New York City parents are “cautiously optimistic” that Mayor-elect Eric Adams will end school mask mandates, despite his pledge to end the restrictions on his first day in office.
Adams told CNN’s State of the Union that he plans to remove the city’s in-school mask mandate on Jan. 1, though his predecessor Mayor Bill de Blasio has been a staunch supporter of the in-school mandates.
“If we can find a safe way to do it, I look forward to getting rid of the mask,” Adams said. “Part of the socialization of a child is that smile … Not being able to see the smiles of our children has a major impact.”
New York City parent and activist Maud Maron told the Daily Caller that she wants kids unmasked, but does not believe that it will be as simple as Adams made it out to be during his CNN interview. She is worried that mask advocates will still have no desire to remove masks from children in January.
“I don’t think it’s going to be easy,” Maron said. “But it’s almost like the people that are pro-masking they’re never asked ‘when do you see masks ending?’ … They never tell you when the masking will end.”
Maron said that she believes masking for young children is “essentially meaningless,” especially when children use cloth masks. She also emphasized how masks inhibit children from socializing properly and claims they are imposing “unjustifiable consequences.”
“The downside of lack of socialization, we’ve seen suicide rates … skyrocket in places. We can’t pretend we haven’t imposed an unjustifiable consequence on kids,” Maron said.
Maron and New York City mother, Natalya Murakhver, told the Daily Caller they are both fearful that unmasking children will become contingent on a high vaccination rate among children aged 5-11. (RELATED: FDA Approves Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine For Kids Aged 5-11)
Murakhver, who has two children in New York City public schools, said that “kids should have never been masked” and unmasking them “must not be tied to vaccination.” The ambitious mother of two tweeted that she is working with American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten to plead the case of unmasking kids to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Murakhver said that it should be “self-evident” that masks should be eliminated for children, but is “hopeful” that Weingarten can successfully lobby the CDC to remove mask mandates.
“Yesterday I met with Randi Weingarten to discuss the off-ramp for unmasking school kids, after nearly 20 months of masks,” Murakhver tweeted. “Randi has agreed to look at our evidence-based proposal with guidance from leading experts.”
Listening to each other matters!
Yesterday, I met w/@rweingarten to discuss the off-ramp for un-masking school kids, after nearly 20 months of masks.
Randi has agreed to look at our evidence-based proposal w/guidance from leading experts including @TracyBethHoeg & others.
— Natalya Murakhver #MaskLikeAKid (@AppletoZucchini) November 8, 2021
Both Maron and Murakhver agreed that masking has become “extremely politically motivated” and are skeptical that a new administration will change minds.
