The Cult of Masked Schoolchildren

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/science/articles/cult-masked-schoolchildren

The Cult of Masked Schoolchildren
History will not look kindly on our evidence-free decision to make kids suffer most
by Vinay Prasad
January 19, 2022

As we enter the third year of the pandemic, every child age 5 and up is eligible to receive a COVID vaccine in the United States. Oddly, this development has been accompanied by increased pressure on kids to wear masks in school. Some private schools have gone beyond cloth-masking and mandated N95 (or equivalent) masks for children as young as 4. The Berkeley Unified School District in California recently began transitioning students to N95-level masking. This isn’t a matter of protecting children, their teachers, or their grandparents; it’s delusional and dangerous cultlike behavior.

The way to reduce scientific uncertainty when it comes to practices like masking young children is to conduct randomized studies. When it comes to masking kids in schools, the global scientific community has launched no such studies during the pandemic. The U.K. government recently commissioned a report on the efficacy of masks in school settings, which failed to identify any clear evidence in favor of this practice. Moreover, the authors write:

Wearing face coverings may have physical side effects and impair face identification, verbal and non-verbal communication between teacher and learner. This means there are downsides to face coverings for pupils and students, including detrimental impacts on communication in the classroom...

 

[sharon sanders]

bump this

 

[Emily]

I find it hard to breathe in N95's. I just wear them for as short a time possible to deal with wood smoke exposures. I can't imagine spending a day in one, especially with no valve. Seems cruel to do this to children. I won't blame them if they grow up to have serious conduct disorders. Maybe the adults running around sucker punching seniors were treated like this when they were kids.

 

[sharon sanders]

bump this

 

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/01/kids-masks-schools-weak-science/621133/

The Case Against Masks at School
Districts should rethink imposing on millions of children an intervention that provides little discernible benefit.
By Margery Smelkinson, Leslie Bienen, and Jeanne Noble
January 26, 2022, 8:25 AM ET

About the authors: Margery Smelkinson is an infectious-disease scientist whose research has focused on influenza and SARS-CoV-2. Leslie Bienen is a veterinarian and faculty member at the OHSU-Portland State University School of Public Health. Jeanne Noble is an emergency medicine doctor at UCSF.

In the panicked spring of 2020, as health officials scrambled to keep communities safe, they recommended various restrictions and interventions, sometimes in the absence of rigorous science supporting them. That was understandable at the time. Now, however, two years into this pandemic, keeping unproven measures in place is no longer justifiable. Although no district is likely to roll back COVID policies in the middle of the Omicron surge, at the top of the list of policies we should rethink once the wave recedes is mandatory masks for kids at school.

The CDC guidance on school masking is far-reaching, recommending “universal indoor masking by all students (age 2 and older), staff, teachers, and visitors to K–12 schools, regardless of vaccination status.” In contrast, many countries—the U.K., Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and others—have not taken the U.S.’s approach, and instead follow World Health Organization guidelines, which recommend against masking children ages 5 and younger, because this age group is at low risk of illness, because masks are not “in the overall interest of the child,” and because many children are unable to wear masks properly. Even for children ages 6 to 11, the WHO does not routinely recommend masks, because of the “potential impact of wearing a mask on learning and psychosocial development.” The WHO also explicitly counsels against masking children during physical activities, including running and jumping at the playground, so as not to compromise breathing...