Rep. Adam Niemerg Calls For More Thoughtful Approach To Universal School Mask Mandates

DIETERICH - Nearly 60 school districts have been placed on probation or have been listed as no longer being recognized by the Illinois State Board of Education for not complying with the Governor’s mask mandate, prompting Adam Niemerg (R-Dieterich) to urge the legislature to intervene and provide a more sensible approach.

In a speech on the House floor, Niemerg called out the Illinois Department of Health and the Illinois State Board of Education for not answering his questions and providing data to support their claims about universal mask mandates. According to recently released data, the hospitalization rate for K-12 students is .004 percent.

“Why are we doing this?” Niemerg said. “You look at other nations around the world like Great Britain, they are not requiring universal masking at schools. There is no need to put kids through another year of forced masking. IDPH knows it. Parents know it. School districts know it. This is about exercising power, not about public health.”

A recent study shows students who wear a mask longer than four hours a day experienced a decrease in cognitive precision, and they experience an increase in headaches and sweating as well as dehydration and they have a greater risk of bacterial infection.

“We know the virus does not impact kids the way it does adults and we also know from studies that prolonged mask use for students does have a negative impact on their physical and mental well-being,” Niemerg said. “Kids are not adults. We send kids to school to learn how to interact with other kids and to learn. Masks have been demonstrated to impede the ability of kids to learn properly. We must change these policies and think about the long-term consequences of the decisions being made today.”

Niemerg’s full remarks can be found at: https://tinyurl.com/3ct46mrj.

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