Parents and education experts are pushing school district officials to fully reopen schools without mask mandates, pointing to a decline in reading test scores and speech development following a year of coronavirus restrictions.
During the first full year of primarily virtual or masked in-person education, reading test scores for young children plummeted and school-based speech pathologists saw an increase in children needing speech therapy. The number of students under the baseline level of reading achievement increased by 19 percent for kindergartners and 17 percent for first graders during the 2020-2021 school year, according to a report by curriculum developer Amplify.
USC professors Neeraj Sood and Jay Bhattacharya said California's school mask mandates posed a greater risk to children than they do benefit. Children are at an extremely low risk of severe illness or death due to COVID-19, according to scientific studies.
"Masking is a psychological stressor for children and disrupts learning," they wrote in an op-ed. "Covering the lower half of the face of both teacher and pupil reduces the ability to communicate. In particular, children lose the experience of mimicking expressions, an essential tool of nonverbal communication."
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