Mask and Vaccine Mandates are Inappropriate and Need to be Prevented and/ or Abolished

Unless you've been living under a bunker since around early March 2020, you're certain to have noticed the impact Covid-19 and the restrictions that come with this virus have had on your everyday life. The United States along with the rest of the world shut down to mitigate the virus enough to prevent hospital crowding and buy enough time to grasp a better understanding of how the novel virus operates. It began with "14 days to slow the spread," which quickly turned into a month, then a few months and a mask mandate. "Just until we have a vaccine" quickly justified extending said statewide mask mandates and added business restrictions lasting well into 2021 (despite some people being vaccinated as early as December 2020 and January 2021). We did experience a "taste" of liberty in the summer, only to witness liberty fall under threat yet again. Currently, we are at risk of having our lives shut down yet again, with states such as Pennsylvania requiring masks for all k-12 students starting early this month. The University I attend, Mansfield University of Pennsylvania, has an indoor mask mandate as of this writing. How did we get here? It's not the virus.

At the start of March 2020, our lives were suddenly brought to a halt. The states in unison declared a national emergency thus immediately changing the lives of Americans forever. Families were not able to leave their homes unless it was for what the government declared "essential travel." All businesses that the government declared to be "non-essential" shut down, meaning that you could legally shop at Walmart but not mom and pop's, resulting in mom and pop's to suffer damages that may very well be irreversible. This didn't just effect your local convenient store, it negatively impacted the economy in ways that we still notice today.

Fast forward to today. State and local governments still refuse to give up their emergency powers despite having a good understanding of how Covid-19 works and the effectiveness of the vaccine. Many universities are requiring the vaccine AND masking for on-campus students. Local and big businesses are requiring their employees be vaccinated and wear the mask. k-12 schools are requiring the mask for their students. At this point, one must ask themselves why?

In regards to mask mandates, data from the CDC points that beginning in April of 2020, "Compared with 2019, the proportion of mental health-related visits for children aged 5–11 and 12–17 years increased approximately 24%. and 31%, respectively" (https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6945a3.htm?s_cid=mm6945a3_w&fbclid=IwAR0mkjA6tZAgHlJ3qLSdq3IErqmQU8KnGI48tuRocDRn38so-Ey4zbfb8Jw). So why this sudden sharp increase in psychiatric ER visits in children? The government will of course blame Covid without taking into effect that the restrictions implemented by said governments play a part in this as well. There is no doubt that Covid mandates restrict a child's ability to play. Shutdowns effected the child's ability to go to their local park. Even social distancing and masking means children have limited interaction with their peers, so why exactly is this important? Well, the American Academy of Pediatrics points out that "play is essential to development because it contributes to the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being of children and youth." (https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/119/1/182) "Play allows children to use their creativity while developing their imagination, dexterity, and physical, cognitive, and emotional strength. Play is important to healthy brain development.4–6 It is through play that children at a very early age engage and interact in the world around them. Play allows children to create and explore a world they can master, conquering their fears while practicing adult roles, sometimes in conjunction with other children or adult caregivers.7–14" (https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/119/1/182#sec-2) "As they master their world, play helps children develop new competencies that lead to enhanced confidence and resiliency they will need to face future challenges.7,10,15 Undirected play allows children to learn how to work in groups, share, negotiate, resolve conflicts, and learn self-advocacy skills.7,10,11,16 When play is allowed to be child-driven, children practice decision-making skills, move at their own pace, discover their areas of interest, and ultimately engage fully in the passions they wish to pursue.7,10,11" (https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/119/1/182#sec-2) "Ideally, much of play involves adults, but when play is controlled by adults, children acquiesce to adult rules and concerns and lose some of the benefits play offers them, particularly in developing creativity, leadership, and group skills.17" (https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/119/1/182#sec-2) Maybe we should consider that the government saying "no play without a mask and being X-feet apart" likely has the same effect? The government, like the parent, is an authority figure and no authority figure is immune from abusing its power. There are health considerations to take into effect as well, such as a child having a potential breathing or heart issue unrelated to Covid. "Medical exceptions" would mean that the parent would have to disclose private health information to their school whether they want to or not. There are too many variables in play against a mask mandate to justify one no matter what that un-elected doctor in Washington D.C. says on CNN.

So what about a vaccine mandate? Certainly, it's the only safe way to end this right? After all, the Pzier vaccine is "88% effective against symptomatic disease from the B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant 2 weeks after the second dose" according to the United Kingdom (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/vaccines-highly-effective-against-b-1-617-2-variant-after-2-doses). Well, a vaccine mandate promotes anything but safety. CDC Data as of September 4, 2021, 6:00 am points out clearly that African Americans are still deeply trailing whites in getting vaccinated. (https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccination-demographic). With this data, it's clear that something like a "vaccine passport" to eat at restaurants or participate in society, in general, would unavoidably create a silent Jim Crow society where many African Americans would be barred from the everyday privileges that white men enjoy unless of course, the African American complies with the government. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 currently risks suspension due to the favorability of vaccine mandates. Racial inequality/ inequity issues aside, what about health issues where vaccination is not recommended by the person's health provider? A progressive Democrat politician in my home state of Ohio, Dennis Kucinich, has received a recommendation via his health provider to NOT get vaccinated at this time. He shared the letter from his doctor on a Facebook post and boy did he receive hell from his base. He had to delete some comments but one reply to a comment I made was questioning Dennis Kucinich's status as a progressive. No one should have their entire reputation up in the air over a medical decision made by them and their doctor. Dennis was the only Democrat in the 2007 Democratic Presidential Debates to speak favorably of marriage equality despite the old authoritarians speaking for separate but equal "civil unions," he's a progressive. Some of the comments he deleted suggested that he should be barred from societal participation if he can't get vaccinated. Kucinich aside, are we going to tell people with health-related disabilities "you can't eat here?" That's a violation of The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and (assuming it's due to a vaccine mandate) a violation of The Bill of Rights all in one incident. Concerning health, I have been struggling with chest pains since the second dose of Pzier and, although rare, complications such as this provide yet another reason to keep vaccines up to individual conscience.

The government will claim "the only way to end this is with a mandate," and that's incorrect. The way we end this is by standing up to the government and saying "NO!!! You won't take away our liberty again." Mask mandates, vaccine mandates, or Covid mandates make absolutely no sense at this point. It's no longer about safety and all about control. It's time for Americans to be free.