Open Letter to Headteachers re Face Masks for Schoolchildren

06/10/21

UKMFA have written an urgent open letter to headteachers and school leaders (Prime Minister, UK First Ministers and health ministers copied in). We raise and evidence the following serious concerns relating to the use of face masks for children in schools:

• Face masks potentially cause physical and psychological harms to the wearer, especially when worn incorrectly or for prolonged periods, both common in schoolchildren.
• Face masks provide false reassurance, as they do not actually prevent viral transmission.
• Face masks are a medical intervention and mandates constitute an unnecessary restriction on individual bodily autonomy and medical freedom.
• Face masks promote societal fear and division and impair healthy communication between people, which is of acute significance for children and their learning.

We urge headteachers to consider their 'potential liability' for any measures they impose, in the absence of good quality scientific evidence or published impact and risk assessments, should any children under their care come to harm, either as a direct result of wearing a face covering or due to emotional strains of discrimination or hindered education.