Bullying and masks

Bullying and abuse of a teenage boy for mask exemption.

Teens want to blend in and not stick out so for being different. But there were several reasons I knew my son would struggle with mask wearing – all of which were perfectlty reasonable exemptions. At the time he was 13, entering a sensitive stage of development in early adolescence.

He was asked to wear a badge. He refused.

At almost every lesson, and walking between lessons he was asked by staff and students where his mask was. A teacher told him he was endagering the lives of others by not wearing a mask. It was tantamount to bullying by staff and pupils at the school.

It got so bad that I told him to wear a mask if he wanted to if it was easier to comply and suffer with his underlying (totally valid reasons for exemption). He decided to stick ot out but he was subjected to more abuse and we had to complain several times to the school. I have heard of many other pupils who did not want to wear a mask, really stuggled with it but did it anyway.