BY SIMONE J. SMITH
As I have been covering this pandemic, my biggest concern has always been for the ones who are the most vulnerable in our society, our children. I am saddened to see and hear the anxiety in the voices of the students that I work with each week, and one thing that I have noticed is that this pandemic has had a drastic effect on our children’s speech. It is that one-on-one communication that allows them to express themselves to others.
In a recent study, “Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Early Child Cognitive Development: Initial Findings in a Longitudinal Observational Study of Child Health,” it discusses the fact that the human brain is unique in its prolonged developmental timeline. Infants are born with relatively immature brains that are competent and vulnerable. They are inherently competent in their ability to initiate relationships, explore, seek meaning, and learn; but are vulnerable and depend entirely on caregivers for their survival, emotional security, modelling of behaviors, and the nature and rules of the physical and socio-cultural world that they inhabit. The majority of us are born with the immense capacity to learn, remodel, and adapt, but our brains are sensitive and vulnerable to neglect and environmental exposures that begin even before birth.
Multiple studies have identified how covering children’s faces during their formative years impairs speech development to where they have difficulty being understood by their parents, let alone other youngsters.
If you have been masking your children for the last two years, it has not only decimated their ability to communicate, but it has decreased their IQ by 21% according to a Brown University Study. The problem is so obvious that the CDC recalculated the milestones (ages) by which a child should reach development achievement in speech and comprehension (https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/milestones/index.html). On the website it actually says “CDC’s milestones and parent tips have been updated and new checklist ages have been added (15 and 30 months).”
What before the pandemic was considered normal proficiency by a two-year-old is now considered normal for a four-year-old. If you are a parent and you are reading this, the news must be a little concerning. Children are unable to see and register facial features to determine emotional expression, and they are unable to learn language by watching adults’ use of their mouth and tongue in forming words and phrases.
In the above-mentioned research study, “Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Early Child Cognitive Development: Initial Findings in a Longitudinal Observational Study of Child Health,” they examined general childhood cognitive scores in 2020 and 2021 vs. the preceding decade, 2011-2019. They found that children born during the pandemic have significantly reduced verbal, motor, and overall cognitive performance compared to children born pre-pandemic.
They also found that males and children in lower socioeconomic families have been most affected. Results highlight that even in the absence of direct SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 illness, the environmental changes associated with the COVID-19 pandemic is significantly and negatively affecting infant and child development.
So why are we masking our children when we know that it is damaging them in multiple ways? Children do not readily acquire SARS-CoV-2 (very low risk), spread it to other children or teachers, or endanger parents or others at home. They tell us to trust the science, and that is what the science is telling us.
In the rare cases where a child contracts COVID-19 it is very unusual for the child to get severely ill or die. Masking seems to be harming our children. Whatever arguments there may be for consenting adults – children should not be required to wear masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
