kids and masks: are we going to get it (mostly) right?

get healthing in your inbox with the morning checkup and weekender newsletter!

from safety to storage, families grapple with how to make the best of mask-wearing during a global pandemic.

by anna sharratt

published sep 11, 2020

last updated feb 24, 2025

4 minute read

join the conversation

4 minute read

join the conversation

masks for kids in the time of coronavirus

a look at some of the questions parents have about kids and masks. getty

it’s a wildly different back-to-school this september.

kids are heading back across the country, but they aren’t only packing new backpacks and shiny school supplies. along with hand sanitizer, face masks are at the top of every school’s supply list, leaving parents a little confused.

monika juhno, a toronto-based mom, says she plans to send her two daughters, 10 and 13, to school next week with three cloth face masks each. as each face mask becomes moist over the course of the day, the girls will place them in plastic bags in their fanny packs, something the toronto district school board recently mandated.

“i have 15 masks for each child, so i don’t have to wash them every day,” she says.

like many school boards, the tdsb’s guidance on masks has changed over the course of the past several months. at the moment, it mandates non-medical masks for all children, linking to you tube instructional videos around proper wearing and removal techniques. it suggests parents pack multiple “snug and comfortable masks/face coverings” each day and to “bring a breathable bag (paper or cloth) to store soiled masks (in order to prevent bacteria growth), as well as a bag to store masks during outdoor breaks.”

in b.c., middle school and high school students and staff are required to wear masks in “high traffic areas.” in alberta, students in grades four to 12 must wear masks in spaces such as hallways and school buses and classrooms when teachers and students are working closely together. in quebec, kids aged 10 and over must wear masks to school.

who are we kidding?

but what has many parents feeling a little uneasy is that we all know that proper mask etiquette isn’t top of the priority list for most kids, particularly the younger ones. social media users have grabbed hold of this unsettling reality.

dr. susy hota, medical director, infection prevention and control & medical device reprocessing department at the university health network, acknowledges that figuring out how to get kids to ear their masks properly is “challenging” and “confusing.”

lanyards, ziploc, paper bags

that hasn’t stopped families for coming up with their own creative solutions, however.

some parents of younger kids in grades four and under are hashing out the issue of using lanyards — a strap that can be attached to a mask and worn around the neck, shoulder, or wrist — to make it harder for a child to lose their mask, and maybe deter sharing.

but some experts are urging parents to reconsider lanyards, because they can be unsanitary, covered in bacteria from contact with dirty hands. also, “whatever you clip onto them (like, a mask) can dangle and drag over things,” says hota. there’s also a choking risk, especially if the strap cannot be detached easily.

mask storage is another thing to consider. how can parents help their kids make sure what they are putting on their faces is clean? how can soiled masks be stored safely? and how on earth can we get the message across that sharing masks is not only unsafe, but, well, gross.

storage ideas include large plastic ziploc bags labelled with the child’s name where they can put their mask during meals and recess. labelling also may reduce the chances that another child may use it. hota suggests having different coloured bags for each mask worn during the day to prevent reusing a soiled mask. as the child replaces a soiled mask, they should be putting the bag away in a backpack or a fanny pack.

she also stresses that children should be reminded to never share masks, to always wash or sanitize their hands each time they remove their mask, and to handle their mask by the earloops. and above all, never share. tell them “as cool as your friend’s mask might be, you can’t trade masks,” says hota.

another safe mask measure is to decorate cloth masks to ensure that one side is different from the other to prevent kids from placing the contaminated side on their face after recess or lunch. “both sides can look the same on a cloth mask,” she says.

finally, hota recommends that parents do a nightly mask check to ensure they aren’t broken or frayed, or have stretched-out earloops that prevent a tight fit. it’s a strategy she’s implemented with her own school-aged kids, she says.

and if they forget their masks, schools will have extras on hand.

while the anxiety over a safe return to school is palpable in the playgrounds, juhno is cautiously optimistic the mask-wearing will be successful. “hopefully, it all works out,” she says.

don’t miss the latest on covid-19, reopening and life. subscribe to healthing’s newsletter coming out of covid for daily updates on the top 世界杯决赛2022 and the healthing weekender delivered to your inbox on saturday.