When Tania Villalobos’s 5-year-old daughter joins her shopping, it’s a battle to keep the child’s face mask on.
“We’ll go to the store to do whatever and she’s already trying to take it off,” Villalobos said. “I’m always having to remind her.”
Under the latest executive order from Gov. Tim Walz, Sofia and her kindergarten classmates will be expected to keep their masks on throughout the school day this fall — assuming schools reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“I don’t know how well it’ll go with elementary kids,” said Villalobos, who has three school-age children in the Roseville Area district. “If they have to wear a mask in school, I’d rather keep them home.”
As the world has learned more about how the virus operates, health experts have come to believe face coverings help in controlling its spread, particularly when worn by people who don’t know they’re sick.
Yet, there’s plenty of debate over whether early-elementary-age children in particular can safely wear masks — or whether it’s worth trying to make them do it.
The governor’s order Wednesday made face coverings mandatory statewide inside buses and schools and other public buildings for people as young as 5.
Although the mandate exempts certain children for medical reasons and during activities such as recess and gym class, some say the order is impractical — and possibly counterproductive — for the youngest students.
“The problem with young children wearing masks is it’s very difficult to keep them on. It bothers them and they’re much more prone to touching them, picking at them, touching their eyes,” said Jennifer Gobel, a St. Paul pediatrician.
Gobel worries a mask mandate could actually increase the likelihood that children get infected, whether from the coronavirus or diseases like the common cold.
“I just think a lot of this needs to be more common sense, and I don’t think that’s what we’re getting from the governor,” she said.
Walz is expected to announce Thursday whether schools can resume widespread in-person instruction for the first time since March. If schools do reopen, mandatory face masks for students, staff and visitors will be just one in a long list of safety precautions schools will be asked to take.
“My goal is to get kids back in the classroom. That is my goal, and if that can be done safely, I’m going to do that,” Walz told reporters last week. “Do I believe that masking has a role in making that happen? Absolutely.”
TEACHER HEADACHE
Denise Specht, president of the state teachers union, Education Minnesota, said it will be hard for teachers at both ends of the K-12 spectrum to work under the mask mandate.
“Obviously, it is going to be difficult to monitor and enforce face masking with our youngest learners,” she said. “… I’m hearing that our high school teachers are not looking forward to enforcing masking with seniors. That’s just going to be really difficult. And what do we do if masking is mandatory and a student shows up without a mask?”
Clayton Cook, an educational psychology professor at the University of Minnesota, also worries about teachers having to enforce the mask mandate, especially with younger children who lack the impulse control to wear them properly.
“My fear about bringing all kids back, yet having pretty severe health protocols … is that adults are going to be correcting behavior,” he said earlier this month. “That tends to harm relationships.”
Cook urged districts to coach teachers now on how to positively reinforce the health and safety behaviors needed to prevent the virus from spreading.
It’s important, he said, that teachers protect their relationships with students so that kids maintain a positive outlook on school.
WHAT EXPERTS SAY
In updated guidance Thursday on reopening schools during the pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “strongly encouraged” cloth face coverings to reduce the spread of the virus but said masks “may not be feasible” in some cases.
If early-elementary-aged children can’t wear their masks properly, the CDC suggested prioritizing their use for situations when it’s hard to maintain six feet of separation, such as while standing in line at school.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, which has urged a return to in-person instruction this fall, called mask wearing “ideal … (but) not always possible in the school setting.”
The physicians group endorsed masks for middle and high school students but said that for younger students who can’t wear masks safely, “schools may choose to not require their use when physical distancing measures can be effectively implemented.”
Former CDC director Tom Frieden said earlier this month that as long as the coronavirus is spreading in a community, “everyone indoors needs to wear a mask.” But he suggested young children get occasional breaks during the school day where masks are not required.
Brittany Washington, who has children entering preschool and second and fourth grades this fall, is hoping St. Paul Public Schools takes a hybrid approach, where kids go to school twice a week and learn from home the other three days.
She said her kids keep pulling their masks below their noses, but she thinks they’ll get the hang of it with practice.
“I know it can be kind of annoying for kids, but after routine, they’ll get it eventually,” she said.
Emma Eidsvoog and Emma Harville contributed to this report.