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Two-thirds of the largest school districts in the United States require students to wear face masks in classrooms to prevent COVID-19 infections. And although federal health authorities recommend its general use in elementary schools, regardless of the vaccination status of children, the requirement for masks has generated opposition from some parents and conservative sectors.
One of the arguments used by those who oppose masks is that they could affect children's learning.
An opinion article published in the New York Post on Sunday ensures that masks are affecting the cognitive development of minors.
The text, signed by columnist Karol Markowicz, who also writes for Fox News, describes the use of masks in schools as "crazy and unnecessary precautions that actively damage learning."
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Opposition to masks in schools is well known in the pages of the New York newspaper.
In October, its editorial board called the measure "torture" and accused health professionals who recommend it of "malpractice".
Is it true that masks are hurting children who wear them at school all day?
After consulting various experts and analyzing the arguments of those who oppose it, we conclude that
there is no evidence to support this claim
.
Several children with masks in a school in Madrid, Spain, on September 7, 2021. In several countries, the mandatory use of masks has been implemented in schools to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Manu Fernandez / AP
Two epidemiologists affiliated with US universities consulted by Noticias Telemundo agreed that there is no valid evidence that masks pose any health risk to people, including children.
“There are no studies to suggest that masks are harmful.
There have been some opinion articles or comments that suggest that they are harmful but none have used valid data or studies as evidence in support of this argument, ”explained epidemiologist Sandra Albrecht, a professor at Columbia University in New York.
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“
I don't know of any medical conditions that make the use of face masks dangerous
.
We have thousands of doctors working multi-hour shifts without removing their masks, athletes, even marathoners who have trained with masks, and many other extreme cases where the mask has not affected performance or people's health, ”explained epidemiologist Ricardo Castillo-Neyra, a professor and researcher at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.
So what do people who criticize masks in schools lean on?
In her opinion piece, Karol Markowics states that a Brown University study "attributes a dramatic drop" in children's cognitive development to the use of masks.
It is not clear which study Markowics is referring to, as the link it provides takes the reader to another New York Post op-ed rather than a scientific report.
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However, there is a recent study on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the cognitive development of children, conducted by researchers at Brown University and Rhode Island Hospital, and published in August 2021.
Basically, the study found initial evidence that "children born during the pandemic have significantly reduced verbal, motor and cognitive performance compared to children born before the pandemic."
It also points out that changes in the environment where minors develop, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, "are significantly and negatively affecting the development of babies and children."
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According to the study,
the stress and financial difficulties of parents, and the lack of social interaction and stimulation at home could be the cause.
In addition, children from low-income households have been more affected.
"Parents are stressed and exhausted ... that interaction that the child would normally have has decreased substantially," Sean Deoni, one of the authors of the study, explained to The Guardian newspaper.
However, and this is the point that interests us here, although the study indicates that the use of masks contributed to altering the environment for children,
the researchers did not study its impact on the cognitive development of minors
, and they recognize this.
So there is no evidence of whether the masks affected or not, if yes, how much.
Therefore,
Markowics' claim in his op-ed is misleading.
In fact, children born before the pandemic who participated in the study did not show a reduction in their abilities or performance, despite the fact that they were also evaluated by personnel wearing face masks.
The results seem to suggest that it is "the early development" of minors, during the first 1,000 days of life, that would be most affected by the changes caused by the pandemic.
Marshall Groves and his twin Charlie are alumni of the Lockland Design Center in Nashville, Tennessee.
His mother agrees that children who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 wear masks at school.John Partipilo / AP
Opinion versus reality
The New York Post editorial against masks in schools, published in October, used an article published in The Atlantic magazine by medical oncologist Vinay Prasad, a professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco, as support.
Prasad says that the masks could deprive children of necessary stimulation and says that their negative effect on education outweighs the benefit of using them.
However, Prasad offers no evidence that this is so.
In fact, in his text he acknowledges that there are no studies that prove whether masks affect the educational process.
"Unfortunately, scientists have not been able to conduct the kinds of randomized trials that can provide more reliable answers," Prasad writes.
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In the same article, Prasad also acknowledges that
masks do not pose a health hazard to children.
"Despite the claims of some critics, children who wear a face covering are unlikely to experience significant problems when exhaling carbon dioxide or inhaling oxygen," he writes.
And although masks could limit children's social interaction and prevent them from recognizing some people, youngsters can adapt to new conditions and will find ways to communicate.
This is what the pediatrician Perri Klass believes, after interviewing several scientists who have studied how children process information.
Klass, medical director of Reach Out and Read, a program that promotes children's early literacy through pediatric care, writes a weekly column in The New York Times.
In October 2020, she published an article gathering the opinion of various specialists, including Eva Chen, a developmental psychologist and associate professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
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Chen explained that
there is no evidence that children from cultures where they are used to covering their faces are worse at recognizing faces or emotions.
He also explained that in an environment where masks are used, children could develop the ability to read and interpret other signals such as body language and people's tones of voice.
“Children are very, very adaptive, more adaptable than we are;
They learn very quickly ... I don't think parents should be too concerned, ”said Dr. Kang Lee, professor of applied psychology and human development at the University of Toronto, with whom Dr. Klass also spoke.
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Epidemiologists Ricardo Castillo and Sandra Albrecht believe the benefit of wearing masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19 outweighs any other problem derived from their use. “There is no evidence of any risk of poor health or poor development for children who wear masks. However, there is evidence that the use of masks can limit transmission, ”Albrecht said.
The epidemiologist explained that
in few cases it could be recommended that children not use a mask
: if they are under two years of age or older but cannot remove or put it on by themselves, or if they have injuries or anatomical differences of the head, neck or throat that make its use dangerous.
For little ones with anxiety, Albrecht says they may need help gradually learning to tolerate the mask.