How Can My Second Grader Learn From His Masked Teacher?

I thought this would be the year of "normal" for my son. I was wrong.

While many cities have dropped Covid-19 mandates and children are largely going to school unmasked, parents are finding that some teachers are continuing to mask in the classroom. We have been hearing from parents who are concerned that their children are still not receiving the proper reading, speech and other instruction they need. They worry that, because masks interfere with socialization and, as anyone who has had a teacher smile at them can tell you, help develop connections that children (and adults need), their children are missing out on these vital experiences, too.

In today’s post, NYC mom Rebecca Frymer, shares her personal concerns about how masks impact her son’s classroom environment and talks about her hopes for the year ahead.

Thank you for reading and let us know what you think!

-Natalya and Dana

September 7, 2022. This was finally going to be the year of normalcy for my seven-year-old son. After three years of compromised learning in the name of Covid-19, involving prolonged school closures, socially-distanced kindergarten, and mask mandates on our youngest learners, second grade was going to be our year of healing, learning, and socializing without fear.

After a minor snafu where my husband didn’t immediately have his proof of vaccination ready to enter school and was barred (NYC public school parents are still required to show proof of Covid-19 vaccination to enter school buildings), we made it through the school doors to meet my son’s second grade teacher. Upon entering our classroom, the young assistant teacher greeted us… in a medical mask. This made her difficult to understand and she had to repeat herself a few times.

I asked the assistant teacher why she was continuing to mask. Her answer was ambiguous, like “I thought it was a good idea.”

Things immediately went from bad to worse when I gazed into our classroom and saw the head teacher wearing two KN95 masks. (Later, a friend who is a nurse in a major hospital noted that even nurses caring for Covid-19 patients don’t wear two masks.) Another mom confided later that she instantly felt anxious and left the classroom without meeting the teacher and requested her child be transferred to another class, (the request was denied).

Some of the parents whispered among themselves, “How can our kids understand her if we can’t?” I was concerned that we were putting these kids at a further disadvantage to learn phonics, reading, language and nonverbal communication. I knew our teacher’s reputation - someone who could really get kids reading, and my son missed out on learning to read during canceled kindergarten, so I was optimistic this year.

“Why are you wearing a mask?” I gently asked our teacher.

She explained she didn’t want to miss school due to illness, and Covid-19 could lock her out for ten days (the policy is actually five days). While I appreciated her good intentions, I would much rather have my son’s teacher miss five days of school than teach with a mask on all year. The team at Urgency of Normal talks about the importance of feeling safe in school, and Covid-19-related policies such as mask wearing can elevate anxiety levels in children. Detrimental experiences in childhood manifest during teenage years, and teen depression and anxiety are on the rise. 

During the following days while I considering what to do next, and trying not to have my son pick up on my disappointment that he is facing yet another year of instruction with his teacher’s face hidden from view, the principal of my son’s school reached out to inform me that due to HIPAA, I was prohibited from inquiring why anyone at school is masking. Thankfully, an attorney informed me that this is not the case. HIPAA prohibits the sharing of confidential information, but you can ask anyone anything you want.

I felt like the principal was trying to bully me into silence, when I was well within my rights to advocate for my child and his learning environment at school. The principal also reminded me that the NYC Department of Education encourages mask wearing, in contrast with England’s schools, which discourage masks and affirm the importance of children seeing faces to be able to develop communication and language skills.

It’s now September 2022 and our fight for simple normalcy for our children continues. “To protect our children, an urgent return to fully normal school is needed.” Faces are important and irreplaceable. Prior to 2020, I did not see a single masked person at our huge school with nearly one thousand students.

Our kids will not be fully restored until we return to that norm.

Rebecca Frymer lives in New York City and is a proud mom to a 7 year-old-boy, who attend public school in Manhattan. She is an advocate for child-centric Covid-19 policies, that protect the normal school experience.

She can be found on twitter @rfrymer.