Do children have to wear masks in school? If so, how many years?
Eighteen states require kids—in some cases as young as age 2—to mask all day in class, and nine states have banned school districts from requiring masks.
Republican Governor Ron DeSantis signed an executive order in July banning Florida’s mask mandates. He stated that the right to normal education was essential for the development and growth of children and teens. Tina Descovich was an ex-member of Florida’s Brevard County Schools Board, and cofounder of Moms for Liberty. The group has more than 160 chapters in the country and over 70,000 members.
Descovich says, “We support parental choice for masking,” Reason. “We believe a parent has the ultimate authority…the fundamental right to guide and direct the upbringing, the medical care and the education of their children.”
Descovich claims that mask requirements have increased parental engagement at a level she has never experienced before.Bring photos of your children’s faces, including those with MRSA or infantigo. These are two types of staph infection. She says that their concerns are practical. They aren’t out to make a cause.
Descovich claims that her son, 13, began experiencing mental health problems early on in the pandemic. “The isolation at was not good for him….He’d hide behind his mask.” Descovich claims he was diagnosed as having “contamination obsessive compulsive disorder.” This is a mental condition where individuals fear getting sick.
DeSantis ordered that October 2020 be extended by the Brevard County school board. Descovich was forced to remove her son from public schools.
It was hard for me to accept, but necessary for my son’s health and well-being.
Parents are not required to make decisions based on science. Lisa Gwynn (president of the Florida Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics), which supports the in-school mandates for masks. They are “coming more than just personal preference.”
Gwynn was a witness against Florida in an action challenging DeSantis’ executive order. The judge in the case decided in favor of the governor. He stated in his ruling that school boards had “failed” to show that state’s opt-out mask rules allowed for the “expansion of COVID-19 within schools.”
Gwynn says, “This is why judges need to remain in courtrooms and not in clinics because everything he has said is completely wrong.”
Gwynn admits COVID-19 presents a very low risk to children, but she believes mask mandates are essential because it is possible for kids to spread the disease to their parents. Her concern that school masks might hinder childhood development is also exaggerated.
“Have these parents been inside a classroom?…[Teachers know that]Gwynn reports that kids adjust.” Reason. “That’s what I love about working with children…they’re very resilient.”
The U.S. surgeon General announced in December 2021 that the pandemic had “unprecedented effects on the mental health and well-being of America’s youth”, but did not mention mask wearing. The COVID-19 epidemic further affected their lives at school and home.
It is not known if compulsory, daily masking has any long-term impact on children’s mental health or development, as it is an emerging phenomenon.
Do the benefits outweigh the costs?
We think about [masks]They are not a benign intervention.” Jay Bhattacharya was a Stanford Professor of Health Policy, who testified on behalf of Florida as an expert witness in the case against Governor Rick Scott’s executive orders. “We essentially reorganized our society around the control of a single infectious disease, when in fact, health is plural…A public action that benefits the reduction of one disease might hurt another disease. These trade-offs must be considered at all times.
Bhattacharya points out an independent Florida study showing no statistically significant differences in the case rates of school districts that had to use masks and those who didn’t.
Bhattacharya states, “I don’t think there is any evidence it really did anything in terms of COVID-19 spreading to kids wearing masks.”
In support of mask mandates, the most well-known study was one that used data taken in North Carolina schools. It is described by the authors on the New York Times op-ed page. The study was flawed in that it failed to recognize that North Carolina has a mandate for every K-12 school.
Rochelle Walensky is the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. shared a graphicSchools without the requirement of masks are “3.5 times more likely than schools to experience COVID-related outbreaks.” This statistic, however, is not based upon research that did not account for schools being open at the time of study, nor for cases or vaccination status.
David Zwieg said that Jonathan Ketcham of Arizona State University’s public-health economics told him, “You cannot learn anything about school mask mandates.” Atlantic.
Bhattacharya states that “there’s no randomized evidence whatsoever on masking children.” This is what causes scientific uncertainty.
Bhattacharya was an informal adviser for DeSantis. In April 2021, YouTube took Bhattacharya’s appearance on a panel. The panel panel was a result of two panelists questioning the effectiveness of masking kids. Although the CDC suggests masking children of all ages, the World Health Organization recommends only masking children aged 5 or older. Masking children ages 12 and over is recommended by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
DeSantis’ actions made it difficult for children with immunocompromised parents to attend school.
Descovich claims that these parents have all the necessary tools to safeguard their children. You will want to ensure your child is healthy if you have concerns. [vaccinated]If they’re at high risk, make sure they are well covered and have a properly fitted mask. However, she states that masking a child with other problems is an unacceptable practice.
Some Superintendents claim DeSantis used executive power to overreach, undermine local control, and make decisions in his favor in an attempt to push his political agenda.
Descovich states, “I believe that local control is important and I am a proponent of local control.” “But, on the one issue of government excess, I believe that government’s role is to protect citizens and defend individual liberty.
Parents who are looking to modify the existing masking policy in their local school district were also offered vouchers by Florida Department of Education. Descovich agrees with this decision, however, he says that this is not a good solution given the transportation issues that low-income families are likely to encounter when exercising their freedom of choice.
Florida won the standoff with Congress. They dropped the cease-and-desist orders against the government for withholding money from school boards who refused to comply with DeSantis’s anti-mandate order. There is currently no mandate for any district.
Gwynn thinks that states such as Florida have already taken dangerous steps in removing mask mandates from the law.
“If public health is going to be ignored, then where are we? From here, where do we go? Is it possible to let people wear their seatbelts without any restrictions? asks Gwynn. It’s fine to be able to make whatever decisions you wish in your private space. However, if you have a negative impact on another person’s well-being, public health workers must decide to protect the rights of all people.
Bhattacharya believes that the greater danger is the fact that politicians and voters may have given away policy-making decisions to the public health authorities in a narrow focus.
“[Public health]It is fundamentally complicated. It was a huge mistake to attempt to turn it into a morality story about’stop the spread of the disease at all costs’.
Zach Weissmueller, graphics by Nodehaus and audio mixing by Ian Keyser
Photos: ERIC LALMAND/Belga/Sipa USA/Newscom; ev Radin/ZUMA Press/Newscom; Braulio Jatar / SOPA Images/Sipa/Newscom; John Nacion/ZUMA Press/Newscom; Lev Radin/Pacific Press/Newscom; Mark Hertzberg/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom; Jason Bergman/Sipa USA/Newscom; Mark Hertzberg/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom
Music by Spearfisher, Michael Vignola licensed via Artlist