By Peter Candland
Prince William Board of County Supervisors
Gainesville District Representative
If we have learned one thing over the last two years of a pandemic, it’s that what is classified as “science” is always changing as we learn more. And that’s okay. I would hope that as a society we would learn from our experiences and continuously balance all potential threats to our children and not just let one aspect of our lives rule over everything else.
But that seems to be exactly what has happened with the continued mask mandates being foisted upon our children in the Prince William County School system.
School mask mandates have become an unexpected battleground in an ideological war between those who cling to a once widely held belief that masks would protect everyone from catching COVID-19 and those who would now like to make their own decisions about the precautions their kids take.
And what’s even more bizarre – go to any restaurant, bar, non-school sporting event, church, and office building and the vast majority of adults there are not wearing masks. While many adults have let themselves off the hook for wearing masks throughout the day, we still expect our children to do it for 8-10 hours while at school.
The data is clear, school-aged children have the least amount of risk of almost any other group when it comes to becoming seriously ill or dying from the coronavirus. Vaccines and therapeutics have become more available with new ones being researched and developed every day. These treatments have helped to mitigate the impacts to more at-risk populations of teachers and school staff.
In fact, the World Health Organization advises several factors for determining if children aged 6-11 should use masks including: “the potential impact of wearing a mask on learning and psychological development in consultation with teachers, parents or medical providers” or “the ability of the child to safely and appropriately use a mask.” I have visited schools around the County, and you will continuously see kids wearing their masks under their noses or habitually readjusting their mask as it repeatedly falls down as they talk.
But mask mandates don’t just negatively impact our children – they have put our teachers and administrators in the impossible position of being enforcers of an increasingly unpopular policy. It is harmful for our school system to continue to have confrontations and arguments between parents and those who are entrusted with taking care of our children during the day – that will only lead to further derision when there should be strong partnerships.
Now let me be clear, I believe that if you or your child is at “high-risk” if you contract COVID-19, then you or your child should have the choice to wear a mask whenever you’re around other people. But your choice shouldn’t become a requirement for everyone else, especially when those choices have potentially negative outcomes on learning and mental health.
Let me be clear, with all that we know about mental health, the virus, and the effectiveness of masks, our government should no longer require a mask mandate for our children in schools.
I call on my colleagues on the Prince William School Board to stand up and oppose the outdated mask mandate and give each child and parent the option of making their own decision about their health and wellbeing.
Prince Willliam County Gainesville District Supervisor submitted this letter to the editor. Potomac Local News accepts letters of local interest and issues. Submit them here.
