Legal action lodged against schools trust for imposing masks on pupils

Legal action has been taken on behalf of a pupil against Tapton School Academy Trust, which runs four secondary schools in the Sheffield area, on the issue of wearing masks in schools.

The court case was lodged on April 23 by the 12-year-old girl’s father, both of whom are remaining anonymous along with the school in question. The action is being taken by laworfiction, a legal advice website, and leading lawyers involved in other cases against the government’s response to Covid-19. They want the school to stop promoting the wearing of masks and putting measures to reduce the spread of Covid-19 ahead of the health and education of children.

They believe the case will be a test for all schools in the UK, as it is the first chance the courts have had to consider if the evidence supporting mask-wearing outweighs harmful consequences. 

Stephen Jackson, principal at Jackson Osborne Solicitors, who is representing the child, explained that “challenges to government policy have to be brought through judicial review, a process in which the government can pretty much avoid any scrutiny of the fact-based evidence for its policies. Facts, for example, that children are more likely to struck down by lightning than suffer coronavirus; that many of the masks provided to children shed fibres that risk the most terrible lung disease; that the restriction of oxygen is at a level that is illegal for adults in a work environment; that they are causing serious harm to mental health.”

Jackson added: “In this case we are not challenging the government, but the school directly for failing to take responsibility for its actions, for slavishly following government guidance without putting risks into perspective.”

“The courts have for centuries exercised their common law power to order an end to behaviour that poses immediate risk of serious harm. That is what the child in this case is hoping for, that the court will intervene to stop the school subjecting the children to an extremely harmful, unscientific, government-sponsored experiment in behaviour control that is also severely disrupting education. Is that really too much to ask?”  

So far, crowdfunding for the case has reached £39,060.

The cost of mask-wearing on children

Since schools re-opened on 8 March, secondary school pupils have had to wear masks in classrooms during lessons. In primary schools, children aren’t required to wear masks but teachers are. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends mask wearing for all children over 12 years old, while stating that in some circumstances masks should be considered for six to 11-year-olds. This government guidance is set to remain in place until at least 17 May as a “precautionary measure” and will be confirmed a week prior to this date.

But debate is ongoing over the cost mask-wearing is having on children. Research by Manfred Spitzer published in August last year explains that, while masks are effective against the spread of the virus, they have a detrimental effect on the relationship between student and teacher as they “block emotional signaling”. He continues to explain that “learning is facilitated by emotions,” and face masks play havoc with this in not being able to see the bottom half of a person’s face.

He explains that there are two types of smile. A Duchenne smile (or a genuine smile) which involves full use of the facial muscles and a Non-Duchenne smile (a dishonest smile), which involves only the upward turning of the corners of the mouth. Face masks make it harder for children to differentiate the two and understand which social cue they should take from the behaviour. In sum, he found that emotions such as happiness or disgust are recognised less frequently.

Effects of this are now being measured. A recent report by the the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) suggests the measures taken to combat the pandemic have left the youngest groups of children without the social interactions and experiences necessary for the development of their vocabulary.

The research showed that with social distancing, fewer play dates and “the wearing of face coverings in public,” children have been less exposed to natural conversation, which has a hindrance on their development.

Fifty eight primary schools were surveyed across England, 76 per cent of which said children who started school in September last year needed more support with communication than in previous years. Ninety six per cent said they were concerned about their pupils’ speech and language development.

The wearing of face masks in schools has also had a disproportionately adverse effect on deaf children, who rely heavily on being able to see someone’s face for lip-reading. The National Deaf Children’s Society has suggested alternative forms of communication, such as writing things down, dictation apps and wearing face masks that have a clear panel so that pupils can read people’s lips.