‘Mouth masks in secondary schools tend to be child abuse’ – De Daily Standaard

Immunologist Dr. Carla Peeters finds it completely irresponsible of the government to continue to oblige children between the ages of 12 and 18 to wear face masks in secondary schools. She believes that the government is putting the health of this group of children at risk.

As far as Peeters is concerned, this measure must be brushed aside immediately, she says in HP/DeTime. According to studies she cited, the chance that a child will die from a severe form of Covid-19 is very low (0.003 percent).

She also points out that children are not the main spreaders of the coronavirus and that the effectiveness of wearing face masks is practically nil. She cites a study that compared the number of infections among children and teachers in Finland and Sweden. Finland has closed the schools and Sweden kept them open and without a mask requirement. There was no difference in the number of infections.

There are therefore little or no positive effects, while the negative effects are becoming more and more visible. Peeters points out that the number of children with mental problems has risen sharply and considers the corona measures as the cause of this.

Mandatory wearing of a face mask increases the risk of bacterial infections. “Dentists see a mask mouth in children, characterized by an increase in caries, gingivitis, broken enamel and bad smelling breath. This is caused by the reduction in saliva and dehydration due to drinking too little, which normally causes the oral flora to get out of balance,” said a professor quoted by Peeters.

At the same time, it disrupts the whole social dynamic and leads to polarization and stigmatization, especially among children who cannot wear a mask for health reasons. “Children are burdened with an increasing sense of guilt about positive test results, as a result of which others are also forced to quarantine,” said Peeters.

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So it is high time to remove the exception for secondary schools and bring children back to normal, because this is getting out of hand. Besides the fact that this is of course very annoying for those children, the situation is only aggravated by the fact that adequate help can no longer always be given. Mental health care already struggled to meet the demand for care before the corona crisis and is now completely overrun. Time to turn off that ‘tap’ in any case!