Let's Talk About Masks
Updated 8/21
"Don't be scared. Learn and be prepared."
Why and How to Wear a Mask in Public
WHY?
The scientists have decided to start a new safety rule. It's called "My mask protects you. Your mask protects me." Wearing a mask helps a little bit against a virus, which is invisible. You will wear one if you go to stores or places with lots of people... like school! You don't have to wear one in the car, your yard, or on walks... unless the park is crowded. Where there are people, mask up.
REALLY?
A mask is not magic, and it does not mean you can now go around town with safety. You still have to stay 3 feet away from people you don't live with. That's 1 yard stick! If you haven't measured 3 feet yet, that's a great math task to go do with whatever rulers you have.
Mostly masks do 2 things:
- Remind you not to bring your hands to touch your face, where germs enter a body easiest.
- Keep the biggest germ spreaders-- snot and spit, from getting spread to other people.
The doctors say that if everyone starts wearing a mask, then our community might start being safer, IF we have to go out.
FEELINGS
Don't be afraid of people in masks. It's going to look weird. There will be people wearing lots of different kinds of home made masks, and sometimes N95 medical masks that look like something from a Star Wars movie. They're all just trying to protect you!
It is important to know that this is a public health safety request. If people are feeling embarrassed, just know that we are all in this together! Masks are part of school rules now.
HOME
When you get back in your car to go home from a store,
- Pretend the outside of the mask is lava. The outside now has lots of invisible germs. You can only touch the part that goes around your ears, and it should go straight into an old bag.
- Later it will go straight into the washing machine from that bag. If you don't have a washer in your house, keep the mask in the bag until you get to the laundromat. That's because germs can stay active for days after people breathed them out.
- Your hands need sanitizer RIGHT away. Don't touch your face, especially your nose, eyes, and mouth.
- To help keep your house clean, you should go even farther with a safety precaution. When you get home, you have to wash with the Paint Challenge method.
- Only use a mask for one day. If you are going to more than one store, keep the mask on the whole time until you're done. Use sanitizer between every store. Do not reuse a mask the next day without washing it with soap and hot water. Treat masks like underwear: they're germy!
Staying Comfortable
I wasn't bothered by a mask until I had to start wearing it all day at school!
Hear are some tips to make it better...
- Make sure the mask fits. If it's too big or too small you will always want to touch it. Remember, you don't want big gaps. While it might feel more freeing, it isn't as safe.
- Get a pipe cleaner. Especially if you wear glasses, you will want a small piece of wire to make a cloth mask fit over the bridge of your nose, helping it seal better and stopping your breath from fogging up the glass.
- If your mask has elastic loops around the ear, you might try "ear protectors" that keep the pressure off your ears. The elastic hangs off these at the back of your head instead of your ears.
- If you don't like the mask sucking in and out with your breath, try a "bridge." The bridge gives a cloth mask the same structure as a medical mask.
Bridge
Ear Protectors
Bumpy Noses
Choosing cloth and Face Shields
CLOTH
Tightly woven cotton fabrics like sheets or batik work best. Good masks have 2-3 layers of cotton fabric. If you can hold your fabric up to the light and see little holes in the weave, it is NOT good fabric to use. For instance, thin stretchy nylon, very thin chiffon scarves, hand knitted winter scarves, none of these will stop the tiny bits of spit we make when we talk from spreading germs. That's why just tying a bandana "bandit style" over only your nose and letting the points hang loose don't help anyone.
Face shields help limit the virus from getting in your eyes, but do not stop your germs from flowing out to everyone else. Face shields are sometimes worn by people who are worried about getting spit in their eyes. Face shields do not replace masks. Get the mask over your mouth AND your nose! Make it fit against your skin so YOUR germs stay trapped inside and OTHER germs stay trapped outside.
WHY
Remember... your mask doesn't truly protect you. Covering your face protects OTHERS. Wearing a layered mask that fits securely on your face and over your nose helps other people if YOU are sick and don't know it.
Wearing a mask is basically like saying, "I care about my community."
Could you pass the paint test?
Want to Help Even More?
Wash = using soap, sanitizer, or cleanser!
Think of Binky! He believes everything outside the house is outer space. The games he plays about going in and out are things you can play, too!
- Make sure you wash your hands before and after you go out.
- Make sure you wash all your electronics: Put hand sanitizer on a tissue to get it damp, then scrub them down while they are off. Do this before and after you take them out of your house.
- Make sure you wash the stuff you take with you before and after you go out: stuffies, books, toys, purses/wallets, keys...
- Take a bath or shower often.
- Clean the surfaces in your house with disinfectant often, including car and door handles.
Credits
Shelbie Rassler posted the Virtual Orchestra from Berklee College of Music.
My Mask Protects You Graphic from http://www.mandatemasksnow.org/
Photograph of people in masks from Sewmasks4Cincy/Instagram
Binky the Space Cat by Ashley Spires from Kids Can Press, c2009