French parents seek legal action over reintroduction of Covid masks for kids

Parents in France are threatening legal action over a government decision to reintroduce mandatory masks for primary school children throughout the country.

Parents’ associations in four French departments say they will not accept the “unjustified and scandalous” reintroduction of masks for primary school children.  REUTERS - ERIC GAILLARD

Three groups in departments where children have been allowed to go to school mask-free over the past few months say they’ll be taking the matter to court.

The decision to bring back masks, which came into effect on Monday, was taken by the Council of Ministers and the Council of Defence earlier this month.

Describing it as an “attack on the physical and mental integrity of our children" the parents’ associations are adamant they will not accept the “unjustified and scandalous” reintroduction of masks. 

The four departments concerned are the Loire-Atlantique, Maine-et-Loire, Sarthe and Vendée, which are all part of the Loire Valley, an area that is now enduring a reversal of its drop in Covid infection rates.

'No scientific basis'

In a statement, the parents’ groups said science had proven that the removal of masks in schools had not caused the rebound in cases - a view also held by the French Society of Pediatrics.

“Children only have mild forms of the disease … and this decision has been taken in defiance of the scientific recommendations of many specialists,” the statement said. 

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The parents’ groups say they also support separate French legal actions brought before the European Court of Human Rights.

"There is no for or against,” said Anaïs Ménard, from one of the groups. “We only want to see proper consideration of the well-being of the child. 

“There is a crisis, of course, but children should not be the adjustment variable."

The mandatory wearing of masks for children aged 6 and over has been a divisive issue in France since it first came into force in November 2020.