"The potential educational harms of mandatory-masking policies are much more firmly established, at least at this point, than their possible benefits in stopping the spread of COVID-19 in schools."
"Almost no European countries mandate masks for young schoolchildren. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control…guidance says…“In primary schools, the use of face masks is recommended for teachers and other adults when physical distancing cannot be guaranteed, but it is not recommended for students."
"[CDC director] Walensky's refusal to offer parents any future hope runs the risk of doing more than just boosting alcohol sales... It also reinforces the growing notion that pandemic restrictions are meted out in proportion to the targets' political power, rather than vulnerability to the disease."
"The three dads even researched COVID numbers and crafted their own mask policy proposal and submitted it to the diocese. The proposal suggested that individual diocese schools be allowed to choose whether to make masks optional when the Dallas area has had seven consecutive days in which the number of COVID- 19 hospitalized patients falls below 15 percent of total hospital capacity."
"We have no good medical or public-health-related reasons to impose universal masking on children, and we have commonsense reasons for not imposing them. But one factor is the most persuasive of all: our simple duty to reality. It is perverse to treat children as if they are in more danger than they are. We shouldn’t let ourselves off the hook and in years hence excuse ourselves by claiming that we didn’t know enough. We know enough to stop this right now."
“[T]he World Health Organization says under-6s shouldn’t mask. Crucially, most of Europe doesn’t require it — and it hasn’t been a problem. Spain, France and Italy don’t require 5-and-unders to mask; Britain has done away with masks in schools entirely. And none has seen any spike in juvenile cases as a result.”
"Today parents with legitimate concerns about the impact of masks on their children get no options (indeed even medical exemptions recommended by doctors are not being granted) and the diocese refuses to explain in a transparent way how decisions are being made and to provide a measurable benchmark for when local control will be restored. Without this information, parents are unable to make informed decisions in the best interests of their children."
“Consider that in Britain the government doesn’t require masks for children in schools, and it’s not clear it will advise kids to get vaccinated, either. Britain has experts, as we do, and they are looking at the same scientific data we are; they most assuredly care about children’s health the same way we do, and yet, they have come to a different policy decision. Schools were prioritized over other activities, and the risks of transmission without masks were considered acceptable.”
“The 21% lower incidence in schools that required mask use among students was not statistically significant compared with schools where mask use was optional. This finding might be attributed to higher effectiveness of masks among adults, who are at higher risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection but might also result from differences in mask-wearing behavior among students in schools with optional requirements."
"Any organization setting a mask mandate at this point in the pandemic in the United States must pair that mandate with an offramp plan. Sleepwalking into indefinite masking is not in anyone’s interests and can increase distrust after an already very difficult year."
“The studies cited by the CDC do not show that preventing COVID-19 outbreaks requires forcing students to cover their faces.”
"As of September 2, over 5 million children have tested positive for COVID-19 since the onset of the pandemic. Among states reporting, children ranged from 1.6 percent to 4.1 percent of the states’ total cumulated hospitalizations, and 0.1 percent to 1.9 percent of all their child COVID-19 cases resulted in hospitalization. Among states reporting, children were 0.00 percent to 0.27 percent of all COVID-19 deaths, and 7 states reported zero child deaths. In states reporting, 0.00 percent to 0.03 percent of all child COVID-19 cases resulted in death."