I realize that mask compliance is quite variable in different areas, and has unfortunately become a politically charged issue. I'm curious what your schools are doing if a student refuses to wear a mask in class? Is it treated as an education issue, a discipline issue, or just ignored?
My 7th grader said a boy in one of his classes had his mask around his chin on Friday. Their regular teacher is out on an LOA, and one of the permanent building subs has taken over. Between the new teacher being young (and thus with fewer class management strategies than a veteran), and being a sub (which seems to be an open invitation for students to see what they can get away with), the result was the teacher told him if he wasn't going to wear his mask, he should sit in the back of the class. So he did. With COVID cases rising in the state, I'm not okay with a kid sitting mask-less indoors with other kids for over an hour.
Advice on what I should do to advocate for my kid's health without being perceived as "that parent"? I'm thinking my first step should be to contact the school nurse tomorrow. I'm not looking to get anyone "in trouble", but I do want all the teachers, and especially subs, to be empowered to enforce the mask requirement (both district policy and law in my state). I'm tying to keep this on an educational rather than punitive level, which is why I think the RN should be my point of contact rather than the principal, but I'm open to suggestions.
Specializes in ICU/community health/school nursing.
Interesting wrinkle. If the student is a SPED student, we must go to ARD and propose a series of new goals related to normalizing the wearing of masks. Then we have to try that for a period of time (like a month?) before we proceed to the next level.
@noneYet My preschool & kindergarten students have had no issue with masks. Our teachers will adjust the ties to fit better so there's no sliding down the nose, but the youngest of our kids are doing wonderfully. It has quickly become part of their routine to take their mask off after washing hands for snack/lunch and put it back on once they're done eating.
@noneYet My preschool & kindergarten students have had no issue with masks. Our teachers will adjust the ties to fit better so there's no sliding down the nose, but the youngest of our kids are doing wonderfully. It has quickly become part of their routine to take their mask off after washing hands for snack/lunch and put it back on once they're done eating.
It helps me to hear that. I'll feel free to have high expectations. Thank you.
@noneYet My preschool & kindergarten students have had no issue with masks. Our teachers will adjust the ties to fit better so there's no sliding down the nose, but the youngest of our kids are doing wonderfully. It has quickly become part of their routine to take their mask off after washing hands for snack/lunch and put it back on once they're done eating.
My daughter is in K, and they are doing really well with the masks. Basically, it's the only way they've ever done it. I think the littlest kids are more willing to follow the rules. At that age, they tend to like structure, and wearing a mask is kind of a "big kid" thing to do, so they feel accomplished when they do it well.
The K teachers just work in mask breaks, hand hygiene, etc. into the classroom routines. They even have their tissue protocol - kid takes the tissue into the hallway, blows nose, puts mask back on, throws away tissue, uses hand sanitizer, then washes hands. The teacher doesn't even want them touching the faucet with dirty hands. In the cafeteria, they wait until they're at their desks to take off masks to eat. Then they put the masks back on when they go to throw away their trash.
I don't know how much was designed by the teachers vs the school nurse or the health teacher, but it's all really well thought out.
I can definitely see how the nurse would seem like your contact person for this issue, but I'd bet he/she is just going to forward that issue to the school administrator. At least in my district, mask non-compliance is considered a disciplinary issue and not a nursing issue. The nurse could provide some re-education to the sub on why sitting at the back of the class doesn't replace wearing a mask, but the admin is going to be the one to facilitate this one.
And to follow up, this is exactly what happened. When I called the nurse, she told me she was going to walk across the hall to tell the principal the basics, and instructed me to follow up with an email asking him to call me.
We had a good conversation, and I stressed I really didn't want anyone to be "in trouble" - I just wanted it not to happen again. I also didn't use any names, but as the girls vastly outnumber the boys in the class, I'm pretty sure the principal could easily figure out the kid in question.
I'm not exactly sure what went down at the school level, as I haven't heard any more, and don't expect to. The good news is that we haven't had any mask-less kids in any classes. The bad news is now my other son tells me kids on the bus are not wearing their masks. Not even sure where I start with that one.
ruby_jane, BSN, RN
3,142 Posts
Interesting wrinkle. If the student is a SPED student, we must go to ARD and propose a series of new goals related to normalizing the wearing of masks. Then we have to try that for a period of time (like a month?) before we proceed to the next level.