It’s time to think of back to school stuff, and we’re starting the discussion of masks. Last spring, I would have said kids would wear masks until vaccinated, no question. But now I’m starting to try and weigh out ALL factors since we live in a state where the Governor has taken away the districts’ ability to have mask mandates.
Please save the incredulous comments about how you can’t believe that masks are not required. I get it. I agree. But here we are. There’s nothing I can do to change that, so I just have to move forward.
Our cases are pretty low for now, but vaccination rates aren’t great. Almost no one (kids or adults) is wearing masks in public anywhere anymore…unless specifically required by an establishment (very rare). My son is in band now and of the 10 kids in his class, I think he’s the only one wearing a mask. (The first day, there was one other kid, but I haven’t seen him again.)
I’m having a hard time weighing the risks/benefits of not only Covid, but of social/emotional aspects of school. There has been a lot of bullying and unnecessary comments from kids who aren’t wearing masks towards kids who are. Even though teachers try their hardest to make sure it doesn’t happen, they’re busy doing a million other things, and kids will be kids. I want to protect my kids from Covid, but I also don’t want them to feel outcast by their peers. (They’ve already been largely excluded from previous friends because we chose to stay virtual this year instead of going back, so they’ve got a bit of an uphill climb to begin with, socially.)
Post by ilikedonuts on Jul 13, 2021 14:29:08 GMT -5
Masks are not required, but my kids will be 100% be wearing them the entire time. I’m unsure what I’m going to do about lunch because I doubt there will be much social distancing. I’m concerned. We haven’t done indoor dining yet at all let alone sitting right next to people.
Post by ilikedonuts on Jul 13, 2021 14:34:22 GMT -5
My kids are can be sarcastic back if some kid tries to make a nasty comment about them wearing a mask. And honestly I’m fine with it. They know when another kid is being nice and just asking vs when someone is trying to make fun of them and be a jerk.
I will say I think us families that were all virtual last year mostly plan to send out kids in masks this coming year so I know there is a good chance my kids won’t be the only ones wearing masks (though I doubt it’ll be more then like 10-15% in masks.
Masks are not required, but my kids will be 100% be wearing them the entire time. I’m unsure what I’m going to do about lunch because I doubt there will be much social distancing. I’m concerned. We haven’t done indoor dining yet at all let alone sitting right next to people.
Are you in an area where you feel like a good share of students will still be wearing masks? If we were, I don’t even think I’d be having this conversation. But when our Gov dropped the mandate with 2 weeks left in school last spring, there were some classes already then with only 1-2 students wearing them in class. It sucks because fewer kids wearing masks means higher risk of Covid Spread. But also, fewer kids wearing masks means higher likelihood that those wearing masks will be picked on, raising risks of my already anxious kid becoming more anxious. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
My kids are in different schools -- I expect the younger one will 100% be required to wear a mask. This school was just generally more cautious than our other one. Our other school I am not sure. I expect masks for unvaccinated kids because 3 feet would be tough to maintain. To me the more debatable topic will be what to do with vaccinated kids -- will they ask for proof to be mask free? Will it be an honor system? I doubt we'll know until much closer to school reopening.
Currently we are expecting masks to be optional and we are unsure what we will do with my 10 year old DS. Cases are very low in my state (Maryland) and particularly in my county (Howard). If that continues I will probably feel comfortable allowing him to go maskless. Everyone else in our family is vaccinated and everyone old enough to be vaccinated in our circle of friends is, so I have some comfort in going maskless.
I don’t even know. A week ago I would have said I’m fine with my kid going to school without a mask but with Delta surging big time I’m not entirely sure that is the case anymore.
I will wait for school guidance and go from there I guess. I know they can’t require masks because Abbott but who knows what will happen in the next 4-5 weeks. If things remain as they are this minute I will probably ask DD to wear a mask in the hallways but not necessarily in class. I do think there is a benefit to seeing your classmates and am ok with that risk. In crowded hallways? Nah. Not worth it. If I have her mask at all I think she will be in the but not the only. If cases fall again then I’d be ok with no mask but I don’t see that happening. I’ve been thinking about this, too.
Masks are still required at daycare/camp so she is continuing to wear hers. If they become optional in the fall I would ask her to wear it as much as possible. She doesn't really like to wear them though and often wishes she didn't have to anymore.
Currently we are expecting masks to be optional and we are unsure what we will do with my 10 year old DS. Cases are very low in my state (Maryland) and particularly in my county (Howard). If that continues I will probably feel comfortable allowing him to go maskless. Everyone else in our family is vaccinated and everyone old enough to be vaccinated in our circle of friends is, so I have some comfort in going maskless.
Further complicating this, our state is no longer reporting cases (unless I’m just not finding it). I recall reading that they weren’t going to report anymore. So I can’t even follow the numbers.
Masks will be optional and I have no idea what we will do. Masks are currently optional at daycare and we are not requiring the kids to wear one. We do have them mask up in other public spaces and daycare does have them mask in vehicles. We take them to a very limited amount of indoor places.
Cases are very low here, with multiple days of no new cases at all. Our county is 65% vaccinated. At this point I monitor the numbers and we will mask up again if things start to go the other direction. The hard thing is knowing what my tolerance threshold will be. I don’t think covid is going away, unfortunately.
Masks are not required, but my kids will be 100% be wearing them the entire time. I’m unsure what I’m going to do about lunch because I doubt there will be much social distancing. I’m concerned. We haven’t done indoor dining yet at all let alone sitting right next to people.
Are you in an area where you feel like a good share of students will still be wearing masks? If we were, I don’t even think I’d be having this conversation. But when our Gov dropped the mandate with 2 weeks left in school last spring, there were some classes already then with only 1-2 students wearing them in class. It sucks because fewer kids wearing masks means higher risk of Covid Spread. But also, fewer kids wearing masks means higher likelihood that those wearing masks will be picked on, raising risks of my already anxious kid becoming more anxious. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
I’m in a slightly rural (where I live) to extremely rural (the other end of the county from me) Trump loving county in Ohio. We have a decent vaccination rate but it’s because of our elderly population (80%+ of the elderly are vaccinated while it’s definitely way less of the national average for 50 and under). Our Health department had to turn off their Facebook comments if that tells you anything about who I’m surrounded by. So I really don’t see more then 10% of kids wearing masks in fall. We were just the only family in a decently crowded library grabbing books on hold who were masked (and only 1 librarian out of like 7 was).
Peer pressure especially when dealing with a public health issue is so hard for these kids. It makes me so sad 🙁
I'm pretty sure masks won't be required. I want to send them in masks. I'm afraid my oldest won't keep it on. Kids in his class are jerks and many families in our area are anti masks.
Nobody here is wearing masks and school already voted last spring that masks were optional starting end of last school year. I planned on taking our chances at school in fall, as I figured cases would be down and many people vaccinated. However, our county is still at only about 56% vaccinated, and the Delta variant is making me way more concerned. I’ll be keeping an eye on that and seeing how or if the schools will address it if the variant starts surging in our area.
I checked the kids can decide and probably won’t wear masks, but the Delta variant is throwing things off for me.
After doing virtual school all last year, it would really suck if they went back and immediately got Covid in September!
I believe that masks will be required until vaccination is available for elementary school kids. Apparently our (elementary only) district is planning to not shut down a class for two full week every time there is a covid case as long as kids are masked, asymptomatic, and test regularly if there was an in school exposure. I think that’s totally worth keeping mandatory masks since the whole class quarantines were so disruptive.
Post by luv2rn4fun on Jul 13, 2021 15:51:33 GMT -5
As of right now, they are required (indoors only). If they aren’t required, my boys will be asked to wear them anyways (and they will- they have been awesome about it). I will even ask that they wear them at recess. DS2 has asthma and was REALLY sick just before COVID (and this is usually how his body responds when sick, this time was just worse. Lots of ER visits and a hospitalization for breathing issues since he was 6 months old).
We still wear masks when outside and the boys don’t run errands or go anywhere inside with us. Just today some older man asked why we were wearing a mask 😳. I get it, cases are down (but going up) and we are outside. They don’t have an issue wearing them so it’s really not a big deal for us.
Post by outnumbered on Jul 13, 2021 16:01:17 GMT -5
Yes kids should be wearing masks if unvaccinated.
I live in an area where positive cases are very low. My daughter is a counselor at a day time summer camp in town. A camper in her group tested positive at the end of the week. It was only week 1. Now all those kids need to be quarantined until a negative test 7 days post exposure (they ate inside due to rain).
ETA: lilac05, I am sorry this has to be such a tough choice, I wish people weren't such jerks.
I’ve been experimenting with my comfort levels. Target maskless? It’s rarely crowded so fine. Volleyball camp? 30 kids in a huge space so totally fine. A restroom stop on a road trip with more people crammed in than Disney World? Total panic attack and we all wore masks. I’m using that as my very unscientific comfort level scale.
Masks are encouraged for non-vaccinated people but not required (bc the state says schools can’t have mask mandates). I plan on having my kids wear them, unless vaccination rates go way up and/or cases are way down. But probably will have them wear them. School starts in 5 weeks here so they will be in school for awhile before vaccines are available to them.
Seattle Schools sent out an email saying they'll require them. They're also limiting capacity in common areas. No word on after school activities or specialty teachers yet, but I think those will be the same.
Adult vaccination rates here are very high (95%+ for people over 65, 88% for 50-64, and 80% overall), so the direct health benefits aren't *that* large right now. But since they're going to be doing contact tracing and encouraging kids to stay home if they have the sniffles, putting in effort to keep kids from getting sick in the first place makes sense.
Indoor mask wearing is still pretty common in our area. At the grocery store I'd say it's only dropped to about 80-90% once the mask requirement ended.
Post by klassygoosey on Jul 13, 2021 16:44:59 GMT -5
No one is wearing masks in MA anymore in my area. I cannot see local districts trying to force kids to. From my understand the push is for schools and everything to full return to normal to appease people. Pandemic never happened is kinda the motto.
Right now cases are low and vaccination levels are pretty high, and masks are not required for summer school. I don't know if that will change in the fall if cases start rising.
DS1 wears his mask to summer school and says he's the only kid in his class that does. If masks are still optional in the fall, he will continue to wear his mask. And as a teacher, I plan on wearing one, too.
We haven’t heard definitively yet but I assume masks will be required for anyone who is not vaccinated, and I’m on board with this, as is my 10 year old.
"Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind.”
They haven’t announced what the protocol will be yet (we start September 1st). DS1 will be in high school and theoretically everyone can be vaccinated there. DS2 is too young. I would be shocked if they said the lower grades don’t need to wear masks, but he will wear one whether or not it’s required.l (insure) If the high school doesn’t require them I’ll be fine if DS1 doesn’t wear one. We live in an area of very high vaccination rates and very low cases at the moment.
Post by plutosmoon on Jul 13, 2021 17:11:23 GMT -5
Our district is currently requiring them for summer school, but I haven't heard any announcement about fall. I went to the grocery store and was probably the only person wearing one today, vaccination rates are really good here and cases are low (western MA). My DD's summer daycare is not requiring masks on kids, but any unvaccinated adult must wear one. I sent DD in a mask, she was the only kid wearing one, it didn't last long. They are outside most of the day, so I'm trying not to worry too much. She'd keep wearing it if I told her to, I'm keeping an eye on cases and as long as there are less than 5 in my city, I'm going to let her go without. For fall if it's not required, I'll probably send her in one and decide based on case counts.
Post by timorousbeastie on Jul 13, 2021 17:13:16 GMT -5
Masks most likely will be optional (superintendent has said that they would only be mandatory if the state made them mandatory, which I don’t see happening at this point). DD will still wear her mask at least until she is able to be fully vaccinated. Masks are optional at the camp she went to (mostly outdoors, but I did have DD wear a mask whenever they were inside), and DD was one of maybe 3-4 kids who wore one inside. I don’t expect it to be any better at school. DD did say there were a couple boys at camp that made fun of her for wearing a mask, but she seemed to handle it okay. I just plan to keep reminding her about why masks are good (that she would be okay if she got COVID (I haven’t told her my concerns about long COVID in kids) but science says it’s the best way she can help make sure more vulnerable people don’t get sick). She is borderline obsessive about both science and helping others, so reminding her of this has made her happy to wear one so far. Hopefully that helps her stand up against peer pressure.
No one is wearing masks in MA anymore in my area. I cannot see local districts trying to force kids to. From my understand the push is for schools and everything to full return to normal to appease people. Pandemic never happened is kinda the motto.
Really? I’m in MA (just outside of Boston) and mask wearing inside is very common. All the summer camps/schools are requiring masks indoors still, too
No one is wearing masks in MA anymore in my area. I cannot see local districts trying to force kids to. From my understand the push is for schools and everything to full return to normal to appease people. Pandemic never happened is kinda the motto.
Really? I’m in MA (just outside of Boston) and mask wearing inside is very common. All the summer camps/schools are requiring masks indoors still, too
I am in MA too. I see a lot of masks in public. Masks are required indoors at kids camps.
I would be shocked if school districts did not require masks for younger students.
Post by notsopicky on Jul 13, 2021 17:48:39 GMT -5
I didn't vote in the poll b/c we don't know if masks will be required yet (they are required for all students regardless of vax status for summer school). School starts in 6 weeks, and I assume that they will be required, since the district has issued no change in guidance at this point. Either way, my son (10) WILL wear a mask to school.
We don't know if masks will be required yet. I am guessing they will be for unvaccinated (so all of elementary school) because our governor has been pretty good through this process. Regardless, DD will wear one.