Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This tread is full of the most hateful comments and it’s uncomfortable reading them.

+1. We were considering our parish school for our rising kinder, but this whole discussion has be thinking differently. The hatefulness of the posters are frightening.

FWIW: We are a conservative family and most of our friends have more liberal views. We get along great. Our kids are friends. We vacation together. It’s actually pretty awesome environment.

Anonymous wrote:I know a 5 year old pre-K student at an area Catholic grade school who is in the ICU as of this AM with COVID.

Congrats all, this is what we’ve signed up for.

Terrible. But you are implying they caught it in school from another unmasked child. Don’t use this child to promote fear and propaganda.

Blessings to the child and may they recover quickly.

Anonymous wrote:I know a 5 year old pre-K student at an area Catholic grade school who is in the ICU as of this AM with COVID.

Congrats all, this is what we’ve signed up for.

Oh my goodness. I am so sorry. Just horrible.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This tread is full of the most hateful comments and it’s uncomfortable reading them.

+1. We were considering our parish school for our rising kinder, but this whole discussion has be thinking differently. The hatefulness of the posters are frightening.

This thread does not reflect our school community at all. Yes, there are people with differing views, but all the conversations I’ve had on the subject have been respectful, even with people I personally disagree with.

Agree with this. We have very good friends who don't believe in masks or vaccinations. They are still our friends.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This tread is full of the most hateful comments and it’s uncomfortable reading them.

+1. We were considering our parish school for our rising kinder, but this whole discussion has be thinking differently. The hatefulness of the posters are frightening.

I think that there are a lot of trolls on this thread. Our school has handled this beautifully. I think each school does have its own culture so talking to parents is important. So where are Catholic school is very diverse because we don't draw from wealthier areas, we are small - other schools are very affluent and have different demographics. In our school 98% of the kids opted to remained masked. No one is being mean to the kids unmasked. Families are tight within the grades and friends.

NPR has a thoughtful article out today on COVID and masking requirement for children in schools.

One thing that's clear is that it's not fair to invalidate the opinions of parents who are concerned about the negative effects of masking on our children as we enter the second year of this COVID pandemic.

https://www.npr.org/2022/01/28/1075842341/growing-calls-to-take-masks-off-children-in-school

Of note:

- Across the country, about two-thirds of large school districts currently require students to wear masks. Most commonly, those masks are cloth. And cloth masks, experts say, are insufficient to contain the spread of the omicron variant.

- "It's very hard to even find pediatric KN95s or pediatric KF94s. And there's no such thing as pediatric N95s." That's because standards for N95 masks were created for
occupational and workplace safety. According to the Food and Drug Administration, "N95 respirators are not designed for children ... a proper fit cannot be achieved on children."

- Masks can interfere with young children's brain development; Numerous scientific papers have established that it can be harder to hear and understand speech and identify facial expressions and emotions when people are wearing masks

- the European equivalent of the CDC doesn't recommend masks for children under age 12

- Masks can inhibit social interactions; for school-age children ... masking interferes with nonverbal communication and emotional bonding.

"Dr. Jeanne Noble, who directs COVID-19 response for the UCSF Emergency Department at the University of California, San Francisco, is part of the coalition. "Kids don't need to be masked. Full stop. They have minuscule risk of serious illness or death from COVID," she says. She and colleagues are suggesting that especially vulnerable children continue to mask while other vaccinated children can safely go without."

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This tread is full of the most hateful comments and it’s uncomfortable reading them.

+1. We were considering our parish school for our rising kinder, but this whole discussion has be thinking differently. The hatefulness of the posters are frightening.

This thread does not reflect our school community at all. Yes, there are people with differing views, but all the conversations I’ve had on the subject have been respectful, even with people I personally disagree with.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At drop off, I saw one of the elderly nuns at our school wearing what looked like 5 masks. But, at least the parents have their choice though! I feel for the older staff. Wish the governor could have waited a month or so for all of this.

I trust in the Lord.

Please, for the love of God, tell me this is a troll comment.

Of course it is.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This tread is full of the most hateful comments and it’s uncomfortable reading them.

+1. We were considering our parish school for our rising kinder, but this whole discussion has be thinking differently. The hatefulness of the posters are frightening.

Welcome to the Diocese of Arlington.

Anonymous wrote:This tread is full of the most hateful comments and it’s uncomfortable reading them.

+1. We were considering our parish school for our rising kinder, but this whole discussion has be thinking differently. The hatefulness of the posters are frightening.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At drop off, I saw one of the elderly nuns at our school wearing what looked like 5 masks. But, at least the parents have their choice though! I feel for the older staff. Wish the governor could have waited a month or so for all of this.

I trust in the Lord.

Please, for the love of God, tell me this is a troll comment.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At drop off, I saw one of the elderly nuns at our school wearing what looked like 5 masks. But, at least the parents have their choice though! I feel for the older staff. Wish the governor could have waited a month or so for all of this.

I trust in the Lord.

Hmm yeah the person I know who said this… that she is “standing on her faith” rather than getting the vaccine… has been on a ventilator for weeks.

God gave us these wonderfully complex brains so we could use them to make smart decisions to protect others and ourselves.

Anonymous wrote:At drop off, I saw one of the elderly nuns at our school wearing what looked like 5 masks. But, at least the parents have their choice though! I feel for the older staff. Wish the governor could have waited a month or so for all of this.

I trust in the Lord.

This tread is full of the most hateful comments and it’s uncomfortable reading them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On Monday, my son's teacher thanked her 4th grade students who continued to wear masks. Later in the day, she lectured and guilted the maskless. One of the kids felt bad and put a mask on, insisting he wanted to wear it but his parents decided not. Needless to say, my son came home pleading with me to NOT sign the waiver (even though he recently had covid and has antibodies).

I hope that teacher is fired. If she has a problem with the decision she should direct her complaints to the diocese- not guilt trip a bunch of nine year olds.

You've had him tested for antibodies to know this? Because up to 33% of infections produce no lasting antibodies.

Where are you getting the 33% number? NIH says 95% have lasting immunity after natural infection.

https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/lasting-immunity-found-after-recovery-covid-19