{"id":1199443,"date":"2022-01-08T10:19:20","date_gmt":"2022-01-08T15:19:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1199443"},"modified":"2022-01-08T10:19:23","modified_gmt":"2022-01-08T15:19:23","slug":"mask-strike-english-schoolchildren-refusing-to-wear-masks-unions-complain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mask-strike-english-schoolchildren-refusing-to-wear-masks-unions-complain\/","title":{"rendered":"Mask Strike? English Schoolchildren Refusing to Wear Masks, Unions Complain"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmask-strike-english-schoolchildren-refusing-to-wear-masks-unions-complain%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1199443&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/GettyImages-1337738810-640x335-1.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p class=\"subheading\">\u201cHuge numbers\u201d of children in the North of England have refused to take lateral flow tests before school and wear masks, trade unionists claim.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHuge numbers\u201d of pupils at six secondary schools in the North of England have refused to wear masks or take lateral flow tests at school according to&nbsp;Damian McNulty, a national executive member of the NASUWT (National Association of Schoolmasters\/Union of Women Teachers) union.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>McNulty also claimed that at one school alone in Lancashire only 67 children out of 1,300 were prepared to wear masks or take Covid tests.<\/p>\n<p>The NASUWT spokesman also said that he believed there was likely to be similar patterns of children \u201crailing against\u201d authority across the country,&nbsp;the BBC <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/education-59898968\">reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>While the pupils have worried teachers unions, they may not be in breach of the government\u2019s latest guidelines for schools, which generally suggest that masks are merely&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/europe\/2022\/01\/04\/english-children-forced-to-wear-masks-in-schools-again\/\">recommended<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>The government\u2019s latest recommendations for able-bodied pupils are that masks should be worn in most school settings, such as when students are seated in the classroom, but this is not a legal requirement.<\/p>\n<p>McNulty also highlighted that this rebellious behaviour from pupils could be a consequence of the increased presence of supply teachers in schools and children wanting to \u201cpush boundaries\u201d with them.<\/p>\n<p>This is somewhat ironic as teaching unions,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasuwt.org.uk\/advice\/health-safety\/coronavirus-guidance\/omicron-reopening-schools-colleges-january-2022.html\"> including<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasuwt.org.uk\/advice\/health-safety\/coronavirus-guidance\/omicron-reopening-schools-colleges-january-2022.html\">NASUWT<\/a>, have repeatedly pushed for teachers to remain at home due to coronavirus fears, resulting in schools temporarily replacing them with supply teachers.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">UK School Asks Pupils to Wear \u2018Yellow Badge\u2019 to Show They Are Mask-Exempt <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/gWB4mmypeU\">https:\/\/t.co\/gWB4mmypeU<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BreitbartLondon\/status\/1463869581378961412?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 25, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Since the announcement of the government\u2019s advice, a <a href=\"https:\/\/assets.publishing.service.gov.uk\/government\/uploads\/system\/uploads\/attachment_data\/file\/1044767\/Evidence_summary_-_face_coverings.pdf\">study<\/a> from the Department of Education has emerged which says masks can have a detrimental effect on education.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>While the study says face coverings can be effective in \u201ccontributing to reducing transmission of COVID-19\u201d in schools, it also found that \u201c80 per cent of pupils reported\u201d that masks \u201cmade it difficult to communicate\u201d and 55 per cent felt wearing one \u201cmade learning more difficult\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The report also showed that secondary school leaders and teachers corroborated their pupils\u2019 findings. Almost all school teachers (94 per cent) believed that&nbsp;face coverings at school had \u201cmade communication between teachers and students more difficult\u201d, and 59 per cent said&nbsp;masks have \u201cmade it a lot more difficult\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Masks concealing a speaker\u2019s lips were also found to lead \u201cto lower performance, lower confidence scores, and increased perceived effort on the part of the listener\u201d, which particularly has a detrimental effect on pupils with special needs.<\/p>\n<p>However, despite the Department for Education\u2019s findings, a Unison teaching union survey included in the report said that 71 per cent of school support staff believed \u201cface coverings in secondary school classrooms are an important safety measure\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Author of children\u2019s book <em>The Gruffalo<\/em> and ex-teacher&nbsp;Julia Donaldson has criticised the government over their mask policy.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to&nbsp;<em>The Times<\/em>,&nbsp;Donaldson branded the government\u2019s school mask guidelines as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetimes.co.uk\/article\/covid-masks-in-schools-offer-little-benefit-study-finds-63958pgr2\">\u201cdystopian\u201d and \u201cunacceptable\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Donaldson also advised that \u201cchildren are children for such a short time\u201d so they shouldn\u2019t be \u201csacrificed\u201d to protect the country National Health Service (NHS).<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Britain&#8217;s largest teachers&#8217; union has called for &#8220;activist training&#8221; on issues such as &#8220;whiteness&#8221; in order to make &#8220;white privilege and colonialism visible&#8221; in schools. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/eL9uQHY6xm\">https:\/\/t.co\/eL9uQHY6xm<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BreitbartLondon\/status\/1411651065557233664?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 4, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h5 class=\"western\"><em><span>Follow Breitbart London on Facebook:<\/span><\/em><em>&nbsp;<\/em><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BreitbartLondon\/\"><span>Breitbart London<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cHuge numbers\u201d of children in the North of England have refused to take lateral flow tests before school and wear masks, trade unionists claim. \u201cHuge numbers\u201d of pupils at six &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":349,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1199443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1199443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/349"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1199443"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1199443\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1199443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1199443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1199443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}