BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) - "Its very disheartening." The operator of a Hamburg childcare center shared her frustration with WBEN Thursday morning about a new universal mask requirement for childcare and daycare centers across
the state for all children aged two and older.
"It's disheartening to think that we're going to put masks on children
who are 24 months old. Some of these little friends have a hard enough
time keeping shoes on their feet, let alone a mask on their face. Parents are distraught and upset," said Sherry Phillips of A Leap in Learning in
Hamburg.
"As adults we have all had the experience in the past where we had a mask on, at a grocery store of somewhere inside, and started breathing really heavy. As adults, we have the tools to stop for a minute, and step outside and take a breath. A 24 month old doesn't have those skills or coping mechanisms. This is not a well thought out plan," she said.
Phillips adding, "the noses on these little guys are running off their faces, so the mask is essentially a booger catcher. It's wet, soggy and full of their secretions. This is not the answer for children of this age."
A similar effort to get 2 year olds to wear masks was attempted back in May under then-Governor Andrew Cuomo. But it was quickly reversed due to blowback from parents and operators. Phillips told us that pushback to this latest effort is already in the works.
The number one concern of daycare and childcare facilities is the health and safety of the children in their care. We asked Phillips how they have managed the virus in her facility over the past 18 months. "With three childcare centers in Western New York, serving over 300 children, I can count on one hand the number of children who have had Covid," she said. "It's mostly adults. But we've all made it pretty far without masking our young children. I think we can continue not masking those children, for their benefit, until we really see a reason to do so."
Phillips said when adults are masked, young children are already at a disadvantage. "They cannot see our mouths. They cannot see the words. And they cannot hear what we're saying. Everything is muffled. In the last year an a half, there's been a huge increase in children who need speech therapy. They're not able to see what we're mouthing. They can't form the words and say them back. We will see down the road what masking has done to our children in a very, very sad way."
Some of the families at A Leap in Learning in Hamburg have told Phillips, not to mask their child, saying they'll pay the fine. But she said they can't do that. "We follow the rules and regulations because that's what we teach our children to do."
Many daycare and childcare facilities in Western New York have not received a directive on the mandate. "We all saw the announcement by Governor Hochul but no one has received anything, as of yet, from the Office of Children and Family Services. We're hearing it at the same time you're hearing it. Almost 24 hours after the new policy is announced, and we still have no directive," she said.
