From Cara Murez
HealthDay reporter
FRIDAY, Jan 29, 2021 (HealthDay News) – A research team studying live streams of high school degrees from last July found that most high schoolers are willing to wear masks.
Students just need more information on how to wear them properly, as well as information on how important it is to be consistent, the researchers said.
“The key to preventing the spread of the COVID-19 virus is based on science-based best practices and the public buy-in to create these safety protocols,” said study author Anna Mueller, associate professor of sociology at Indiana University.
“While schools ensure student safety, the participation of young people in these protocols is vital. And the good news is that young people seem ready,” she said in a university press release.
The team investigated student wearing of masks in five live-streaming personal degrees from a public school district in early July. This gave them an overview of the mask-wearing and socially distant behavior of more than 1,100 students.
The researchers documented these behaviors as the students crossed the graduation stage and posed for photos with their headmaster.
The district provided students with free masks with the school’s logo on them. They placed students on socially distant chairs and held each ceremony outdoors with safety protocols approved by the health department. A mask was seldom worn in the community where the school district is located. There was also no local or state mask mandate.
The study found that nearly 70% of students wore their masks properly while obtaining their diploma, while 10% wore no mask and 20% wore masks that kept slipping off.
Wearing masks varied greatly during ceremonies in schools, the researchers said. All schools struggled with social distancing, except when students were sitting in their socially distant chairs.
“We found evidence that adults can influence adolescent mask-wearing behavior,” said study co-author Sarah Diefendorf, a sociologist from the University of Utah. “This was particularly evident during the graduation pictures. When teenagers turned to their headmistress, all but one of the students took off their mask after an adult suggested it. Most of those students [80%] wore their mask correctly only seconds before. “
continuation
The behavior of the employees was important. Students in schools with adults who regularly wore their own masks or encouraged students to keep their masks were more adherent to the school’s COVID-19 guidelines.
At all five schools, students expressed concern about their communities amid the pandemic. The schools where masks were worn more frequently also spoke on broader social justice issues, including the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests.
“The students clearly cared about the health and well-being of their peers and their broader community, which suggests that they can be important allies in keeping schools open and as safe as possible in our circumstances,” said Müller. “But teens also learn from adults, in and out of schools. So it’s important we make sure parents, teachers, and other adults in the community get the message that masks and social distancing are critical to getting life back to normal make and get the schools open. “
The study was published online in the Journal of Adolescent Health on January 24th.
More information
The World Health Organization offers a report on the transmission of COVID-19 in schools.
SOURCE: Indiana University, press release, Jan 25, 2021
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