Make Little Children a “family Mask Monitor”
I don’t know about the others, but the novelty of wearing masks in my family has officially declined. My nine-year-old son at first thought they were pretty cool – he even wanted to create reasons to wear them – but now he sees in them the inconvenience they cause. Unfortunately, he (and me, and you, and your children) still have several months of wearing masks ahead.
We’ve given advice in the past on how to get young children to wear masks , but this advice from Dr. Perry Klass in the New York Times was too good not to share: Let them do masks by making them the Mask Monitor family.
To learn more about face masks, watch the video below:
Young children should be responsible for all mask reminders and details: they should check that all family members have their masks before you leave the house, they should make sure all masks are properly worn ( cover that nose ) and they should be pointed out when someone touches the front of the mask or places it on potentially contaminated surfaces (used masks should be stored in a plastic bag).
The class explains why this works, and she’s utterly right:
Most children enjoy the opportunity to feel moral superiority over adults (and adults often do this too easily); go on and encourage a little righteousness. Remind them that they are smarter than these adults who do not defend others or defend themselves; masks do both.
Creating Masked Monitors fuels the natural self-confidence that children are known for and helps reinforce that they are more than just protecting themselves. They also protect others.