The surprising benefit of kids wearing masks
What doctors and parents say about the psychological benefits of masks

So many familiar, comforting things have changed in the last few months and now we're asking our kids to do something else outside of their comfort zone: wear a mask. It might seem like added stressor but experts say there is a surprising, positive benefit to kids adjusting to this precaution.
Wearing masks helps kids feel more in control during a time when everything seems a bit out of control.
"A significant benefit of wearing any kind of mask in public is psychological," Dr. Allan S. Detsky and Dr. Isaac Bogoch of the University of Toronto's Department of Medicine explain. "It gives people a sense of control over the uncontrollable."
Dad Chris Foster agrees. His family was living in Hong Kong during the SARS outbreak in 2003. His kids were young and the outbreak turned their world upside down.
"It was scary for them, as they couldn't really understand what was going on. One of the ways we were able to help them feel a bit more secure, and feel like they were helping the world out, was by wearing a mask," says Foster, a former COO who is now working with School Mask Pack to get masks into classrooms and onto little faces. Foster witnessed how masks helped his kids feel more confident and in control during the SARS outbreak and hopes other parents can use masks not only to keep kids from spreading the virus but to give their kids back some of the control the coronavirus took from us in 2020. "It made [my kids] feel more in control of their environment, and they understood that they were helping others by not spreading germs. We positioned it as their superpower, and a way they could help the world get back to normal again," he tells Motherly. "Now at ages 18 and 20, and living in Connecticut, they don't think twice about wearing a mask. They understand deeply that it's not about them, it's about everyone else." Last month CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield suggested that if everybody in the United States would wear a mask, the epidemic could be under control within 8 weeks. Right now many people still aren't wearing masks, but wearing one could help people take back some control and end the pandemic sooner.
"It was scary for them, as they couldn't really understand what was going on. One of the ways we were able to help them feel a bit more secure, and feel like they were helping the world out, was by wearing a mask," says Foster, a former COO who is now working with School Mask Pack to get masks into classrooms and onto little faces. Foster witnessed how masks helped his kids feel more confident and in control during the SARS outbreak and hopes other parents can use masks not only to keep kids from spreading the virus but to give their kids back some of the control the coronavirus took from us in 2020. "It made [my kids] feel more in control of their environment, and they understood that they were helping others by not spreading germs. We positioned it as their superpower, and a way they could help the world get back to normal again," he tells Motherly. "Now at ages 18 and 20, and living in Connecticut, they don't think twice about wearing a mask. They understand deeply that it's not about them, it's about everyone else." Last month CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield suggested that if everybody in the United States would wear a mask, the epidemic could be under control within 8 weeks. Right now many people still aren't wearing masks, but wearing one could help people take back some control and end the pandemic sooner.