Petition in Balearics allowing children to remove masks in playground

Families in Ibiza have joined the Balearic initiative ‘Mascareta al pati no’ to allow students to remove their masks in the playground and in Physical Education classes.

Families in Ibiza have joined the Balearic initiative ‘Mascareta al pati no’ to ask Education to allow students to remove their masks in the playground and in Physical Education class.
In a statement, the group explained that they are calling for the removal of masks in outdoor activities in schools, as recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and as is already in place in other communities.
According to the families, in a few days of campaigning in the Pitiusas, Mallorca and Menorca they have already collected more than 4,000 signatures.
The families have questioned why if the WHO advises against children wearing masks for physical activity, playing, running or jumping in the playground, they are forced to wear them, also pointing out that there are practically no contagions outdoors.
They have asked who will be responsible for the short, medium and long term consequences on the physical and psychological health and learning of children at such “vulnerable” ages.
The families said that there are primary school children who wear the mask for almost 10 hours a day. In addition, they considered that “no child should be denied access to education because of the use of the mask”.
In Europe, they added, there are countries where students go to school without masks and “the data show that there is no greater transmission in schools”.
The regulations for this school year 2021-2022 “is not consistent” with the use of masks in public outdoor spaces as society has not been wearing them for months, they added.
“It is not coherent that in the Balearic Islands, where 80 per cent of the population is vaccinated, children have to wear a mask in outdoor activities, in breach of WHO criteria,” they concluded.

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