Masks on Kids? Be Angry and Enjoy the Video

 

My wife teaches grade school and middle school kids in the District of Columbia. She confides, shockingly enough, kids’ compliance with the mask mandate is not 100% all day despite endless requisite teacher hectoring. Six hours in the same room means full bio-sharing because classroom air circulation/filtration does not meet laboratory of surgical suite standards. The notion that kids’ already tiny risk from COVID is measurably further reduced by masks is untenable.

Masking kids was a grossly impractical and unscientific gesture done in service to a false narrative in which (a) we are directed to pretend that the risks from COVID are equally shared across all demographic groups and (b) that the chosen range of imposed interventions actually reduce spread. Making parents fearful enough to endorse this evil farce is also a crime.

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  1. Vince Guerra Inactive
    Vince Guerra
    @VinceGuerra

    Worse, the mask themselves are psychologically damaging. What kind of fear reactions are they embedding in these kids long term?  

    • #1
  2. Jim McConnell Member
    Jim McConnell
    @JimMcConnell

    Vince Guerra (View Comment):

    Worse, the mask themselves are psychologically damaging. What kind of fear reactions are they embedding in these kids long term?

    If I were a conspiracy theorist, I might think that was part of the purpose.

    • #2
  3. DrewInWisconsin, Oaf Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Oaf
    @DrewInWisconsin

    A Partial List of the Myriad Abuses That Facemasks Inflict on Our Children

    So here are a few basic bullet points about children, some of which might seem a bit counterintuitive or at least not the type of thing you would see or hear frequently:

    • Kids, especially younger kids who are untainted by the messiness of life, are like little human lie detectors, and even though they usually lack the comprehension or sophistication to articulate it even to themselves, they absolutely pick up when something untoward is going on.

    • Kids when confronted by a unavoidable contradiction or dissonance will typically resolve it by internalizing that they are to blame in some way.

    • Kids assume that however they experience life (especially in their initial formative years when they first start to build a repertoire of detailed memories) is representative of how life is “supposed to be”.

    • Kids are not resilient in the sense that they can shake off considerable emotional trauma or abuse

    • Kids are very resilient in the sense that they can internalize emotional distress and trauma as “normal”, and suppress their natural instincts and feelings that impede functioning “normally” in this unnatural emotional state.

    • Good parenting is critical and can blunt the negative impacts tremendously. Conversely, bad parenting can be just as powerful as a damaging force.

    • #3
  4. DrewInWisconsin, Oaf Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Oaf
    @DrewInWisconsin

    A Sense of Helplessness

    Being at the mercy of the arbitrary and capricious whims of others makes you feel a sense of helplessness, which is extremely stressful and grueling, and can eventually break a person mentally and emotionally.

    Deprives / Ruins Human Interactions

    The quality and nature of social interactions is greatly reduced. Every interaction behind masks is fundamentally different. Interacting in this way can feel sad, despondent, isolating, cold, and/or cruel, among other things. This is uniquely devastating to children who in addition to the intrinsic emotional distress of this also have their social/intellectual/mental development compromised as a result.

    The Stress of Difficulty Communicating

    The frustration that comes from difficulty communicating is underappreciated, and tends to leave people feeling annoyed, frustrated and stressed. Children who due to their lack of knowledge and sophistication generally have a far greater need for functional and efficient communication are again uniquely harmed by this because it is especially frustrating to children if they feel that they cannot learn and are ‘stuck’, and they can easily decide that they have little or no hope of learning and just give up on trying more or less.

    Over Time Changes Your Personality

    Facemasks are a radical and unnatural impingement on normal physical, mental and emotional functioning. Over time, this can change your personality – such as making you less social, less outgoing, more suspicious, decreased tendency or desire to be kind and so on.

    Turns Other People Into Abusive Tyrants

    This is meant to capture the phenomenon of a subset of people who have turned into cruel and vicious individuals, and abuse people whom they have power over. Exhibit A: Teachers (some of them) and Karens who incoherently screech at the sight of an unmasked child anywhere on the horizon.

    Feeling That Other People Matter While I Don’t

    This is a distinct distress in addition to the lack of fairness – that “I don’t matter”; this is amplified considerably when “other people matter”. This is what people who are systematically disregarded tend to feel, and it is very painful. Definitely not the sort of lesson you want your kids getting.

    The Distress of Constant Harassment

    Mask mandates are a constant intrusion into people’s personal lives that leaves people feeling exasperated – “just leave me alone already” / “just let me live in peace”. It is a basic human need to not be constantly harassed by others. This is true for kids too, albeit in a bit of a different manner, since adults by definition do need to be more involved in kids lives. But the basic idea holds – kids will be very stressed from the “evil mask compliance enforcer teacher” constantly haranguing them to keep their masks on all the way.

    • #4
  5. DrewInWisconsin, Oaf Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Oaf
    @DrewInWisconsin

    Saps the Joy From a Variety of Activities

    No elaboration needed.

    Living In Perpetual Stress From Social Enforcers

    Inevitably, people opposed to mask mandates will not be particularly zealous about following them to a “T”, whether it be letting the mask slide down your face, taking it off for a few minutes here and there, or just munching on a bag of peanuts for 3 hours. There is always a baseline stress of constantly having to be alert for the “mask police”, whether they are actual police or just really annoying Karens, or for kids teachers and administrators (and unfortunately sometimes parents) in addition to vile Karens who scream at kids like unhinged maniacs.

    Public Humiliation

    The school “mask police” – aka teachers/admins – are often extremely zealous – unhinged, really – a child who simply can’t adhere to the inhumane mask requirements getting dressed down in public is a common occurrence. Public humiliation can be a traumatic experience, especially for little children who can internalize very negative ideas about themselves as a result.

    Emotional Abuse

    Mask mandates leave many people feeling emotionally abused. This is both from the masking being forced upon people despite all the mental and emotional distress it causes – in other words, abuse – and from the constant manipulation and cruelty that is characteristic of abusers that is part and parcel of the implementation and enforcement of mask mandates, an especially pronounced characteristic when it comes to kids.

    It’s a long piece. Please read it. Then strike out in rage at the mask cult.

    • #5
  6. MarciN Member
    MarciN
    @MarciN

    Masks are a disgusting and abhorrent thing to do to little kids.

    I can’t imagine what kind of adults are doing this to children. Making children laugh and smile is the fun part of being with them.

    There’s a great scene in Michener’s Hawaii when children arrive on the island. I’ve forgotten why there weren’t any there for a short period. But he describes the joy of their presence perfectly. It should be required reading for the grownups of the world.

    • #6
  7. DrewInWisconsin, Oaf Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Oaf
    @DrewInWisconsin

    MarciN (View Comment):
    I can’t imagine what kind of adults are doing this to children.

    Childless adults who hate children.

    • #7
  8. Bluenoser Inactive
    Bluenoser
    @Bluenoser

    Jim McConnell (View Comment):

    Vince Guerra (View Comment):

    Worse, the mask themselves are psychologically damaging. What kind of fear reactions are they embedding in these kids long term?

    If I were a conspiracy theorist, I might think that was part of the purpose.

    I’m not a conspiracy theorist that is more than part of the purpose; it is quite potentially the whole point. 

    • #8
  9. DrewInWisconsin, Oaf Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Oaf
    @DrewInWisconsin

    Jim McConnell (View Comment):

    Vince Guerra (View Comment):

    Worse, the mask themselves are psychologically damaging. What kind of fear reactions are they embedding in these kids long term?

    If I were a conspiracy theorist, I might think that was part of the purpose.

    Just listening to a sci fi story wherein a conquering empire rewrites the myths of a world to create stories that instill fears in the children, with the idea that a fearful populace is easier to control. Fill them with fear from a young age, and they’ll be easily manipulated for the rest of their lives.

    Horrific.

    • #9
  10. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    I’m tired of seeing masks on employees of businesses I frequent.  It makes me feel sorry for them, and deprives me of seeing a smiling face as I make my purchase . . .

    • #10
  11. Full Size Tabby Member
    Full Size Tabby
    @FullSizeTabby

    DrewInWisconsin, Oaf (View Comment):

    Feeling That Other People Matter While I Don’t

    This is a distinct distress in addition to the lack of fairness – that “I don’t matter”; this is amplified considerably when “other people matter”. This is what people who are systematically disregarded tend to feel, and it is very painful. Definitely not the sort of lesson you want your kids getting.

     

    And inherent implication that, “I am dirty and my presence causes problems for others.” 

    The logic probably escapes the youngest children, but by middle school and high school at least some will get it. The justification for mask mandates is the wearer might otherwise spew forth viruses to sicken others. (If masks were to protect the wearer, there’d be no need for a mandate, as the potential wearer could decide on the risk / reward balance for himself.) So, mask mandates tell the person required to wear the mask that he is dirty and a threat to others. How many kids in recognizing the “I am a dirty problem for others” logic will decide the world would be better off if they weren’t in it. A number of adults certainly absorbed that message in the last two years, leading some to commit suicide and others to drink or drug themselves into a stupor, but maybe not many kids absorb the message that way. 

    • #11
  12. DrewInWisconsin, Oaf Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Oaf
    @DrewInWisconsin

    Full Size Tabby (View Comment):
    So, mask mandates tell the person required to wear the mask that he is dirty and a threat to others. How many kids in recognizing the “I am a dirty problem for others” logic will decide the world would be better off if they weren’t in it. A number of adults certainly absorbed that message in the last two years, leading some to commit suicide and others to drink or drug themselves into a stupor, but maybe not many kids absorb the message that way.

    Mental health crises among kids is definitely way, way up.

    But yes, for two years we’ve been trained to view other human beings as nothing more than disease vectors. “Keep away! Social distance! Don’t hug Grandma — in fact, don’t go see her at all! No actual human contact, everything by video! Mask up, hide your face! Hide yourself!”

    And kids internalize all this — and when it comes from adults in authority over them, schools for example, they naturally feel that there’s something wrong with them.

    Facemasks are a radical and unnatural impingement on normal physical, mental and emotional functioning. Over time, this can change your personality – such as making you less social, less outgoing, more suspicious, decreased tendency or desire to be kind and so on.

    I found that when I stopped wearing a mask in public, all I wanted to do was smile at people and be friendly toward them. I just wanted to display warmth and connection and show them that the world is a happier place without masks. I wanted to show them normality. And everything was normal for awhile, or getting there. Until Omicron.

    So these days when I’m in places where the majority of people are masked up, I find myself nearing a panicked state. I just want to get out of there. I don’t want to make eye contact. I don’t want to interact with anyone. I find myself believing that there’s something mentally wrong with the mask-wearer.

    • #12
  13. Vince Guerra Inactive
    Vince Guerra
    @VinceGuerra

    DrewInWisconsin, Oaf (View Comment):

    Jim McConnell (View Comment):

    Vince Guerra (View Comment):

    Worse, the mask themselves are psychologically damaging. What kind of fear reactions are they embedding in these kids long term?

    If I were a conspiracy theorist, I might think that was part of the purpose.

    Just listening to a sci fi story wherein a conquering empire rewrites the myths of a world to create stories that instill fears in the children, with the idea that a fearful populace is easier to control. Fill them with fear from a young age, and they’ll be easily manipulated for the rest of their lives.

    Horrific.

    Title please. 

    • #13
  14. Jim McConnell Member
    Jim McConnell
    @JimMcConnell

    DrewInWisconsin, Oaf (View Comment):

    Jim McConnell (View Comment):

    Vince Guerra (View Comment):

    Worse, the mask themselves are psychologically damaging. What kind of fear reactions are they embedding in these kids long term?

    If I were a conspiracy theorist, I might think that was part of the purpose.

    Just listening to a sci fi story wherein a conquering empire rewrites the myths of a world to create stories that instill fears in the children, with the idea that a fearful populace is easier to control. Fill them with fear from a young age, and they’ll be easily manipulated for the rest of their lives.

    Horrific.

    I received a photo from Tiny Beans of my 3 year old great-granddaughter at her preschool, and about half of the children were wearing masks. It is evidently not a policy of the school, so the masked children must wear them because their parents demand it. I feel very sorry for those poor children being raised by such fearful parents.

    • #14
  15. Flicker Coolidge
    Flicker
    @Flicker

    Full Size Tabby (View Comment):

    And inherent implication that, “I am dirty and my presence causes problems for others.”

    The logic probably escapes the youngest children, but by middle school and high school at least some will get it. The justification for mask mandates is the wearer might otherwise spew forth viruses to sicken others. (If masks were to protect the wearer, there’d be no need for a mandate, as the potential wearer could decide on the risk / reward balance for himself.) So, mask mandates tell the person required to wear the mask that he is dirty and a threat to others. How many kids in recognizing the “I am a dirty problem for others” logic will decide the world would be better off if they weren’t in it. A number of adults certainly absorbed that message in the last two years, leading some to commit suicide and others to drink or drug themselves into a stupor, but maybe not many kids absorb the message that way.

    If Adler was correct and much human interaction is formed around mechanisms to deal with the impotency of infancy and childhood, think what a mark and what new forms of altered thought processes and ways of perceiving themselves, and themselves in relation to those around them, must be left by being forced to wear masks, to protect others from yourself, to hide your faces, to not being able to see the faces of others, must have on the their subsequent adult psyches.

    • #15
  16. Henry Castaigne Member
    Henry Castaigne
    @HenryCastaigne

    I think that young people will let the old people die as revenge for Covid. 

    • #16
  17. DaveSchmidt Coolidge
    DaveSchmidt
    @DaveSchmidt

    DrewInWisconsin, Oaf (View Comment):

    MarciN (View Comment):
    I can’t imagine what kind of adults are doing this to children.

    Childless adults who hate children.

    My hunch is that about 20% of adults are anti-child.  

    • #17
  18. Patricia Jay Inactive
    Patricia Jay
    @Patriciajay

    Also, the KN95 masks now required in L.A. for kids are very, very snug and the wire over the nose allows an even tighter fit over the nostrils. It’s tough for me to wear it for very long, and I can’t imagine what’s going to happen to kids who will have most of their face covered, as well as mouth and nose.

    If I had a kid in LAUSD I would yank them out. This is child abuse.

    • #18
  19. Old Bathos Member
    Old Bathos
    @OldBathos

    Patricia Jay (View Comment):

    Also, the KN95 masks now required in L.A. for kids are very, very snug and the wire over the nose allows an even tighter fit over the nostrils. It’s tough for me to wear it for very long, and I can’t imagine what’s going to happen to kids who will have most of their face covered, as well as mouth and nose.

    If I had a kid in LAUSD I would yank them out. This is child abuse.

    It is my understanding that in addition to requiring a tight fit, the recommendation was that nurses not wear them for more than three hours a day. Of course, kids will totally conform to clinical stds.

    • #19
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