How Wearing a Mask in the Classroom can Impact Child's Social Development - Essay Sample

As governments worldwide deliberate on the best conditions for school reopening, many regions have insisted on the mandatory need for teachers and children to wear face masks. Also, enforcing physical distancing measures reduced the interaction between the children is reduced. Masks can prevent the spread of COVID-19 mainly because the spread can also occur from asymptomatic people who are challenging to identify. Children are less likely to fall ill compared to adults, and the children who fall ill, their symptoms are usually mild. However, due to schools' closure, many children were exposed to hunger, abuse, and other risks scarring the lives of young children. Hinshaw (2020) stated that "the benefits of children returning to school supersedes the need to keep them home." Wearing facemasks while in class reduces children's ability to communicate, mimic, and interpret the facial expressions from the teacher and other children. While the coronavirus is invisible to the eyes, people wearing face masks is a visible signifying the pandemic's presence. As such, many children may be scared and anxious because their school life was abruptly interrupted by the pandemic, and they went home only to be restricted in their homes. Hinshaw (2020) added that “Kids are not going to the same environment they left in march.” As people continue covering their faces, it becomes impossible to tread facial expressions. The inability to read facial expressions poses a significant challenge to children because they look for emotional cues from their teachers or caregivers to interpret safety or potential threats. Children also rely on their teachers' and caregivers' tone and facial cues to regulate their responses toward new situations and people. Therefore, masking children while seated in their desks will significantly impact their social referencing, which occurs between infancy and early preschool years.

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For kindergarten and primary school teachers, teaching children while wearing a mask presents a challenge, primarily social and emotional learning. Additionally, there is a loss of learning opportunities for linguistically diverse children who rely on reading the lips. Besides, non-verbal cues carry a large percentage of emotional content. A lot of important information is missed if communication lacks these cues. Hinshaw (2020) recognized that “wearing a mask all day during instruction may have impacts on communication and learning for children."

Furthermore, eyes and mouth are crucial than other facial cues in reading expressions for kids. Although adults can read non-verbal social cues from the speaker’s eyes, children rely on the speaker's mouth. The reliance on the speaker's mouth elevates the challenge of clear emotional communication between a teacher and children while wearing masks.

Besides, masking poses other potential social and emotional losses for both young children and teachers, which can escalate to physical injury. Physical injury may occur due to vocal strains when the teacher and children increase their tonal volume to increase understanding during communication. To control this problem, Hinshaw (2020) added that “the mask policy and guidance announced in early august has always stated that masks are not required when children are seated at their desks.” Making children wear masks may pose a greater risk because children may misuse the masks, take them off, manipulate them, and put them back on their faces. Also, teachers should wear see-through masks to minimize the effects of missed non-verbal cues in children's social development.

The drastic changes in the environment and routine for the children are likely to cause distress among children. Hinshaw (2020) noted that “with the big changes to our children’s lives over the past several months, it is natural that they may be feeling anxious or fearful.” The use of masks for kids can act as an extra mental load, causing chronic stress, depressive symptoms, and Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Besides, forcing young children to wear masks while in school could lead to more infections. Also, separating the children during socialization could lead to a detrimental mental health effect. It is also important to note that sending children to school has never been 100% safe because there is also a risk that the children may contact other infectious diseases. Children are also at risk of being injured as well as suffering mental and physical harm from bullying. As such, the chief medical officer admitted that kids will still be at risk of contacting COVID-19 while at school. Hinshaw (2020) said that “despite all the measures that will be taken in your child’s school, I expect there will still be some cases of COVID-19 in school settings.”

Emotions play a significant role in children's social interactions. Teaching and learning are among the culturally relevant activities that are encompassed by emotions. Humans are deprived of one of the most powerful tools to make several inferences easily if the face is covered. The face is a rich form of communication that inferences concerning a person's social status, age, gender, identity, physical health, emotional state, and deception. Facial expression is the most basic and universal of communication that people instinctively understand. Therefore, kindergarten and primary school teachers rely on these cues to understand the emotions of the young children, some of whom cannot communicate appropriately using spoken language. Because children and teachers can not see the lower half of the face when wearing a mask, the ability to socialize and understand each other is reduced considerably. Thus, the children may develop fear, anxiety, and loneliness, which may have a detrimental effect on their mental health.

In conclusion, wearing facemasks while in class reduces children's ability to communicate, mimic, and interpret the facial expressions from the teacher and other children. Wearing masks also forces the children and teachers to rely on gestures and language, which can interpret non-verbal cues. COVID-19 measures also reduced social development for children and consequently hampered their socialization skills and teamwork problem-solving. Furthermore, eyes and mouth are crucial than other facial cues in reading expressions for kids. The use of masks for kids can act as an extra mental load, causing chronic stress, depressive symptoms, and PTSD.

Reference

Hinshaw, D. (2020). Letter to the parents/guardians of Alberta students: adjusting to living with COVID-19. Alberta Health.