What's hilarious are the parents and kids who wear theirs walking all the way home. Outside. With hardly anyone around.
Yes. Many of those at our school. I really don't get it. I chalk it up to virtue signaling, but maybe it's legitimate anxiety.
I will say I have done it recently because I'm very cold all the time.
Anonymous
02/08/2022 10:53
Subject: When should DC drop its school mask mandate?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I’m sure DC will be among the last to drop so I’m not holding my breath. At most, I think we might see dropping it for outdoor activities / drop off/ pick up as that’s really just COVID theatre.
I've not worn a mask at drop off or pickup in months, and no one seems to care. I'm not the only one, either.
You're a rebel and inconsiderate. It's all about you and how inconvenient wearing a mask is for you but never thinking of others.
PP here. Whether I wear a mask or not outside at pickup and drop off has zero impact on anyone else. It's not like I'm sharing an elevator maskless or something like that.
This. Masks outside are pure theater. I still wear one at pickup, even though I otherwise have never masked outdoors, because I would literally be the only one unmasked at our school. But unlike a lot of other parents, I take it off as soon as I start leaving the school grounds and am not near anyone anymore.
What's hilarious are the parents and kids who wear theirs walking all the way home. Outside. With hardly anyone around.
Yes. Many of those at our school. I really don't get it. I chalk it up to virtue signaling, but maybe it's legitimate anxiety.