Schools and Covid 19 (part 5) **Mod warnings in OP**

iamwhoiam

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118231295#Comment_118231295

Vaccines and boosters are stopping people from getting very sick

Kids were in school without masks before all adults were even vaccinated

Now suddenly they want masks on little kids with 97% of adults vaccinated ?

MSVforever

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118231544#Comment_118231544

That's exactly my point.

MSVforever

SusanC10

25 kids in my daughter's class (6th). Yesterday, 21 out of the 23 present were wearing Masks in the classroom.

Daughter delighted not to be in the minority anymore as previously only 3 including her wore them.

Disgusted to be honest. And I won’t be enforcing it in any classroom of mine. The damage this could do is unthinkable. And with it being for 3 months I see no sign of it stopping.

I think one child out of 250 in our school has worn any form of mask since the start of the pandemic. It’s in no way natural for children to wear them.

Shame on our unions, ombudsmen and other people who should have children’s well-being at heart.

Vaccinated30

Ive heard of a school in Dublin sending primary school children home yesterday due to them not wearing masks.

This was a suggestion by NPHET only! I would be flipping mad if my schools started this carry on!

shesty

The Government are only suggesting it too, it would appear.Feel sorry for schools, how do you enforce that.And it wrong, 21 months in and 90% vaccinated, too late to be starting into this nonsense.I honestly don't see how it will do anything anyway

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118243310#Comment_118243310

Teachers and/or principals should have absolutely nothing to do with policing this. I’ve brought a motion to my local union district asking that teachers won’t be enforcing masks and that children will not be disciplined / forced out of school for not wearing a cloth over their mouth.

Marty Bird

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118243287#Comment_118243287

Delighted ? What a world we live in.

History Queen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118243347#Comment_118243347

Second level teachers and principals are already enforcing mask wearing.

sekond

I'm trying to figure out whether the recommendation will apply to after school care/breakfast clubs also. If it does, that's 7.45am to 5.45pm for my daughter wearing a mask (on her longest days there - most days are shorter). That's an awful lot - and that's before we deal with the glasses fogging issue and the fact that she mumbles at the best of times and is reluctant enough to speak up in class, so probably won't at all if she can't be heard properly. I'll send her in with a mask if that's what is requested/required because being an exception would upset her more, but it's going to be a long 4 weeks between now and the Christmas holidays.

bladespin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118244552#Comment_118244552

Yes to a certain degree but it that their role? Also, it's a lot easier to enforce in a secondary setting that it would be in primary.

History Queen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118244599#Comment_118244599

What do you mean to a certain degree and ease of enforcement is debatable

bladespin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118244606#Comment_118244606

I mean, should it be down to the teachers to enforce in the first place?

Also, how can you really enforce it? You can't deny a child education based on their willingness to wear a mask, It's a recommendation at the moment so the decision is left open.

There's also the fact that teachers have been repeatedly told that it's safe to work in a classroom with 'unmasked' children, now that's being challenged, have the board been putting teachers into a dangerous work environment for the past year?

History Queen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118244650#Comment_118244650

If it's a school rule you enforce it like any other. Teachers and students have been working in unsafe conditions in terms of covid transmission.

bladespin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118244677#Comment_118244677

I think the teachers are being scapegoated through this, I feel for them, despite all the concerns they were assured it was safe time and again, now something has changed???

It's not a rule though and it's certainly not like any other rule that I'm aware of, it's cruel and it shouldn't be down to the teacher to enforce.

History Queen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118244697#Comment_118244697

I can't speak for all teachers but personally I don't see why there's so much whinging about this. Is mask wearing ****? Yes! Is it worth students wearing it to mitigate against the current spread in primary schools? Also yes. Enforcement is not as big an issue as you imagine it to be.

bladespin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118244739#Comment_118244739

I'm not making it out to be a big issue, just stating that it shouldn't be down to the teacher to enforce such a silly thing, especially if the government won't actually back them up by making it a requirement instead of a recommendation, again they're being hung out. There's also very little to demonstrate that it would actually mitigate against the spread either.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118244739#Comment_118244739

It is not worth it in primary, no. The damage it will do to already vulnerable children's language skills, confidence and general enjoyment of school will be untold. Then there's SEN kids. Who gets an exemption, how much of a diagnosis do you need to not wear them? And what about lunches, PE, music, etc, does the virus disappear then? And if a child doesn't wear a mask properly, do we deny them their education?

Speaking up for children isn't whinging. What a world this has became. You don't want 8 year olds to be masked up all day and you're a whinger. The psychological impact of this will be unreal.

(There are already year waits for speech and language therapists in schools, huge waiting lists for other SEN diagnoses, all forced masking will serve to is exacerbate it further. But hey, once it's covid it's the only show on the road. Covid bad, everything else we'll just kick a huge can down the road).

History Queen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118244771#Comment_118244771

Most of the issues you highlight re lunches,PE, SEN exemption etc are already dealt with at second level. I assume primary will follow suit. I'm unaware of any child being denied their education for not wearing a mask properly. Are you?

I find your language very emotive, you are obviously greatly concerned. I also fear you are ignorant of the affect of the current covid situation in schools as you seem very concerned about loss of education yet don't approve of a factor that can help students miss LESS education by lessening their chance of catching covid and their teacher's chance. SEN students are currently bearing the brunt of this impact on their education due to the reprehensible decison to use their resource teachers as sub cover. Why is no one concerned about this deniel of education?

I am interested to hear how mask wearing correlates with longer wait times for SLT assessment and diagnosis? I don't see the link.

Not sure how you get from me that I am ignorant of the situation, I just don't buy into the masks saves us all from the children viewpoint.

Masses of children aren't ending up in hospital, and haven't all the time they have been back in school without a face covering. Children can't be held responsible for what is going on with Covid cases, they are just this weeks boogeyman (see rugby fans, teenagers, people drinking on william st, the great unvaxxed, the keelings workers, etc etc). As a country we love blaming someone. When the kids are masked up it'll be a new target - maybe the unboosted.

Masks are a cheap, crude and callous measure to make up for the lack of investment on proper ventilation and air filtration. Open windows during freezing weather is another example of government being cheapskates in relation to school. Not supplying adequate subs is also another cheap measure, it's taken til last week for there to be some movement in alleviating this.

How the situation has come down to (in some people's heads) close schools or mask children is head scratching. Covid is in the community, and will be forever (I think some pro-maskers can't accept this). Schools will unfortunately have cases for years to come. The way to counter this is to have proper contact tracing, adequate teaching cover, and good ventilation systems. We seem to have ignored all three, and instead plump for the options of masking kids in freezing classrooms, and having a shortage of teachers/SNA's.

The point on waiting lists for SLT's is that masking children will just add to the list of children who will be on these waiting lists for confidence and emotional issues, and speech and language issues. Masks might keep a few adults happy that they're safe from the killer children but they are just creating further issues down the line. Some people may be happy to be ignorant of that. As a teacher, if I catch Covid then so be it. I'm at as much risk going down the pub, seeing my friends, going to matches as I am catching it in the classroom wearing my mask for my own protection. The adults in the room need to start behaving like adults and not projecting their fears onto restricting children.

The big issue currently is that contact tracing was stopped. NPHET won’t be seen to be wrong and won’t rectify this, so different measures instead to spare Nolan’s blushes.

History Queen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118245581#Comment_118245581

Masks work to mitigate spread. Mitigating spread helps EVERYONE, students included. I'm not aware of the link between mask wearing and increased need for SLT intervention. I'll read up. Regardless, to pitch this as some sort of "save us from the children" measure is disingenuous. Masks are categorically proven to decrease viral load and thereby impact transmission. Covid incidence in primary school age children is disproportionately high. Wearing masks to help mitigate some of this makes sense. It's not as catastrophic as some are suggesting.

https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2021/p0924-school-masking.html

mohawk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118244739#Comment_118244739

There is no need for it at all. They got rid of contact tracing in primary schools and let numbers sky rocket and now bringing in mask wearing because it’s easy option to be seen to do something. In primary schools there are many children whose speech isn’t always clear etc and how exactly is mask wearing going to help with that? I know from wearing them myself that they get hot and uncomfortable and kids are low risk. It’s not up to kids to protect adults. But more importantly we are taking about bits of cloth not masks. Children will touch them on outside without then sanitising their hands affect. If there is covid in the room then what’s to stop it spreading during lunchtime etc. It’s like restaurants where you don’t have to wear mask at table but you do going to the bathroom. It’s a measure being brought in for show. Adults have vaccines and boosters and if they are really paranoid they can invest in N95 masks for themselves. This virus is low risk to younger age groups.

Vaccinated30

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118245669#Comment_118245669

My kids will not be wearing a mask. Lets be clear, catching covid is not as catastrophic as its suggested. Nobody is trying to stop the spread, there will always be spread. Also, I do not care if my kids catch covid. I do not care if they spread it to vaccinated people. I do not care about anyone outside the people in my 4 walls.

namloc1980

https://twitter.com/gavreilly/status/1465712280201359362?s=20

Masks from 3rd class to be mandatory.

bladespin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118245777#Comment_118245777

Fair play, someone's got to stand up to the machine.

Hurrache

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118243297#Comment_118243297

You're definitely an outlier with your claims that 1 out of 250 only wears a mask. And I'd love to hear more about this unthinkable damage.

Mad_maxx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118246163#Comment_118246163

only power that exists with this is peer pressure , you cant deny a child an education , constitutional right

bettyoleary

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118246219#Comment_118246219

theyll be home schooled so bcos they wont be in a classroom if they dont. you can all isolate together with your covid if you get it and an angry attitude.