A new poll from Politico and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health shows that parents are growing increasingly concerned about the effect of masking on their kids.
A plurality of parents, 46%, said that wearing masks hurts their kids’ social learning and interactions, according to the poll. Forty-five (45) percent said masks do not make a difference, and only 9% said it helps.
POLITICO-Harvard poll: 40 percent of parents believe masks at school harmed their kids – POLITICO https://t.co/jZd0faGnS6
— Josh Kraushaar (@HotlineJosh) March 25, 2022
Many schools have required masks to be worn by kids of all ages throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, but recently many states and localities have begun dropping mask mandates in schools. Some still remain, but public sentiment is shifting more against masking kids, based on the trends of the Politico/Harvard poll.
Only 11% of parents said masking helped their kids’ overall schooling experience. Forty-one (41) percent said it hurts, and 47% said it makes no difference. Thirty-nine (39) percent said masking hurt their kids’ mental health, while only 10% said it helps.
The poll surveyed 478 American parents with kids who attend a K-12 school, and was conducted between March 1 and March 7. The margin of error was 5.9%. (RELATED: Now Only A Sliver Of Elite Liberals Want To Keep Pushing COVID-19 Restrictions As Even Democrats Jump Ship)
Independents tended to lean toward Republicans in their responses. Forty-five (45) percent of them said masking hurt their kids’ general schooling experience, compared to 63% of Republicans and 19% of Democrats. A majority of independents, 50%, said masking hurt their kids social learning and interactions, compared to 73% of Republicans and 20% of Democrats.
Independents have generally leaned more toward Republicans in their attitude toward the pandemic in recent months, being more likely than Democrats to support removing mask mandates and other COVID-19-related restrictions.
