Letter: Are we counting the cost of masks, sanitizing and the psychological affect on our children?

Rosena Fish of Salt Rock writes:

This is an impassioned plea to all parents, caregivers, guardians, teachers, principals, paediatricians, child psychologists, the education department and the government, to carefully weigh up the protective measures that have been enforced in schools and to ask whether the benefits outweigh the risks?

The unknown, the uncertainty, the fear that prompted the guidelines that enabled schools to open last year and allow learners and teachers back, now requires urgent further consideration and evaluation!

Our children are being screened upon entering school, yet they then spend the day with masks on that prevent spit and snot leaving a child’s nose or mouth, nothing more!

Virus particles are still able to move freely as aerosols.

Due to our glorious weather, classroom windows and doors are able to stay open.

We are fortunate enough at our school to have fields where UV light is a natural disinfectant and sunlight provides vitamin D.

Yet our kids are confined to sitting (no games / no running around / no healthy interactions enabling friendships to be formed etc.) to enforce social distancing.

Surely healthy screened children who have been shown to be poor vectors of the disease should not be restricted in this way?

As adults, we can freely enter coffee shops, restaurant’s etc. without masks, but low risk children are not allowed to sit without a mask while trying to learn.

On top of all this, we are sterilising our children endlessly.

It’s like taking antibiotics every time we have a sniffle.

We all know about antibiotic resistance, but here we ignore all the science and squirt our children, destroy healthy bacteria and making our children more vulnerable to infections.

Next, masks are not designed to be used in this way, especially not for hours on end with poor handling and storage.

Imagine the amount of moisture, spit, snot, blood and “dirty hand” residue harboured on a mask after 1 hour, let alone 6 hours!

But don’t worry, this is “protection from Covid”!

Really?

Masks should at least be washed daily at 60 degrees and then dried in sunlight or ironed.

Who is doing this for themselves, let alone their child’s mask?

And we haven’t even discussed the social, psychological, emotional and educational dangers!

For our children not to be able to see the faces of their teachers, to never see a smile, disappointment, encouragement.

It’s not a safe, nurturing, caring environment that allows for growth, learning and development of character.

My grade 1 son is trying to learn phonics, new words and to read without being able to see his teacher’s facial expressions and lips, and clearly hear the words being pronounced.

And for his teacher to see his face to see that he is coping, to correct his lip patterns – how is any of this possible?

What are the rights of our children?

Why have we all accepted this when it has been disproven, even before Covid started?

Are we all so wary and desperate for kids to be at school, to pretend that it’s OK and pray that they get through it unscathed?

If a child was being bullied, would we not take action?

Our children have become guinea pigs in a worldwide experiment, where controls and safety measures have not been put in place.

We as parents/guardians have not been warned of the risks, and we have not given our consent.

Who will be liable for this? Who will take responsibility for the consequences?

If I refuse to send my children to school with a mask, what are the consequences?

Can the schools legally deny them entry, considering all the risks?

Can the government really do this? Hoping for change, for the sake of our children.

Letter shortened – Editor.