Dictator Dan Andrews won’t leave the children of Victoria alone.

In a letter from his Department of Education, parents have been asked that “all students aged 8 and over and all staff in all schools across Victoria wear masks when in class (except where removing a mask is necessary for clear communication) from now to the end of winter.”

Andrews’ Health Minister, Natalie Hutchins, said we’re “taking the fresh advice that's come from the Health Minister, and we're making sure that we're doing what we can to make schools as safe as possible in the current environment”.

Former federal opposition leader, Bill Shorten, agreed, saying Andrews’ mask mandate by stealth is “a no-brainer.”

Meanwhile Deakin University Professor Catherine Bennett made the bizarre claim that “when you put a mask on, it’s a reminder that things aren’t quite normal. It reinforces behaviours like taking a step back from other people. The mask could be the thing that also helps us stay mindful of those other things ... and stay that bit safer.”

The truth?

The only behaviour they reinforce amongst our kids is ANTI-SOCIAL behaviour.

They should NEVER be mandated or forced upon parents.

And the evidence for our claims is overwhelming.

Neeraj Sood - the Director of the COVID Initiative at the University of Southern California’s Schaeffer Centre for Health Policy & Economics – and Jay Bhattacharya – a Professor of Medicine at Stanford University – argue:

• “Masking is a psychological stressor for children and disrupts learning
• “Covering the lower half of the face of both teacher and pupil reduces the ability to communicate
• “Children lose the experience of mimicking expressions, an essential tool of nonverbal communication
• “Positive emotions such as laughing and smiling become less recognizable, and negative emotions get amplified
• “Bonding between teachers and students takes a hit”

Overall, Sood and Bhattacharya conclude that “it is likely that masking exacerbates the chances that a child will experience anxiety and depression, which are already at pandemic levels themselves.”

Senior scientist at Haskins Laboratories and adjunct professor in the Yale University Child Study Center, David J. Lewkowicz, agrees.

Lewkowicz wrote that “seeing partially visible faces robs us of a plethora of linguistic signals that are essential for communication”. He admits that the impacts are most forcefully felt by children given they’re developing an understanding of the “social, emotional and linguistic signals” that we need “to communicate with one another” – which he says resembles “a complex and dynamic dance that depends on each partner being able to read the other’s signals.”

Of course, parents are well aware of the risks.

According to a recent survey in the US  by Politico and Harvard, 46 per cent of parents said, “forced masks in school hurts social learning and interactions” and 39 per cent said it “hurts the mental and emotional health of children”.

Meanwhile Forbes Magazine is reporting that “children born during the pandemic in the US show reduced verbal, motor, and overall cognitive performance compared to children born pre-pandemic.”

To make matters even worse for Dictator Dan, there is NO evidence that masks even work.

For a list of studies outlining why they don’t work, read this article ADVANCE published last week: https://www.advanceaustralia.org.au/abc_claims_government_is_accepting_deaths_by_not_re_introducing_compulsory_mask_mandates

Leave our kids alone, Dan!