Analyzing Tragic Video Of Forcibly Masking Young Toddler At Daycare

A tragic video was recently posted to Facebook by a New York mother depicting her very young toddler being forcibly masked at daycare in order to comply with an unnecessary and cruel state mandate, which video has understandably gone viral.

“This is my poor kid at daycare today so I can work. #breaksmyheart #governorhochulthiswontwork #whyarewepunishingbabies.”

THIS IS CHILD ABUSE.@GovKathyHochul YOU ARE A CHILD ABUSER pic.twitter.com/a2a9jKNyTx

— Science Mom (@456trainMama) September 18, 2021

Let’s use just a modicum of common sense to analyze this tragedy, shall we?

Firstly, what is the actual risk of Covid death to a child? Per the CDC, there have been a total of 516 pediatric Covid deaths since January 2020. So statistically, the risk is 516 in 74.1 million, which is the number of children in the US.

Secondly, what’s the risk to the rest of the child’s family if the child were to contract Covid and bring it home? Well, multiple vaccines are free and widely available, so any parent who wants the protection afforded by vaccines has probably gotten one by now. If they have chosen not to get one, that is their right and it can subsequently be assumed that they have accepted any potential risk to themselves as a result of their choice. And if the vaccines are as promised, and the eligible family members are vaccinated and thus protected, then a healthy child potentially transmitting the disease to them should not be a significant concern.

Thirdly, if the child is repeatedly grabbing and handling their dirty mask and touching their face, and the childcare provider or teacher is likewise repeatedly grabbing and handling the dirty mask and touching the child’s face (as is happening in this video, and daily in classrooms and childcare centers across the nation), then any germs and droplets that may have been trapped by the homemade, non-PPE standard mask (because it is a scientifically proven fact that the virus molecules themselves are not are inhibited by masks, especially homemade cloth masks) are subsequently transferred to other people and surfaces to be spread. This essentially nullifies any potential benefits from the child wearing the mask in the first place. If the germs are being spread as though there had been no mask worn at all, a reasonable person must ask whether the potential psychological harm done by repeated traumatic encounters with authority figures and preventing appropriate social and emotional development through facial expressions and communication is worth the obvious non-benefit of forcing a mask on a child. For more on this aspect, read this fascinating scholarly article published on August 16, 2021, titled, “Yes, Children Can Transmit COVID, but We Need Not Fear,” which discusses why concerns about children transmitting COVID and efforts to mitigate the transmission by children are futile and unnecessary.

Fourthly, can any reasonable person expect anything else of children? Are they capable of wearing a proper mask in the proper way to make the benefits outweigh the detriments, all these factors considered? The above mentioned article touches on this point as well.

Ultimately, this common sense analysis can be extrapolated to the majority of the population. If you are wearing a non-PPE standard mask, and wearing and disposing of it in a way which is not in accordance with proper PPE guidelines, are handling your mask, are reusing a previously used (and therefore dirty) mask, are touching your face, are wearing a mask for only part of the time while in an enclosed area and then removing (only while walking into and out of a restaurant/room/etc.), or are wearing your mask improperly like below your nose, then a reasonable person must consider how little benefit the mask really is. And a reasonable person must then wonder whether the secondary damage being done by publicly anonymizing ourselves and restricting interpersonal relationships, emotional connections, facial expressions, etc. is worth the incredibly small benefit that your piece of cloth might be. In a nation so divided, is it really in our best interest to further restrict human connection by covering one of the most important forms of communication–the human face– in exchange for negligible health benefits?

It’s not actually about public health. It’s about public compliance and control.