Unmask Portsmouth NH schools
Unmask Portsmouth NH schools
The Issue
It is time to unmask our children in Portsmouth NH. The superintendent and school board need to hear from us as parents! One only needs to read this commentary from local medical professionals to recognize we are doing more harm than good.
“In March of 2020 with so much uncertainty we aptly applied medicine’s precautionary principle as we locked down, wore masks, and socially distanced ourselves to “flatten the curve.” But as we approach year three of the pandemic and the fog begins to lift, the burden of proof falls on those who continue to impose life altering restrictions on kids –prove to us these interventions do more good than harm.
”For the majority of parents of healthy kids, COVID’s risk approximates many other risks we never think to question (in many cases with far less risk). Here is CDC data on hospitalization rates. The hospitalization rate for a vaccinated adult is the same as an unvaccinated teenager (4.4 vs. 5.4 per 100,000). The hospitalization rate for a vaccinated teenager is 4 in 1 million. In a pre-vaccine analysis from Germany, summarized here – a child infected with Covid —with or without preexisting conditions —there is an 8 in 100,000 chance of going to the intensive care unit. The risk of death is 3 in 1 million, with no deaths reported in the over-5 age group. Covid has lower annual mortality risk to children than motor vehicle accidents, influenza and perhaps, most importantly for the 5 to 14-year-olds, suicide.”
“Children are required to spend hours a day wearing masks without strong evidence that it protects them or anyone else from severe risk. We now know that the risk of a bad outcome from Covid for both vaccinated and unvaccinated children, is extremely low. Similarly, we recognize that there is a risk, by sending children into school buildings, that the building could catch on fire. This is why schools must comply with fire codes and conduct fire drills. We don’t, however, send children to school in fire retardant fabric and have them carry smoke extinguishers. Doing so would harm their mental health in exchange for reducing the risk of a fire at school from extremely low to slightly lower. In short - beyond fire codes and fire drills, we’re at diminishing returns.”
“While it is too early to know the short and long-term psychological impacts of mask wearing on children, policies that continue to place a higher premium on physical health over social, emotional and mental health sends a clear message. We do not yet value mental health as equal or even part of physical and overall health.”
“For how long and at what cost can we have children bear the burden of preventing a virus that by and large doesn’t pose a severe threat to them or vaccinated adults in their lives? Given that the CDC now reports that cloth masks do not provide significant reduction in transmission, continued mask mandates in schools is akin to theater; the children forced into a performance for the benefit of an audience. ”
The Issue
It is time to unmask our children in Portsmouth NH. The superintendent and school board need to hear from us as parents! One only needs to read this commentary from local medical professionals to recognize we are doing more harm than good.
“In March of 2020 with so much uncertainty we aptly applied medicine’s precautionary principle as we locked down, wore masks, and socially distanced ourselves to “flatten the curve.” But as we approach year three of the pandemic and the fog begins to lift, the burden of proof falls on those who continue to impose life altering restrictions on kids –prove to us these interventions do more good than harm.
”For the majority of parents of healthy kids, COVID’s risk approximates many other risks we never think to question (in many cases with far less risk). Here is CDC data on hospitalization rates. The hospitalization rate for a vaccinated adult is the same as an unvaccinated teenager (4.4 vs. 5.4 per 100,000). The hospitalization rate for a vaccinated teenager is 4 in 1 million. In a pre-vaccine analysis from Germany, summarized here – a child infected with Covid —with or without preexisting conditions —there is an 8 in 100,000 chance of going to the intensive care unit. The risk of death is 3 in 1 million, with no deaths reported in the over-5 age group. Covid has lower annual mortality risk to children than motor vehicle accidents, influenza and perhaps, most importantly for the 5 to 14-year-olds, suicide.”
“Children are required to spend hours a day wearing masks without strong evidence that it protects them or anyone else from severe risk. We now know that the risk of a bad outcome from Covid for both vaccinated and unvaccinated children, is extremely low. Similarly, we recognize that there is a risk, by sending children into school buildings, that the building could catch on fire. This is why schools must comply with fire codes and conduct fire drills. We don’t, however, send children to school in fire retardant fabric and have them carry smoke extinguishers. Doing so would harm their mental health in exchange for reducing the risk of a fire at school from extremely low to slightly lower. In short - beyond fire codes and fire drills, we’re at diminishing returns.”
“While it is too early to know the short and long-term psychological impacts of mask wearing on children, policies that continue to place a higher premium on physical health over social, emotional and mental health sends a clear message. We do not yet value mental health as equal or even part of physical and overall health.”
“For how long and at what cost can we have children bear the burden of preventing a virus that by and large doesn’t pose a severe threat to them or vaccinated adults in their lives? Given that the CDC now reports that cloth masks do not provide significant reduction in transmission, continued mask mandates in schools is akin to theater; the children forced into a performance for the benefit of an audience. ”
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Petition created on February 18, 2022