NYC Extends Mask Mandate For Children Under 5
Parents hopeful that the New York City mask mandate for children 5 and under was rejected by a Staten Island judge.
After a Staten Island Judge struck down the New York City mask mandate for children ages 2-4, an appellate court has issued a stay to keep the mandate in place. This is just one of many cities battling conflicting health and wellness practices that have taken over city, state, and federal government protocols thanks to sensationalized COVID-19 information. All throughout the pandemic, medical information was confusing. Even the CDC flip-flopped on its recommendations. Now, once again, children are being targeted for the “safety” of the entire population.
The decision was handed down late Friday evening. This was shortly after a judge struck down the mandate and decried it for being, “arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable.” The stay was spearheaded by New York City Mayor Eric Adams who seems to believe that masking children is necessary for their safety because the city’s Health Commissioner has warned that cases are rising. Yet, no one has taken into account the fact that children are still the least likely to be affected by any COVID-19 strain, COVID-19 cases and deaths have been on a steady decline for months, or that states with the most restrictions — especially regarding mask mandates — had higher rates of infection and death during the height of the pandemic.
What’s more, there is now data that proves that mask mandates are specifically harmful to children’s development. Babies and toddlers especially learn how to empathize and communicate with others based on facial recognition and lip reading. They first witness facial expressions, then learn how to understand and use them to properly socialize with others.
By last spring, studies were displaying the harmful effects of mask mandates. In England, researchers examined the behavior of 50,000 students and found that 76% of pupils needed more support with communications than in previous years and 96% of parents expressed concern for their children’s speech-and-language development. In Germany, data taken for roughly 26,000 students found that 68% of students experienced impairments due to mask wearing specifically. 50% of these children found it more difficult to concentrate, 53% suffered from regular headaches, and 42% suffered from impaired learning. Other side effects ranged from irritability to drowsiness/fatigue, and other issues. Then there’s the United States study that followed 255 babies born in New York in 2020. These babies all scored lower on developmental skills than babies in previous years.
The science clearly displays that mask mandates do not help children, and even hinders them. Politicians like New York’s Mayor should also take into account the fact that the myth that COVID-19 spreads through asymptomatic carries (like children who do not often show signs of illness when they actually do get infected with COVID) was debunked by a study published last year. In fact, in this study, asymptomatic patients had no effect on transmission rates. So the argument that a healthy child could infect an immunocompromised child does not stand, according to this data.
This is exactly why New York City parents have rallied against mask mandates in schools. They are fed up with unscientific policies being touted around in the name of public health. Too many parents have seen how damaging these protocols are to allow them to continue. The Judge who ordered the policy to be removed was listening to the people and the data. Mayor Adams, on the other hand, is supporting damaging health practices that further harm young children.
