With proven dangers to prolonged wearing of cloth masks, what is a parent to do?

I am well aware that for some people the science on masks is over, they've heard what they want to hear, that masks may provide some utility in mitigating viral spread, and that's that.....the book is closed.

True students of science of course know that science is a process, and that things can change as newer and/or better evidence comes out.  Changes can be sublte, evolving over time, or they can be dramatic.  New studies are done, in science the gold standard is radomized trials, with some utility in observational analysis and compartive studies.  

To date there has only ever been one randomized trial done on cloth masks, in 2015 by an Australian research team. Their radomized cluster trial, published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) showed that wearing cloth masks for long periods day after day increases the risk of respitory infection thirteen times over, paper or so called procedural masks had double the risk, while N95 masks worn strictly when needed (not all day) has basically no risk.  

Here's the link to the BMJ published paper:  

https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/5/4/e006577

No other studies have come out to contradict or modify these findings.  And for those who find reading a scientific article too labourious there's a CBC news article quoting an infection control epidemiologist and University of Toronto associate professor who breaks it down in much easier to understand language.  A link to the article is embedded in the following text for those who wish to fact check.  

Dr. Colin Furness, an infection control epidemiologist and assistant professor at the University of Toronto, says wearing a mask can be dangerous. That is if the wrong mask is worn, it's worn incorrectly or people have incorrect expectations when wearing it. 

"The worst one is wearing one for too long," he said, noting masks can collect bacteria and other viruses.

Furness said he wonders why this information isn't being shared when there is evidence about it.

He said a study in a U.K. medical journal showed health-care workers who wore cloth masks all day while working were 13 times more likely to get a respiratory illness when compared to the standard practice of only wearing a mask when necessary. 

Those who wore a paper or procedure mask were twice as likely to get some type of respiratory infection if they wore it all day. The N95 masks were only worn when required during the study and no staff were affected. 

"This shouldn't surprise us," Furness said. "A mask, you're breathing on it all day long creating all this wonderful space for bacteria to multiply, and once they get to a certain quantity you start inhaling them."

It's not that masks don't provide some potential utilty in mitigating viral spread, it's just the possible benefit comes with a cost.  I strongly suggest reading the full article.  Dr. Furness reccomends boiling masks after 2 hours of use because some bacteria is drug resistant.  

Personally I've softened my anti mask stance, for me it's not a big deal.  I wear a simple neck gaiter for quick in and outs at the gas station or convenience store, when grocery shopping I use a face shield.  I'm not having to wear a mask for hours on end, and while I feel genuinely sorry for workers who are required to wear them, that's their battle not mine.  

But I also have a son in grade two, and now it's a hill I'm willing to climb.  When school started he did wear a mask for the first week, while I read and studied more.  By this past weekend I had come to the conclusion that the risk of having a 7 year old wear a cloth mask all day did not justify the possible benefits.  

In my district in Ontario kids in grade three and under are not required to wear masks, although it is strongly reccomended.  I sent a message to my son's teacher explaining that he would not be wearing a mask going forward and explaining the reasons why.  

I'm lucky, in my area and because of my child's age I have the option, many parents do not.  In my opinion we should not be forcing kids to wear a mask at school when there is rigorous scientific evidence that says it is dangerous.  

One of my son's best friends has already gotten sick and his mother told me that there are 5 other boys ill as well.  That however is anecdotal, and even if a large number of kids do get respitory infections from wearing masks I expect it will be ignored by respected media outlets, the only health concern they're reporting on is Covid nowadays.