March 30, 2022 – A recent poll found that more than 4 in 10 parents of school-aged children think that mask-wearing to protect against COVID-19 harmed their kids’ overall scholastic experience.
The survey, conducted by POLITICO and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, found that only 11% of parents think that masks helped their children, and nearly half said that masks didn’t make any difference.
Mask-wearing harmed children’s social learning and interactions as well as their mental and emotional health, according to a significant percentage of parents surveyed.
“Even if I’m in a Democratic state or district, I’d pay attention because there are a substantial number of independent parents who think the policy is hurting their children,” said pollster Robert Blendon, Richard L. Menschel Professor of Public Health and Professor of Health Policy and Political Analysis, emeritus, at Harvard Chan School, in a March 25, 2022 POLITICO article. “The parents who are against it are not going back. They’ve concluded it’s not good for children’s education and it’s two years of this. When you have a substantial number of parents who think their children are being threatened, it’s going to matter politically.”
Read the POLITICO article: POLITICO-Harvard poll: 40 percent of parents believe masks at school harmed their kids