Unmask our little kids. They are suffering. Letter to Alberta Education.
Unmask our little kids. They are suffering. Letter to Alberta Education.
The Issue
January 13, 2022
TO: Alberta Education, Ministries of Health, Ministry of Education, All Alberta School Boards, and the Chief Medical Officer of Health.
CC: All concerned parents of children in grades 3 and below all teachers, schools, and media outlets.
RE: Mask Mandates for Children under grade four (4)
Hello. I write this on behalf of all concerned parents of our young children in all Alberta school systems who may have some questions concerning the school board’s mask policies.
It is deeply troubling for many of us to see our children in grade 3 and below being inappropriately forced to don masks without regard for the harm this is causing them. We understand this has been the most expedient policy to adopt for political reasons but given the science as it relates to covid-19 in primary schools the rightness of this decision is in question.
Omicron aside, we can see from early studies, there have thankfully been no significant transmission among children or from students to teachers of the original, and subsequent, more severe variants of this disease. These studies have been around for some time during Alpha, Delta and the more severe waves of disease including one published on April 15th, 2021 in Eurosurveillance that concluded “…children did not [easily] spread the infection to other students or to teachers or other staff at the schools (1). The results were published online on pasteur.fr on June 23, 2020 (1).
This must be considered in the decision to cause harmful unintended consequences by forcing masks on children this young.
Since these early reports emerged, and with the onset of the rapidly spreading Omicron variant, it is now widely accepted by most medical professionals and virologists that everyone is likely going to contract this variant at one point or another and widespread transmission is inevitable (2). It will not be prevented by masking our little ones.
However, we can all be thankful and assured by this knowledge and continue to adapt to new information as we go through this like we would any other respiratory illness season that spreads through our community.
Even if it is more virulent, and we are likely to all get it, the symptoms of Omicron are mild for almost everyone and hospitalization for Covid (not with Covid) is now effectively negligible. Preventing hospitalization by masking little children in their formative years is not a consideration that is of any relevance to a mask mandate decision as it does not factor.
Despite the great news of mild cases if there is anyone in our community that might still be fearful for any reason at all, including fear of contracting a more severe variant, or those in our most vulnerable population with underlying comorbidities, they can and always should be protected!
We are also grateful for the numerous methods and options they now have to protect themselves with vaccines, any one of the many emerging effective treatments, or by taking whatever other additional measures they may deem appropriate (including wearing PPD, quarantining or other measures). There are so many options available now at this stage of the pandemic that with a prudent amount of caution and concern we can all start to be truly grateful there no longer a need to live and act in fear. Or to govern policy decision on on a fear basis.
As it relates to the former decision for our young ones to wear masks, it has come to our attention that both the catholic and public school boards and ALL school boards under the purview of Alberta Education have coordinated together to ensure they all adopted the same policy to mask young children of all ages, despite the guidance from the WHO and UNICEF which both advise that the decision to use masks for children aged 6-11 should consider carefully the “potential impact of wearing a mask on learning and psychosocial development, in consultation with teachers, parents/caregivers and/or medical providers” . Perhaps this was not an intended consequence, but it is heartbreaking to advise that this action by our school boards has deprived all concerned parents of Alberta of any option to move their children to a healthier learning environment without uprooting our families and leaving our home.
It is hard to understand that AHS adopted a more reasonable policy on masking that recognizes the warnings of WHO and UNICEF by not mandating masks for our young children Grade 3 and below, granting school boards the autonomy to adopt their own rules, and then had Alberta Education band together with every school board in then province and coordinate for an Alberta wide policy that needlessly mistreats our little ones in these critically formative years by forcing them to don masks despite dire warnings by the WHO that this is harming them.
We need to consider the risk/benefit equation of these polices and when we do we can start by acknowledging that even if the percentages may differ some from study to study, one thing remains beyond dispute - If we defer to even the most generous estimates on mask efficacy - surgical masks will let through 44% of particles and cloth masks will let through 97% (3). They will not slow or stop the spread of Omicron, but they have caused and will tragically continue to cause, harm to our little ones growth and development if we do not reconsider this decision without delay.
In this process, we need to remember that the dismal performance in most statistics on mask usefulness are predicated on the assumption the masks are being worn properly following the kind of donning and doffing protocol you might expect from a trained medical professional and/or adult person. Given that we are talking about our littlest ones in grade 3 and below, with very little hope of having the dexterity and focus for excellent donning and doffing, we can begin to see how there would be a greater chance an unsanitary mask’s causing infection than they can reasonably be expected to prevent.
As per the cautions and warnings made by the WHO, and UNICEF that AHS considered when not mandating our young children to wear masks, many other studies continue to emerge that caution against masking little children at school. “Corona children studies ‘Co-Ki’: first results of a Germany-wide registry on mouth and nose covering (mask) in children” involving over 25,000 school-aged children, which concludes that masks are harming schoolchildren physically, psychologically, and behaviorally, revealing 24 distinct health issues associated with wearing masks (4) in the publication “Masked education. The benefits and burdens of wearing face masks in schools during the current Corona pandemic” (5)
As we begin to understand that the virus does not spread well among asymptomatic populations the evidence is clear, that the most common type of infection in our little children is VERY mild or asymptomatic. With all the pain and disruption this disease has caused, this is something to be TRULY grateful for. SARS-CoV-2 prevalence study, was once one of the largest focusing on children, “Among the 4964 persons tested by RT-PCR, only 2 participants (0.04%), 1 child and the corresponding parent, tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA”(6) substantiates this point, and what is now widely known - that children are not spreading severe illness to adults.
When you consider these effects, forcing our little ones to mask their face is not effective but does cause unintended harm.
We can all agree that those that choose to wear a mask should be given every accommodation to do so while those who choose not to in this young age group should be afforded the same.
One thing is clear, young children are clearly being harmed by these mandates when forced to obtain a medical exemption by registering as mentally ill as is the case with the Screen For Child Anxiety Related Disorders (SCARED) screening tool that doctors must put children through before issuing a medical mask exemption.
This is so inappropriate and does nothing but add to the segregation of children within their little community and this is very saddening and unacceptable answer to this matter. While anxiety is indeed an unintended consequence being inflicted in our children, as outlined here it is certainly not the sole reason to reverse the decision to mask our young children in school
Thes severe consequences of the unnecessary/inneffective mandated mask protocols for our youngest children have been witnessed firsthand by thousands of concerned parents. Many have developed chronic headaches, signs of anxiety, a clear slowing of learning progression, stomach aches, fatigue, depression, and other heartbreaking ailments all clearly corresponding to periods of time where masking was required in school. Some children have also experienced beratement, segregation, ridicule, and bullying for the type of mask by both students and staff. These are just some of the unintended consequences of this policy
For many of our children, these masks are ruining what should be a very positive and formative time of their life. A time that our little ones will not get a chance to redo. This is the only time they get to experience kindergarten, grade 1, grade 2 and grade 3. Nobody wants to needlessly instill fear, difficulty, anxiety, and struggle into our little ones during these, their most formative years. We all want to set them up for success.
All we want is what’s best for the health and wellbeing of our children and I am confident that their caregivers can all agree it is our primary duty and honor to protect them from harm – not the other way around.
As we begin to look at this objectively and account for the above issues these masks create how can we continue to justify creating additional ineffective and harmful measures to include our young one’s grade 3 and younger in this mandate to wear masks? These little ones are now in their most formative years of growth and development. Now is when they develop into the people they will be for the rest of their lives as they learn critical lifelong skills required to relate to other humans by interpreting nonverbal queues and facial expressions hidden by masks.
I have faith that none of us would want to be inadvertently responsible for creating a generation of disadvantaged “covid children” because of some needless measures we inflict on them in these, their early years of school and unfortunately that is the risk this policy takes despite the ineffectiveness of masks.
As it relates to your decision, I hope I have articulated and substantiated just some of our concerns and provided helpful cited sources. I would now ask that the ultimate authority responsible for this please reconsider the decision to include our little one’s grade 3 and below in these mask mandates given the concerns of their parents.
In addition, we as concerned parents would further invite the school board to provide details on the following:
1. Have the school’s health personnel noticed an increase in reports of headaches, tiredness, difficulty breathing, anxiety, depression, congestion, fatigue, lethargy, lack of focus, delayed learning progression etc?
2. Could you please provide the specific research, studies and data that was used to arrive at the decision that masking our little ones in grades 3 and below will have a net benefit given the clear risk to phycological, emotional and cognitive development the WHO cautions against supported by studies cited here.
3. With all adults in the school vaccinated, why do you feel the need to keep kids in masks given increasing data emerging consistently that the potential for harm to these little ones far outweighs any benefit of masking some of which were cited here.
4. How is the district handling medical mask exemptions?
5. What are the district's timelines for phasing-out mandated mask usage for all children?
6. Please describe the consultation process with Parents, as advised by UNICEF and WHO, prior to making the decision to include children in grades lower than 4 in the mask mandate
7. Was any additional funding and/or resources made available in any form to the school’s or school board’s that adopted these masking measures? If so, please describe the nature of, and amount of funding and/or resources provided as it relates to masking measures in schools and what criteria is used in the allocation of those funds and/or resources?
Thanks in advance on behalf of all concerned parents for your attention to this. It is not easy, especially during these difficult times, to always understand what the right decision should in this scenario but as the parents of these little ones we have faith that you will listen to our concerns and recognize that a CHOICE for those in our youngest grades who want to mask, or not, is the best decision here.
We appreciate all of you as teachers and caregivers especially during these difficult times.
Thank you
Kevin Burkhart
Citations:
(2) Fauci: Omicron will infect 'just about everybody' | TheHill
(4) https://assets.researchsquare.com/files/rs-124394/v2/bdeb04c9-7a3e-4bb4-997a-0dce53145ac7.pdf
(5) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7417296/
(6) https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2775656
983
The Issue
January 13, 2022
TO: Alberta Education, Ministries of Health, Ministry of Education, All Alberta School Boards, and the Chief Medical Officer of Health.
CC: All concerned parents of children in grades 3 and below all teachers, schools, and media outlets.
RE: Mask Mandates for Children under grade four (4)
Hello. I write this on behalf of all concerned parents of our young children in all Alberta school systems who may have some questions concerning the school board’s mask policies.
It is deeply troubling for many of us to see our children in grade 3 and below being inappropriately forced to don masks without regard for the harm this is causing them. We understand this has been the most expedient policy to adopt for political reasons but given the science as it relates to covid-19 in primary schools the rightness of this decision is in question.
Omicron aside, we can see from early studies, there have thankfully been no significant transmission among children or from students to teachers of the original, and subsequent, more severe variants of this disease. These studies have been around for some time during Alpha, Delta and the more severe waves of disease including one published on April 15th, 2021 in Eurosurveillance that concluded “…children did not [easily] spread the infection to other students or to teachers or other staff at the schools (1). The results were published online on pasteur.fr on June 23, 2020 (1).
This must be considered in the decision to cause harmful unintended consequences by forcing masks on children this young.
Since these early reports emerged, and with the onset of the rapidly spreading Omicron variant, it is now widely accepted by most medical professionals and virologists that everyone is likely going to contract this variant at one point or another and widespread transmission is inevitable (2). It will not be prevented by masking our little ones.
However, we can all be thankful and assured by this knowledge and continue to adapt to new information as we go through this like we would any other respiratory illness season that spreads through our community.
Even if it is more virulent, and we are likely to all get it, the symptoms of Omicron are mild for almost everyone and hospitalization for Covid (not with Covid) is now effectively negligible. Preventing hospitalization by masking little children in their formative years is not a consideration that is of any relevance to a mask mandate decision as it does not factor.
Despite the great news of mild cases if there is anyone in our community that might still be fearful for any reason at all, including fear of contracting a more severe variant, or those in our most vulnerable population with underlying comorbidities, they can and always should be protected!
We are also grateful for the numerous methods and options they now have to protect themselves with vaccines, any one of the many emerging effective treatments, or by taking whatever other additional measures they may deem appropriate (including wearing PPD, quarantining or other measures). There are so many options available now at this stage of the pandemic that with a prudent amount of caution and concern we can all start to be truly grateful there no longer a need to live and act in fear. Or to govern policy decision on on a fear basis.
As it relates to the former decision for our young ones to wear masks, it has come to our attention that both the catholic and public school boards and ALL school boards under the purview of Alberta Education have coordinated together to ensure they all adopted the same policy to mask young children of all ages, despite the guidance from the WHO and UNICEF which both advise that the decision to use masks for children aged 6-11 should consider carefully the “potential impact of wearing a mask on learning and psychosocial development, in consultation with teachers, parents/caregivers and/or medical providers” . Perhaps this was not an intended consequence, but it is heartbreaking to advise that this action by our school boards has deprived all concerned parents of Alberta of any option to move their children to a healthier learning environment without uprooting our families and leaving our home.
It is hard to understand that AHS adopted a more reasonable policy on masking that recognizes the warnings of WHO and UNICEF by not mandating masks for our young children Grade 3 and below, granting school boards the autonomy to adopt their own rules, and then had Alberta Education band together with every school board in then province and coordinate for an Alberta wide policy that needlessly mistreats our little ones in these critically formative years by forcing them to don masks despite dire warnings by the WHO that this is harming them.
We need to consider the risk/benefit equation of these polices and when we do we can start by acknowledging that even if the percentages may differ some from study to study, one thing remains beyond dispute - If we defer to even the most generous estimates on mask efficacy - surgical masks will let through 44% of particles and cloth masks will let through 97% (3). They will not slow or stop the spread of Omicron, but they have caused and will tragically continue to cause, harm to our little ones growth and development if we do not reconsider this decision without delay.
In this process, we need to remember that the dismal performance in most statistics on mask usefulness are predicated on the assumption the masks are being worn properly following the kind of donning and doffing protocol you might expect from a trained medical professional and/or adult person. Given that we are talking about our littlest ones in grade 3 and below, with very little hope of having the dexterity and focus for excellent donning and doffing, we can begin to see how there would be a greater chance an unsanitary mask’s causing infection than they can reasonably be expected to prevent.
As per the cautions and warnings made by the WHO, and UNICEF that AHS considered when not mandating our young children to wear masks, many other studies continue to emerge that caution against masking little children at school. “Corona children studies ‘Co-Ki’: first results of a Germany-wide registry on mouth and nose covering (mask) in children” involving over 25,000 school-aged children, which concludes that masks are harming schoolchildren physically, psychologically, and behaviorally, revealing 24 distinct health issues associated with wearing masks (4) in the publication “Masked education. The benefits and burdens of wearing face masks in schools during the current Corona pandemic” (5)
As we begin to understand that the virus does not spread well among asymptomatic populations the evidence is clear, that the most common type of infection in our little children is VERY mild or asymptomatic. With all the pain and disruption this disease has caused, this is something to be TRULY grateful for. SARS-CoV-2 prevalence study, was once one of the largest focusing on children, “Among the 4964 persons tested by RT-PCR, only 2 participants (0.04%), 1 child and the corresponding parent, tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA”(6) substantiates this point, and what is now widely known - that children are not spreading severe illness to adults.
When you consider these effects, forcing our little ones to mask their face is not effective but does cause unintended harm.
We can all agree that those that choose to wear a mask should be given every accommodation to do so while those who choose not to in this young age group should be afforded the same.
One thing is clear, young children are clearly being harmed by these mandates when forced to obtain a medical exemption by registering as mentally ill as is the case with the Screen For Child Anxiety Related Disorders (SCARED) screening tool that doctors must put children through before issuing a medical mask exemption.
This is so inappropriate and does nothing but add to the segregation of children within their little community and this is very saddening and unacceptable answer to this matter. While anxiety is indeed an unintended consequence being inflicted in our children, as outlined here it is certainly not the sole reason to reverse the decision to mask our young children in school
Thes severe consequences of the unnecessary/inneffective mandated mask protocols for our youngest children have been witnessed firsthand by thousands of concerned parents. Many have developed chronic headaches, signs of anxiety, a clear slowing of learning progression, stomach aches, fatigue, depression, and other heartbreaking ailments all clearly corresponding to periods of time where masking was required in school. Some children have also experienced beratement, segregation, ridicule, and bullying for the type of mask by both students and staff. These are just some of the unintended consequences of this policy
For many of our children, these masks are ruining what should be a very positive and formative time of their life. A time that our little ones will not get a chance to redo. This is the only time they get to experience kindergarten, grade 1, grade 2 and grade 3. Nobody wants to needlessly instill fear, difficulty, anxiety, and struggle into our little ones during these, their most formative years. We all want to set them up for success.
All we want is what’s best for the health and wellbeing of our children and I am confident that their caregivers can all agree it is our primary duty and honor to protect them from harm – not the other way around.
As we begin to look at this objectively and account for the above issues these masks create how can we continue to justify creating additional ineffective and harmful measures to include our young one’s grade 3 and younger in this mandate to wear masks? These little ones are now in their most formative years of growth and development. Now is when they develop into the people they will be for the rest of their lives as they learn critical lifelong skills required to relate to other humans by interpreting nonverbal queues and facial expressions hidden by masks.
I have faith that none of us would want to be inadvertently responsible for creating a generation of disadvantaged “covid children” because of some needless measures we inflict on them in these, their early years of school and unfortunately that is the risk this policy takes despite the ineffectiveness of masks.
As it relates to your decision, I hope I have articulated and substantiated just some of our concerns and provided helpful cited sources. I would now ask that the ultimate authority responsible for this please reconsider the decision to include our little one’s grade 3 and below in these mask mandates given the concerns of their parents.
In addition, we as concerned parents would further invite the school board to provide details on the following:
1. Have the school’s health personnel noticed an increase in reports of headaches, tiredness, difficulty breathing, anxiety, depression, congestion, fatigue, lethargy, lack of focus, delayed learning progression etc?
2. Could you please provide the specific research, studies and data that was used to arrive at the decision that masking our little ones in grades 3 and below will have a net benefit given the clear risk to phycological, emotional and cognitive development the WHO cautions against supported by studies cited here.
3. With all adults in the school vaccinated, why do you feel the need to keep kids in masks given increasing data emerging consistently that the potential for harm to these little ones far outweighs any benefit of masking some of which were cited here.
4. How is the district handling medical mask exemptions?
5. What are the district's timelines for phasing-out mandated mask usage for all children?
6. Please describe the consultation process with Parents, as advised by UNICEF and WHO, prior to making the decision to include children in grades lower than 4 in the mask mandate
7. Was any additional funding and/or resources made available in any form to the school’s or school board’s that adopted these masking measures? If so, please describe the nature of, and amount of funding and/or resources provided as it relates to masking measures in schools and what criteria is used in the allocation of those funds and/or resources?
Thanks in advance on behalf of all concerned parents for your attention to this. It is not easy, especially during these difficult times, to always understand what the right decision should in this scenario but as the parents of these little ones we have faith that you will listen to our concerns and recognize that a CHOICE for those in our youngest grades who want to mask, or not, is the best decision here.
We appreciate all of you as teachers and caregivers especially during these difficult times.
Thank you
Kevin Burkhart
Citations:
(2) Fauci: Omicron will infect 'just about everybody' | TheHill
(4) https://assets.researchsquare.com/files/rs-124394/v2/bdeb04c9-7a3e-4bb4-997a-0dce53145ac7.pdf
(5) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7417296/
(6) https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2775656
983
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Petition created on January 14, 2022