Dear Students of Maryland, I want to apologize to you. I want to apologize to you because the adults in this state, the politicians, the local and state School Board Members, the Union Members, Health Departments, and even teachers, have let you down.
The only people who didn’t let you down were your parents.
Those other adults, adults in power to do better, didn’t. They KNEW how bad it was for you to be out of school for half or even all of a year. They KNEW how bad it was and is for you to wear masks all day. But, instead of working to find a better solution to Covid, a virus that doesn’t even affect you, they went for the easy way out. They went to the default position of keeping you at home and then making you wear unhealthy masks. And they overstepped their authority to do it.
Trust me, your parents fought hard for you. They spoke out. They wrote letters and emails to officials. They protested. They made speeches at council meetings. They investigated private schools and homeschooling. Some of them could use those options, others couldn’t.
But the adults in power, the ones who enjoy ruling the world, didn’t listen. So what if wearing a mask exposes you to more germs than not wearing one. So what if the masks kept you from breathing in plenty of oxygen. So what if you got headaches, anxiety, or began to hate school because of masks. It didn’t matter to them.
Sadly, kids, you have learned at a young age what many adults have known for a while, that government and public officials are mostly out for themselves and power. That they won’t take bold action to make your life better or truly keep you healthy. They will bail on you every time. They are afraid they won’t keep their jobs.
Many of them couldn’t even take the time to find the studies that showed the harm that masks do to you. They were too busy cementing their political future. They listened to fear propaganda and political viewpoints instead of thinking for themselves.
To be fair kids, some adults besides your parents spoke up for you. They were sometimes doctors, or teachers or just community members who didn’t want you ruined by the political ambitions of a few government hacks.
Don’t worry, they are still out there and they haven’t given up. They are going to continue to fight for you, and your parents will too. We will be at every meeting, we will write letters, we will let people know that they are doing is wrong. They need to know we are watching.
We hope you don’t forget this time in our country’s history when a virus was used as an excuse to shut everything down, even when it didn’t have to be. When you were used in a political game between parties struggling to run this country. That those people requiring you to wear masks will only wear them when they are on the news or in the paper. The rest of the time they will host big birthday parties, have expensive fundraisers, and eat dinners in fancy restaurants without their masks.
And don’t forget the “medical experts” who were more interested in their careers and television fame than telling the truth. They lied about stats, testing, they lied about masks, and lied about vaccines. Or the big pharmeceutical companies that made billions on vaccines that were ineffective and dangerous. Remember that medical decisions should not be influenced by politics.
I don’t want you to forget because I hope you will do better than the people of this generation did. I hope that if this happens again, you will stand up at the beginning and tell the officials that they will do all the research, that they won’t censor experts who disagree, and they will come up with creative solutions that keep kids strong, healthy and learning. A fast solution is not good if it is more harmful that helpful.
I’m sorry kids. I really am. I’m not done, but I know you will still have to suffer a bit longer and for that I apologize. But, know this, we will hold people accountable for these bad decisions by defeating them politically and removing them from their jobs.
It’s the least we can do.
Me.
