Letter By A Parent #4
Dear…
I am writing to you today to demand that all measures and restrictions forced on children and youth during the pandemic in schools will not be permitted during the 2021-2022 academic year. Children and youth must return to school and not one remnant of the “new normal” should be permitted in our schools if we as society truly care about the wellbeing of our children and youth. It has long been said that we must do everything we can to protect our children because they are the most vulnerable population in society. Children after all are the future. This is not hyperbolic. What we do to our children now will affect their lives and those around them for years to come.
I say NO MORE LOCKDOWNS.
We know through research that trauma, which includes the isolation measures imposed on children throughout the pandemic, as well as barriers to resources have a profound impact on health, including mental health, and future earnings. At the beginning of the pandemic, psychologists and doctors spoke to the resiliency of children to endure the challenges imposed on them as a result of the pandemic. Over time that message has shifted to children are suffering immensely. In fact, on May 7, 2021, the Canadian Pediatric Society made a plea by way of a letter to Premiere Ford and Stephen Lecce stating that clinics and hospitals were overrun with families seeking care for children in distress.[1]
According to SickKids Hospital, more than half of children aged 8-12 reported clinically significant depressive symptoms during the 2nd wave of the pandemic. That number jumped to 70% among adolescents. There has also been an unprecedented rise in hospital admissions for eating disorders and Type 2 diabetes. One of the most concerning conclusions of their recent preliminary research findings is that mental health didn’t improve when school resumed which built on previous findings that mental health worsened as the pandemic went on. “Our study found that despite periods of modified, in-person school, mental health measures did not improve significantly, including for those who attended school in person. This should serve as an urgent call to ensure that we do not replicate school as it was this past year, and get kids back to in-person learning, activities, and sports," says Dr. Dapnhe Korczak, Principal Investigator of the study and Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist at SickKids.[2] To build on what Dr. Daphne concluded, it is morally incumbent upon us as a society, and school boards particularly, to consider that cohorting, masking, contact tracing, excessive use of hand sanitizers and distancing is likely also negatively impacting the mental and physical health of our children and youth.
I say NO MORE MASKING AND DISTANCING.!
Masking is particularly harmful for our youngest children as they develop and learn. Children need to be able to see facial expressions and interact through play and touch so that they may form healthy social connections, learn to read and speak, and feel secure. It is nearly impossible for children to play while social distancing. It is not a natural way for them to play. The Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table et al recently released guidelines for the upcoming school year which spoke to, among other things, the absence of masks in areas with low community transmission as well as the negative impacts of masking of children.[3]
However, in the setting of low community transmission, the absence of masks in elementary school was associated with minimal transmission, despite regular class sizes.108 Potential negative consequences related to masking include impact on communication, impaired facial recognition, or identification, altered interactions (i.e., decreased emotional signaling / visual connection) and physical side effects (e.g., discomfort, irritation).109-111
I say NO to potentially dangerous vaccinations for children. The precautionary principle must be applied even when in a pandemic.
The experimental COVID-19 vaccinations have been expeditiously authorized under an Interim Order.[4] They are not fully approved by Health Canada. There is no long-term safety data at all for any age group. In fact, in regards to the only approved vaccine for children, Pfizer-BioNTech, the phase 3 trial is ongoing and will only conclude in 2023.[5] It should concern all of us that the we don’t know what portion of the current ongoing phase 3 trials are entirely unblinded which means we won’t have good long term safety data once the phase 3 trials conclude. Peter Doshi, senior Editor of the BMJ explains:
The BMJ asked Moderna, Pfizer, and Janssen (Johnson and Johnson) what proportion of trial participants were now formally unblinded, and how many originally allocated to placebo have now received a vaccine. Pfizer declined to say, but Moderna announced that “as of April 13, all placebo participants have been offered the Moderna covid-19 vaccine and 98% of those have received the vaccine.”2 In other words, the trial is unblinded, and the placebo group no longer exists.[6]
With the recent roll-out for children as young as 12 and the impending roll-out for children under the age of 12, we refuse to take part in these experimental vaccines in order to gain access to education, activities, extra curriculars and social contact. Our children aren’t guineapigs, and they absolutely cannot be used as shields to protect adults.
Families who choose not to inject their children will not accept different treatment for their children, or any children, via segregation, masking, plexiglass, or any other means, in any setting. Children are not to be excluded, or have their private medical information shared. The vaccination status of students should not be disclosed unless consent is provided as per the Personal Health Information Protection Act.
Please send me the research that justifies why children, who aren’t generally adversely affected by COVID-19 and rarely die, should have to have their school year modified in any way whatsoever IF adults who have voluntarily chosen to be vaccinated in schools and in the community are personally protected.[7] For those who cannot be vaccinated, such as those adults in our schools who are immunocompromised, they should be provided with support that they typically receive because they cannot be vaccinated for other illnesses that may threaten their health.
Parents, guardians, and others who care for the well-being of children and youth and their future are taking a stand around the world by taking legal action. Here in Ontario, on April 20, 2021, the Constitutional Rights Centre (CRC) filed a civil application in Ontario’s Superior Court with respect to school closures and COVID measures.[8]
The province of Ontario and its agents as well as the school boards and their agents have, or ought to have, a fiduciary obligation to act in the best interest of children and youth. We will not sit back and allow our children and youth to continue to be harmed by the destructive COVID-19 policies for the upcoming school year. Enough is enough. Let kids be kids.
Urgently requesting your reply,
xxxxx
[1] Letter from Canadian Pediatric Society on Twitter, Letter dated May 7, 2021.
[2] SickKids releases new research on how COVID-19 pandemic has impacted child and youth mental, physical health, webpage, July 8, 2021
[3] Science M, Thampi N, Bitnun A, et al. School Operation for the 2021-2022 Academic Year in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Science Briefs of the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table. 2(39). https://covid19-sciencetable.ca/
[4] Interim Order Respecting the Importation, Sale and Advertising of Drugs for Use in Relation to COVID-19
[5] Study to Describe the Safety, Tolerability, Immunogenicity, and Efficacy of RNA Vaccine Candidates Against COVID-19 in Healthy Individuals
[7] Deaths from COVID ‘incredibly rare’ among children, webpage, nature, July 15, 2021
[8] Constitutional Rights Centre, Notice of Application
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