A parent’ s complete guide to… face mask exemptions at school and how your child is eligible
Introduction
On 2nd January 2022, the BBC reported that pupils in England’s secondary schools would be required to wear face masks again. Allegedly, this mandate will reduce the spread of the Omicron variant of Covid-19. This just goes to show that the shambles that is our Government believes children are virus-hoarding superspreaders which is completely untrue and psychologically unsound. Relievingly, in the United Kingdom, children aged 11 or under are automatically exempt from mask-wearing in all settings, including education. Regrettably, this is not the case in other jurisdictions including Singapore and the U.S. State of North Carolina, where it is a legal requirement for children aged six and above to wear face masks. According to Kang Lee, a developmental psychologist at the University of Toronto,
‘[c]hildren begin to recognise basic emotions – happiness, sadness, fear, anger, and so on – from as early as 10 months of age, with development peaking around five or six years … [b]eing able to see faces in their entirety is a key part of such development and masking can hinder that process, he says: “We learn emotions mostly through the face”’.
Therefore, such mandates are significantly damaging to young children and can significantly arrest their development.
Recently, it has been reported that evidence used by the Government to introduce this face mask mandate in secondary education settings is ‘not conclusive’ as to its effectiveness in reducing the spread of Covid-19. The Government has also admitted that wearing face coverings ‘may have physical side effects and impair face identification, verbal and non-verbal communication between teacher and learner’; such measures have therefore been detrimental to student engagement and learning in classroom settings. Significant, potentially long-term health problems can also be created by mask-wearing. Given these drawbacks, it is difficult to understand why the Government is so keen to mandate face masks for secondary pupils. This article is a guide to understanding why children should be mask-free in classroom settings to ensure they can learn happily without let or hindrance and points to a recent High Court case regarding this pertinent issue.
Negative impacts on education
The World Health Organisation (WHO) have noted that, ‘the benefits of wearing masks in children for COVID-19 control should be weighed against potential harm associated with wearing masks, including feasibility and discomfort, as well as social and communication concerns’. Giovanelli has also conducted research highlighting the ‘severe obstacle to social inclusion’ that is created by mask-wearing. Additionally, it has been found that mask-wearing has ‘led to lower performance and lower listening confidence scores as well as increased listening effort’ in people, and probably considerably more so in children. Essentially, face masks reduce speech comprehension, because ‘the actual audio-visual benefit coming from vision relies on lip reading’. Obscuring the lower part of the face with a mask further undermines non-verbal communication and dramatically decreases the ability to recognise emotions effectively. Saunders’ research has also shown that face coverings inhibit effective communication, a lack of feeling of mutual connection with other speakers, decreased willingness to engage in conversation, and a strong negative impact on people’s anxiety levels, stress and self-confidence. It was further found that face coverings ‘make communication fatiguing, frustrating, and embarrassing’. Children with certain disabilities such as hearing loss or related impairments are severely affected because they will rely heavily on lip reading. Such detrimental impacts have been alluded to by the National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS) in their recent position paper; deaf children are significantly disadvantaged by face masks in the classroom:
‘Teaching is all about communication and accessing this is already a challenge for deaf children. In some cases, there may be little point in deaf children attending school or college and requiring them to do so, when they cannot understand their teachers or peers, could do significant harm to their wellbeing’.
In April 2021, the Department of Education (DoE) conducted their own research via a survey and found that (94%) of all secondary leaders and teachers thought that face mask wearing in education settings have made communication between teachers and students more difficult: 59% stated that it has been made a lot more difficult. Similarly, in another survey conducted in March 2021, it was found that 80% of pupils reported that wearing a face covering made it more difficult to communicate and more than 50% felt that learning had been made more difficult as a
result of face mask wearing. Therefore, these severe risks demonstrably outweigh the relatively small risk the Omicron variant of Covid-19 poses to healthy children with no comorbidities or health issues.
Negative impacts on health
Although mainstream media heavily downplays such concerns, there are indeed many health risks associated with wearing face masks. In October 2021, a Belgian study found the presence of titanium dioxide in synthetic face masks, indicating that this carcinogen is potentially lurking within some face masks used by the general public. Although the EU responded to the study stating that face masks do not pose such health risks, Belgian Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke has mentioned that Belgium plans to ‘force manufacturers to disclose the presence of titanium dioxide in face masks’.
Writing in the British Medical Journal in 2020, Dr. Carla Peeters exposed many of the significant health risks children and adolescents expose themselves to when wearing masks. At the time it was reported that the upper respiratory tract could be contaminated by viruses and bacteria on the outside of medical face masks (as detected in several hospitals). Masks, especially when moist, can become a breeding ground for bacteria and fungi which is often resistant to antibiotics and can inhibit the natural viral immunity of your mucosa. You may also become a victim of ‘mask mouth’, a nasty side effect of mask wearing which can cause a multitude of severe (and often expensive) health issues such as bad breath, gum inflammation (including disease such as gingivitis) and tooth decay. You have also probably heard about “maskne”, a sort of annoying acne caused by masks. Similarly, candida overgrowth is another serious health risk and can cause painful mouth sores and even chapped, raw, red, irritated areas around your mouth or an unpleasant skin rash.
The WHO has also pointed to a large swathe of health risks associated with mask wearing, the most relevant problems being:
(a) Potential increased risk of self-contamination due to the manipulation of a face mask and subsequently touching eyes with contaminated hands;
(b) Potential self-contamination that can occur if non-medical masks are not changed when wet or soiled. Favourable conditions are henceforth created for microorganisms to amplify and thrive;
(c) Potentiality for headaches and/or breathing difficulties, depending on the type of mask used;
(e) Potential discomfort;
(f) A false sense of security, which in turn leads to other ramifications such as potentially lower adherence to other critical preventative measures such as hand hygiene. As mentioned above, children aren’t able to recognise facial expressions as effectively when they are wearing face masks which Dr Peeters correctly argues is damaging to pupils’ mental health because they need to mirror facial expressions; it ‘facilitates empathetic connections and trust between pupils and teachers’. Lack thereof causes ‘a significant increase in socio-psychological stress’. Socio-psychological stress is significantly dangerous for adolescents, especially because they are going through puberty; such stress can leave ‘neuro-epigenetic scars that are difficult to cure in young people and often escalate into psychological behavioural problems and a weakened immune system’. It is in fact, a truth universally acknowledged throughout the UK that there has been an alarming increase in anxiety and depression in the UK fuelled by the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to research conducted by King’s College London and the University of Nottingham in September 2020, women and young peoples’ mental health are the most affected by the damaging lockdowns. Therefore, the evidence is clear that a wide plethora of health risks may arise as a result of children wearing face masks in school. Understandably, there are also significant external factors that may arise, making your child potentially feel forced to wear a mask. For example, your child may be ostracised from participating in certain activities, victimised by their teachers, and feel peer pressure from friends to be with the “in-crowd”. These external psychological influences may make it difficult for your child to deviate from mask compliance.
Court litigation
AB v Tapton (2021) (“AB”) is an interesting legal case as to the wearing of masks by children in schools and the High Court handed down its judgment on 5th May 2021. AB, a 12-year-old
girl (“the claimant”) decided to attend school without a face mask, even though severe peer pressure and pressure from teachers made this exceptionally difficult for her. The claimant gave
evidence that:
“Like one of my friends said to me ‘I feel as those wearing it is harming me [sic], but I feel like we have to because I don’t want to get told off.’ Those were the words she was using.”
“Teachers take it in turns, some of them seeming to enjoy it, wondering corridors [sic] and checking through the windows in classes to make sure everyone’s wearing masks. Three bad-behaviour points and you get excluded. It’s not done quietly but in front of everyone.”
Although the claimant lost her case because the court considered it unnecessary to grant her an injunction (due to the school insisting that the claimant would not be discriminated against), many positives can be derived from the judgment. Firstly, the school assured the court that the claimant would not be required to wear a mask and relied upon its own policy (as derived from Government guidance), saying that even if a child at school does not have a medical exemption, they still would not be forced to wear a mask. Therefore, the court’s decision emphasises that no child in school can actually be forced to wear a mask. Secondly, the court highlighted that the school had not provided enough evidence as to whether it had conducted a full or sufficient risk assessment. Thirdly, the court acknowledged the learned opinions of Chartered Health and Safety Practitioner Ms Simone Plaut and Clinical Psychologist Dr Zenobia Storah.
What are the current rules, and is my child exempt?
The Government has recently published an explainer as to the new rules regarding face masks in school settings. Accordingly, all pupils are now forced to wear face masks in school unless they are exempt. This includes all communal areas and all settings for students in year 7 or above, unless they are exempt. Simply, those who are exempt do not have to wear masks. Children under the age of 11 are exempt from wearing face masks in all settings, including education.
There are quite a few circumstances in which someone may be exempt from wearing a face covering. Schools must be mindful and respectful of such persons; reasons for the inability to
wear a face covering are sometimes not visible to others. Such circumstances include (but are not limited to):
- people who cannot put on, wear or remove a face covering because of a physical or
mental illness or impairment, or disability; - people for whom putting on, wearing or removing a face covering will cause severe
distress; and - people speaking to or providing assistance to someone who relies on lip reading, clear
sound or facial expressions to communicate to avoid the risk of harm or injury to yourself
or others.
The guidance further reiterates that it is not practical to mandate that pupils should wear face coverings in lessons or activities that may involve strenuous physical activities such as PE lessons.
The guidance will be reviewed on 26 January 2022 and hopefully the mask mandate will be revoked. Until then, your child could speak with a relevant senior teacher (e.g., headmaster, pastoral leader, head of year etc) to confirm their medical exemption to mask-wearing, or you (as a parent) could do this on your child’s behalf by contacting the school via telephone or email.
Laworfiction.com have created a comprehensive and informative adaptable letter for parents to send to their child’s school.
Risk Assessments
Your child’s school must not ignore the many reports and general evidence that exists, explaining why masks may be damaging to children’s physical and mental health as well as to their education. You should ensure that your child’s school has an adequate risk assessment in place which takes note of these serious ramifications of mask-wearing. The school must review their risk assessments thoroughly and regularly. The Government and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have recommended that schools conduct a ‘covid-secure’ assessment to inhibit the spread of Covid-19. However, it should not be prioritised over other dangers and risks. The assessment is of narrow focus and is fundamentally flawed in the vast majority of circumstances.
Conclusion
I really hope that mandatory face masks in UK secondary schools will be abolished on 26 January 2022, and this guide can become a historical document evidencing the medical stupidity and confusing diktats that children and young people have been so cruelly subjected to during the pandemic. This article has alluded to the various problems associated with face mask wearing in classrooms, from severe hindrances to learning, engagement and development, to the dangerous medical side effects of wearing face masks. As a parent, you should speak with your child about the issues espoused in this article and make them fully aware of the exemption they are entitled to. Happily, the Government has made it clear that schools must be mindful and respectful of children and young adults who cannot wear a face mask; discriminatory treatment of such pupils by a school would be completely anathema Government guidance and the principles espoused in AB. Some helpful links have been attached to this article below, for your perusal.
Helpful Links
Us For Them – https://usforthem.co.uk/open-letters/no-masks-in-class/
Twitter (Julia Hartley-Brewer) https://twitter.com/talkRADIO/status/1479009592390656003
Law or Fiction – https://www.laworfiction.com/stop-masks-in-schools/
Cognitive Analysis – https://cognitiveanalysis.co/index.php/no-covid-19-vaccines-for-children/