By Komiko Garcia- Health Education Tech

During the past several months there has been many different ideas on whether or not to have children wearing face masks. Not all people who are positive with covid-19 will show symptoms. This is one of the many reasons why it is important for not only adults but also for children as well to wear a mask.  Wearing a cloth face covering reduces the changes of transmitting the virus from the spraying of respiratory droplets. It is also very important to keep a social distance of 6 feet, which is the distance of the range of transmitting infection by way of sneezing or coughing. Face masks can be safely worn by children 2 years or older. It is not suggested that children under 2 years of age wear face masks due to the risk of suffocating. 

As businesses and stores have been reopening you start to notice more signs on telling everyone to please use a face covering upon entering. Some places are being very proactive on keeping everyone safe by offering complimentary face masks at entrances and providing more hand sanitizer stations around the stores. 

One of our biggest worry is our children returning to school. Most schools are trying their best to keep students safe here are a few tips that can help your children when returning to the classrooms.

• Wear a face mask when around other people
• Try to keep at least 6 ft. apart from each other
• Be sure to use hand sanitizer or wash hands
• If your child is feeling any cold/flu like symptoms please keep them home

When we are at home we don’t think we can pass anything to each other, but if you have a family member in the home who may be at risk or fragile health try to use a facemask when around that person. This will help to protect yourself and others in your home.

With children you may face the struggle of getting them to keep their mask on or feel uncomfortable wearing a mask. For children under 3 years old it may help to explain to them in a simpler way that sometimes people wear masks when they are sick and sometimes people wear a mask so they don’t get sick.  As kids are at an older age or in teen years they may feel uncomfortable or different wearing a mask as people may stereotype them as being “Sick”. If we could get our children to all wear facemasks they can see that it is normal to protect ourselves and others by wearing them. Here are some ways we can get our younger ones to feel comfortable wearing facemasks:

• Wear a face mask while looking into a mirror and answering any questions they may have
• Put a facemask on a favorite stuffed toy animal
• Decorate their mask so it is more personal and fun
• Show your child pictures of other children wearing facemasks
• Practice wearing facemasks s they can get used to them
• Let’s stand strong and protect each other, wear a face mask, keep 6ft distance, wash your hands!