Masking a child should be a family choice. Those who are concerned about Covid-19 have the choice to vaccinate their children and can also choose to mask their children if they deem appropriate. There is no justification for schools to be forcing children to wear masks.

High-quality one-way masking is more effective at protecting the vulnerable than the universal use of low-quality masks. Studies have consistently failed to prove that mask mandates make a difference to school transmission.

Wearing masks for 7+ hours a day has many harmful effects that run counter to PCSD’s mission statement to provide a supportive and inclusive learning environment for all children, including:

Damage to the ability of hearing-impaired kids to communicate and learn.
Damage to children suffering from autism and other social disorders who need to see faces to read social signals.
Poorly understood and potentially significant effects on the development of younger children who need to see faces for social, emotional, and linguistic development.
Damage to the teacher-student relationship.
Harm to the social fabric of the school, working to aggravate feelings of frustration, anger, and aggression by depriving both children and teachers of the primary signal of human acceptance, love, and understanding – the smile.