The moral question of "How to properly resist mask mandates at school?"

How do we help our children get back to normal at school without having to co-parent with the state government?

There is no easy answer.

I have struggled and had to lay awake at night over this issue for some time.

At first, there was the stage of hope and fight. We banded together, created a group to organize within our local Catholic school community. A petition was created, signed, and submitted to give the mask choice back where it belonged, in the hands of individual families.

Some chose to make letters to send to the Diocese, the Head coordinators of all things Catholic Community in the county. Personally, I compiled scientific information and sent several emails filled with it to the people in question.

But the odds were stacked sky-high against us. All the major institutions came out swinging synonymously in favor of mask mandates in school. Nationwide you had the CDC, AAP & others, on a state level the CDPH put out guidance that is considered law, to mask the children once again, for another school year. Right after the guidance was put out, the Diocese sent a letter to all local Catholic schools explaining that he would be following the institution’s lead on masking.

Outraged, the local community organized an “ Unmask the Kids” protest at the Diocese Center in San Diego.

Meanwhile, some local public school districts that did not favor forced masking for kids in classrooms had begun a fight: Dr. Wilma Wooten told Dr. David Miyashiro, the superintendent of Cajon Valley Schools that districts who do not comply with Gavin Newsom's mask mandates will be sued, their funding cut off and schools will be shut down by the state of California.

Here we are. The battle seems lost, school starts in a week. For me, it has materialized itself in considerable soul searching over how to go forward.

Questions I have asked myself:

What’s the percentage of families that will be on board with noncompliance with the state mask mandates in schools? If you are in a blue state like California, there’s a real chance that being part of the resistance puts you in the minority.

What about mask exemptions for my child? This is a real option, but it comes with a bitter side-effect of potential ostracization for the child, who per California Public Health Guidance, still has to wear a face shield. If the majority of children wear a mask, and yours doesn’t, are the mental impacts worse for the odd one in the group, than the masking itself?

Should we ask “non-compliance” from our children? As MD and Senator Rand Paul proclaimed over the past 2 weeks, it might simply be time to stand up, and not let Governments trample our right to make individual medical choices. However, when we take our children to school, we can no longer stand up for them. The minute they walk into their school building, they are on their own. Should we be demanding the kind of courage hard to find for some adults, from our children? Will it build their character in the long run, or hurt them in the short term? Does using the young generation as a virtue shield for our noble cause to help them make us any better than the people using their kids to achieve the opposite result because they are scared?

When I got to a more desperate point I consulted a wise woman, who has provided us, the MOM-fighters, with much valuable information about the inefficacy of Masks against a very small particle pathogen, given its primary way of spread is through Aerosols. Megan K Mansell, @mamasaurusMeg told me that the best, and maybe the only way out of this masking mess will be through lawsuits.

I have connected with multiple parents from our school who are fed up and feel backed into a corner. Some of them hope for the California Recall Election to bring a change in leadership, that will end the forced Co-parenting with the state.

Ultimately, the fight is not over, and we have not given up exploring the least harmful ways to help free our children.

-Tami Cam