On Monday August 2nd, the board made a motion to continue mandatory mask wearing on all Surry County School campuses. Much data was shared about new cases, new surges, and the danger of the new variants. The data only focused on this, however, and there are other factors to consider. Parents of very small children in Surry County, from ages 3 to 7, are concerned about the cleanliness of the masks for such small children. They play with them, get bodily fluids on them, touch them, chew on them, even potentially share them and drop them on the floor before putting them back on. Also, as parents, we unite behind the scientific data that says that children from 3-7 really are not having bad effects from this virus at all, and the contagion rate is very low among that age group. Many children in this age range contract the virus (like my own son) and show very little symptoms; many have already had the virus and have natural antibodies. Some may say, since that is the case, that they need to be masked to not spread it to others who may be vulnerable. As parents we suggest that asking someone else's child to sit with their face covered all day, a small child who does not understand and cannot keep the mask hygienic, is actually selfish. It is the vulnerable adult's responsibility to avoid others, not a small child's responsibility to cover their face all day. It is unnatural for small children to have their faces covered for hours on end. Furthermore, developmentally, small children need to learn social cues and correct pronunciation, which may not be possible with masks. Our plea, as parents of small children in Surry County, is that you would make an exception to your decision for the youngest kids in Surry County Schools, namely the Pre-Kindergarteners, Kindergarteners, and 1st graders. We understand this is a bad virus, and are not disputing that. But masks are unnatural and unsanitary for children who are so small, who are not affected by this virus at all anyway.