Millions of families are wringing their hands in frustration as school boards across the country vote on mask mandates. For anti-maskers, every ban on a mask mandate is a win. But for everyone else who believes in science and understands how compassion and empathy work, these decisions to force kids to unmask is a matter of frightening urgency. One brave dad stood up to a school board to try and appeal to their humanity to make universal masking the rule, and what he had to say absolutely nailed the core of what this entire debate is all about.
I said a few things at our school board meeting here in Williamson County last night.. https://t.co/to8H33hYqZ
— Justin Kanew (@Kanew) August 17, 2021
“I’m a dad of a new kindergartener, and her first day was right after the chaos last week. She went to school and was one of just a few kids in her class wearing a mask which made her ask me why she had to. My answer was because we want to take care of other people. She’s five years old, but she understood that concept, and it’s disappointing that more adults around here can’t seem to grasp it,’ Justin Kanew told his local school board meeting for the Williamson County Board of Education.
My Son Doesn’t Want The COVID-19 Vaccine And It’s Affecting Our Family
There are roughly 50 million kids in the US who are not old enough for the Covid-19 vaccine. We know that universal masking works and can protect kids, so why all the outrage? Why are parents working so hard to give their kids the option to get sick? Misguided, entertainment news junkies who swear by Tucker Carlson are even claiming a religious exemption. To this, Kanew had a clear message.
“I asked a pastor friend of mine, and he was very clear, there’s no actual biblical justification for using the Bible to get out of a mask mandate passed by a majority of this elected board, but thousands are doing it anyway, calling it a ‘religious exemption,’ which is frankly just sad,” he told the school board. “Avoiding masks is not in the Bible, but taking care of others is.”
Kanew didn’t stop there. He hit the anti-maskers with their own argument about how the government is just trying to control us with mask mandates. If overreach is a concern, then why are they using that as an option to hurt kids?
Kanew told the school board, “Now today, we have Governor Lee’s executive order to allow opt-outs which is government overreach undercutting a local decision. If you only like democracy when it goes your way, you don’t actually like democracy.”
Not Every Family Will Feel Safe Entering the Post-Vaccine World
As a mother of three school-aged kids, I watched in absolute horror as the anti-maskers on my local school board disregarded the majority of voices in my community who said they wanted a mask mandate. I cannot fathom for the life of me why Republicans are working so hard to put our kids in danger of a virus that is filling up ICU beds and shutting down businesses, schools, and choking hospitals to the breaking point. At what point will these people finally start to care about anyone but themselves?
Justin Kanew, you’re a hero. Thank you for standing up to these heartless bullies.
