It is hands down the dumbest thing I've ever seen.

In the short term, absolutely. But long-term masking is frankly not an option. The psychological damage it'll cause to children's communicative abilities is absolutely going to be manifested soon. We need to see each other's faces because nonverbal expression is a critical part of healthy human communication.

You know what else is a critical part of healthy human communication? Being ALIVE. I hope to God we don't start seeing a surge in pediatric covid hospitalizations and worse, I really do. Because what will you all say then? When this thing first started you all were "oh well, it only kills grandmas so no big deal." Now we know that's not true and we're sending our children into schools which are well known petri dishes to begin with. We're already starting to see a rise in infections with kids. And you're all pushing for them to not even wear masks? Lord help us...

i agree. luckily parents have the options of masking or vaccination or long-term home-schooling. once they're all vaccinated, the problem should be more tractable.

Indeed.

The FDA only approved the vaccine for 16 and over.

children as young as 12 can receive the Pfizer vaccine, and it's not illegal for younger kids, only not recommended