Should kids wear masks to school?
As fall looms, this is one of the hottest, touchiest subjects of the summer — and I admit that the thought of kids having to wear masks in school sickened me.
Even as I wore my own mask anytime I left the house, I didn’t make my son wear his. He’s three and Autistic, and I was sure he wouldn’t keep it on longer than a few minutes.
I had precedent for this belief
Earlier this summer, we went to Costco and he had to wear his Mickey Mouse mask. (The mask did not have adjustable ear straps, so it probably wasn’t as comfy as could be.)
He wore it for five minutes before flinging it off in disdain. I couldn’t convince him to put it back on, and we got a stern talking to by the mask enforcers of Costco.
So imagine my sense of dread when my son’s special-ed summer school program announced he’d have to wear a mask starting this week.
Even though masks aren’t strictly required for kids under 12 in the city where his school is, the therapists and special ed teachers want to practice mask-wearing in case kids need to wear them in the fall.
So I sat down with my almost 4-year-old and told him that wearing a mask was a way to protect him and others from the bad virus that makes people sick.
“Yeah, a mask!” he said. “I like mask. It’s like a mouse-ka-tool,” he said, tossing in a nice Mickey Mouse Clubhouse reference.
I was shocked
I handed him a new spaceship mask with adjustable ear loops and sent him off to summer school with a flicker of hope.
Yet despite his enthusiasm, I felt anxious throughout his two-hour class. I expected to hear of a meltdown, or of him flinging the mask on the floor in frustration.
Instead, when I picked him up, he was happy. He’d worn the mask the entire time and still talked and played with his friends.
That’s when I realized that if anything had limited my son from wearing a mask, it was my own belief that he couldn’t do it.
Like kids often do, he proved me wrong
Since that day, he’s reliably worn his mask every time we go out in public. His spaceship and dinosaur masks have adjustable ear straps, which I’ve found to be a lot more comfortable for long-term mask wearing.
I adjust the straps to fit comfortably over his precious, tiny ears, and he shouts, “I like my mouse-ka-tool!” before leaping off to a new adventure.
So even if it’s not required for him to wear a mask to public school this fall, he’ll be wearing one.
His teachers deserve the protection, and so does he.
Fellow parents, I know it can be heartbreaking to see our kiddos wearing a strip of fabric over their gorgeous, toothy smiles. I know it’s an adjustment for every kid to have to mask up.
But these are COVID-19 kids
Kids of 2020 — resilient kids who will make it through this pandemic and be able to tell their own children about the year when their lives changed utterly.
The year when school suddenly stopped after spring break. People got sick and died all over the entire world. The economy plunged. Everything closed: They couldn’t eat in restaurants, visit stores, playgrounds, or any of the places they once didn’t think twice about going to.
They couldn’t see their friends. They lived with difficult mandates meant to keep them safe. They learned the value of making sacrifices to keep other people safe too.
Friends, my bet is that this generation will have bigger hearts and greater empathy for others than we could ever imagine.
Deep down, even the youngest ones understand the seismic shift and the need for caution. And I don’t know about you, but my kid would much rather wear a mask and go to school than not wear one, see everyone around him fall ill, and have to stay home again for months.
So mask up, and ask your kids to wear one too. Find one that’s comfortable and roomy, with adjustable ears and a fun print.
One day our masks will be little pieces of history.
Maybe we’ll even make art with our old masks once we don’t need them anymore, to remind us of the year (or years) when we gave up personal comfort for the greater good.
