Have 2 Years of Masking Hurt our Kids?

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As provinces move to lift COVID-19 public safety measures, a Global News report by Jamie Mauracher interviews a number of child development specialists who offer reassuring research-based assurance that mask-wearing during the pandemic has not been harmful to children’s social or physical development.

Experts interviewed in the article conclude that there is no proof that masking has been harmful to children’s social development. Michelle Morningstar, assistant professor of psychology at Queen’s University says, “Children do have access to all these other cues [other than facial expression] to infer other people’s emotions.” They listen for tone and they can read posture and gestures, for example.

A study by Dr. Ashley Ruba, a developmental psychology researcher at the University of Washington, found that masks didn’t negatively impact children’s ability to read emotions any more than other face coverings, like sunglasses, did. While a mask can affect hearing/intelligibility of content, it does not impede the ability to pick up on emotion in the voice.

Dr. Scott Hadland, chief of adolescent medicine at Mass General Hospital for Children, says, “I think some people have raised incorrect concerns that levels of carbon dioxide would be high in kids if they were wearing masks because they wouldn’t be able to breathe it off. You know these sorts of concerns really haven’t been borne out in the studies.”

Janice Greenberg, Director of The Hanen Centre in Toronto, specializing in language, social and literacy skills in young children notes that, while children with a speech delay may be disproportionally affected by the lack of visual clues, this issue can be addressed if those interacting regularly with the child speak loudly, wear a clear mask, and stand closer to a child when talking, making extra effort to verbalize one’s emotions.

Research on mask-wearing specifically can be difficult to isolate from other aspects of the public safety measures such as isolation, social distancing, lockdowns, school closures, and COVID-induced stress and anxiety.

Dr. Hadland concludes, “Right now, there are no data to suggest that there are any short-term or long-term harms when it comes to masks and kids, and that includes both psychological harms and physical harms.”