A Published Op/Ed
by
Summer Lane
It is a warm spring day. I stand in the parking lot with my
daughter watching a surreal scene. Two women wearing cloth face masks are
taking a walk on the public trail. Each of them is walking a dog. Amazing,
I think, to see humans muzzled instead of dogs. And yet this is the sad
reality of the world we live in; a world where the unique individuality of
human beings is being traded for a collective, faceless badge of communism that
is worn over the mouth and nose…and for what? A placebic sense of safety? A lofty
attitude of doing your part to stop a virus that has a 99.9 percent
survival rate? For this, we muzzle our children like animals and send
them off to socially-distanced desks in failing, government-funded schools? For
this, we acquiesce our children’s sense of security in the world and subject
them to unnecessary anxiety and depression, feeding their yet undeveloped
brains with paranoia about things like breathing air, and shaking
hands and sneezing?
And yet, here we are. A society hellbent on victimizing the
most vulnerable population in the world: our youth. With our keening, dogmatic
devotion to “following the science” of the political imagination, we have
taught our children to live in fear. To live inside. To stand six feet apart
from their neighbors. To hide their faces in restaurants. To panic with every
runny nose and cough. We have, as a society, taught our children to live as
compliant, well-behaved little communists who trust fully in the all-powerful state
who will surely save us from this never-ending drama; this fifteen-day
pandemic that has lasted for two years.
The psychological damage inflicted on a child who is being
masked is hefty. According to an article written for the USC Schaeffer Center
for Health Policy and Economics, Neeraj Sood, PhD., and Jay Bhattacharya, MD,
PhD., assert that masking is not only a psychological stressor for a child, but
it reduces the ability of a teacher and a pupil to communicate in the
classroom. This, of course, should come as a shock to no one. How many times
have you had to ask a cashier or a secretary to repeat something they said to
you simply because you couldn’t gauge their message thanks to the mask they
were wearing?
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Sood also says that masking the face eradicates all vestiges of positive emotions such as smiling and laughing, while simultaneously amplifying negative ones. Additionally, masking increases the chances of a child developing anxiety and depression. Honestly, is anyone surprised by this? Does anyone, in any sane universe, believe that muzzling a child like a circus animal will actually do anything positive for his or her psyche?
We live in a time of false stress. The television tells you
to be afraid, and so you are. Your social media friends echo in robotic unison,
“Mask up! It’s what nice, caring people do!” So, you do. The sign outside of
the clothing store says to wear a mask…so you put one on. Get in line. Put on
your badge of communism. Keep your head down. Do what you’re told. And don’t
forget to put a mask on your two-year-old. That, of course, is absolutely
essential.
I present to you an alternative path. A path of quiet but
effective rebellion against the tyranny of our times. In my opinion, there is
far too much acquiescing to the iron-fisted rule of fear that is being pressed
down upon us. There is no reason – none – to mask a child. Not for a minute,
not for an hour. Not ever. Masking up for Disneyland? Ask yourself if it’s
worth it. Is it worth it, parent, to teach your innocent child’s
still-developing brain that wearing a face mask in public is even
relatively normal? Acceptable? Commonplace? A child’s view of the world
begins forming immediately from birth, and you are tasked with protecting your
child from the abuse and chaos of our corrupt and sodden culture.
Will you stand against the tide, a pebble in a stream, and
give your child a sane, normal childhood? Or will you go with the flow and
hope, with time, that it will all just “get better,” all the while
halfheartedly “wishing” that your school district will allow your child to show
his or her face in public? Parents, speak up for your children. They are the
hope and future of tomorrow, and if you do not protect them, absolutely no one
else will. Like it or not, it all comes down to you. Do not fail them.
Source:
Sood, Nareej and Bhattacharya, Jay. (2021) USC Schaeffer. Mandatory
Masking of School Children is a Bad Idea.
