Family drama: Parents didn't want child to wear mask at school. Here's how we resolved it.
Emotional divisions in a family can be healed rather quickly if members are open to change and resolution.
I am a clinical psychologist in Alabama, where less than half of the population is fully vaccinated for COVID-19. Although children 5 and older are now eligible for vaccinations, mask-wearing remains an important protection from the deadly virus. And, in my state, mask-wearing is a controversial and adversarial issue.
Even within families.
I treat all kinds of individual and family problems. Recently, I saw a family that had a pandemic-related issue that could not be resolved. The 10-year-old daughter was passionate about wanting to wear a mask at her school. Her parents were dead-set against it because they think “all this pandemic talk is just a bunch of overblown nonsense.”
My task was to try to help these family members get on the same page. But more than that, I felt I had a social responsibility to convince the parents that it was in the daughter's best interest and safety to wear a mask at school. Plus, neither parent had been vaccinated, and I saw that as a major problem to be addressed with them as well.