Children are forced to cover their airways, nose and mouth, with cloth. They are required to cover them the entire day of school that could be up to 8 hours a day. Children are not as susceptible to covid-19 as adults, and there are vaccines for those that want them but we continue to have our children forced to cover their airways all day at school. I believe this is inhumane and can cause further health concerns, including mental health concerns.

We owe it to our children to stand up and say “enough is enough”. If people can go to restaurants and sit down and take their masks off, our CHILDREN should be free to breathe sitting down at school. If whole states can lift mask mandates then my child should be able to breathe unencumbered. 
Please join me in expressing to the Virginia Department of Education that 1) mask wearing should be a choice in school, and  2) children should not be forced to have “online” school if they do not/ can not wear a mask. 

Thank you! 
Steve D. 

This was updated to remove the recently “retracted” NIH publication; however, the petition creator believes, wholeheartedly, in the freedom to choose masks or not since masks are a device that restricts breathing.