Recently Ontario School Boards announced that children from Kindergarten and up will be required to wear a mask all day in their classrooms. We find this extreme and unnecessary, the children are not capable of following all safety requirements of mask wearing. They won't be able to avoid touching it and they won't remember to change their masks every now and then, like they are suppose to. Kids will sneeze in them and breathe that bacteria all day. Damp and warm masks are a perfect environment for bacteria growth and this will be what our children are breathing.

Here are expert recommendations: 

WHO and UNICEF advise the following:

Children aged 5 years and under should not be required to wear masks. This is based on the safety and overall interest of the child and the capacity to appropriately use a mask with minimal assistance.

WHO and UNICEF advise that the decision to use masks for children aged 6-11 should be based on the following factors:

Whether there is widespread transmission in the area where the child resides
The ability of the child to safely and appropriately use a mask
Access to masks, as well as laundering and replacement of masks in certain settings (such as schools and childcare services)
Adequate adult supervision and instructions to the child on how to put on, take off and safely wear masks
Potential impact of wearing a mask on learning and psychosocial development, in consultation with teachers, parents/caregivers and/or medical providers
Specific settings and interactions the child has with other people who are at high risk of developing serious illness, such as the elderly and those with other underlying health conditions

WHO and UNICEF advise that children aged 12 and over should wear a mask under the same conditions as adults, in particular when they cannot guarantee at least a 1-metre distance from others and there is widespread transmission in the area.

As you can see it is clear that children under the age of 12 should not be wearing a mask all day inside their classroom, as they cannot meet all those criterias in the current school  environment. 

Since the beginning of July 2020, many Ontario daycares and camps opened up and none of them required masks on children. They all stayed in their cohorts and followed safety and screening protocols, there were no spikes in covid-19 cases due to these practices. Schools should follow their examples and stop the mandatory masks inside kids' classrooms. 

Children need to focus on school subjects and not be distracted by these masks that make them unhealthy. It is not a law to wear a mask, it is a recommendation. We chose to not harm our children and we don't want to put masks on them.

Please help us save our children's future and health!