1) COVID is not a significant threat to the health of your kids. To date, 354 kids under the age of 17 have died "from" COVID.[1] Of those kids, most are likely to have other major complications, including things like leukemia. In a study by the UK, they estimated that 25 out of 12 million kids without any major complications died from COVID.[2] They didn't control for obesity, however. COVID is less dangerous to your kids than:
a) RSV, which hospitalizes 60,000 people per year, and kills between 100 - 500 children under 5 every year.[3]
b) Regular influenza during a regular year - The CDC estimates that the 2019 - 2020 flu deaths in children were ~434. That's in one year, compared to 18 months[4]
c) Cancer - Cancer sucks. It kills twice as many kids per year than COVID. I know its not communicable (with some possible exceptions), but it's still a bigger killer of your kids than COVID.[5]
d) Suicide - kills about 2,000 kids per year. Contemplate that when you are thinking about these lockdowns and mental health.[6]
2) You know how many kids have died from the flu during the COVID time? One. [7] Something about COVID wiped out the flu, or at least that is what the data says. So, prior years, flu, but no COVID. COVID year, COVID but no flu. The difference in the dangers to your kids from flu compared to COVID are not statistically meaningful. This means that kids face no more danger from communicable diseases this year than they have in every other year since we wiped out polio.
3) Your kids wearing masks will do nothing to help anyone. They aren't going to use them properly. They aren't going to make themselves safer from a non-dangerous virus. They aren't going to prevent the spread of the disease, because they touch their mouths constantly.[8] Even if masks do help with the spread of COVID, it's not worth mandating kids wear masks during a normal flu year. The call for masks on kids is propaganda related to political power.
4) Anyone that makes a plea to protect our kids from COVID is either uninformed or lying to you. Educate them on the low mortality rate, based on CDC data, and then assume they have bad intentions if that doesn't shock them.
5) The damage that we are doing to our kids by robbing them of their education is FAR AND AWAY more damaging than the minute chance that some kids will get sick. Kids, by and large, aren't learning *****[8] If you have highschool age kids right now, keep them learning. Because, once they get to college, they are going to be the ones blowing the curve in every class they take.
6) While we don't have good data to support this, kids might be spreading COVID to parents / teachers. That's a valid point. That is worth discussion. There are pros / cons to each side, like the presence of a vaccine, for example. But that argument is separate and distinct from arguments that something is to "protect the children". No, it's not. It's destroying our kids lives for the sake of keeping adults safe. We have already pretty much destroyed their adulthoods with the crushing debts we are creating to make elites rich, why not at least let them have a few more years of innocense before they realize how ****ed they are.
Endnotes:
[1] https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid_weekly/index.htm#SexAndAge
[2] https://www.bbc.com/news/health-57766717
[3] https://emergency.cdc.gov/han/2021/han00443.asp#:~:text=Each%20year%20in%20the%20United,aged%2065%20years%20or%20older.
[4] https://www.cdc.gov/flu/spotlights/2020-2021/pediatric-flu-deaths-reach-new-high.htm#:~:text=June%204%2C%202021%20%E2%80%93%20CDC%20reported,for%20that%20season%20to%20199.
[5] https://www.americashealthrankings.org/explore/health-of-women-and-children/measure/child_mortality_a/state/U.S. (9% * 20,337 = 1,830)
[6] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK220806/table/ttt00010/?report=objectonly - Note, this data is dated, back from 1999. That is because, in recent years, suicide deaths by age included a big group of between 15 to 24. However, suicide rates have done nothing but increase since 1999. More discussion about pandemic and suicide here: https://healthfeedback.org/what-has-been-the-effect-of-the-pandemic-on-the-suicide-rate-of-the-u-s-population/
[7] CDC deaths, pediatric from flu
[8] Primary research, namely my high school teacher wife and high school kids.
a) RSV, which hospitalizes 60,000 people per year, and kills between 100 - 500 children under 5 every year.[3]
b) Regular influenza during a regular year - The CDC estimates that the 2019 - 2020 flu deaths in children were ~434. That's in one year, compared to 18 months[4]
c) Cancer - Cancer sucks. It kills twice as many kids per year than COVID. I know its not communicable (with some possible exceptions), but it's still a bigger killer of your kids than COVID.[5]
d) Suicide - kills about 2,000 kids per year. Contemplate that when you are thinking about these lockdowns and mental health.[6]
2) You know how many kids have died from the flu during the COVID time? One. [7] Something about COVID wiped out the flu, or at least that is what the data says. So, prior years, flu, but no COVID. COVID year, COVID but no flu. The difference in the dangers to your kids from flu compared to COVID are not statistically meaningful. This means that kids face no more danger from communicable diseases this year than they have in every other year since we wiped out polio.
3) Your kids wearing masks will do nothing to help anyone. They aren't going to use them properly. They aren't going to make themselves safer from a non-dangerous virus. They aren't going to prevent the spread of the disease, because they touch their mouths constantly.[8] Even if masks do help with the spread of COVID, it's not worth mandating kids wear masks during a normal flu year. The call for masks on kids is propaganda related to political power.
4) Anyone that makes a plea to protect our kids from COVID is either uninformed or lying to you. Educate them on the low mortality rate, based on CDC data, and then assume they have bad intentions if that doesn't shock them.
5) The damage that we are doing to our kids by robbing them of their education is FAR AND AWAY more damaging than the minute chance that some kids will get sick. Kids, by and large, aren't learning *****[8] If you have highschool age kids right now, keep them learning. Because, once they get to college, they are going to be the ones blowing the curve in every class they take.
6) While we don't have good data to support this, kids might be spreading COVID to parents / teachers. That's a valid point. That is worth discussion. There are pros / cons to each side, like the presence of a vaccine, for example. But that argument is separate and distinct from arguments that something is to "protect the children". No, it's not. It's destroying our kids lives for the sake of keeping adults safe. We have already pretty much destroyed their adulthoods with the crushing debts we are creating to make elites rich, why not at least let them have a few more years of innocense before they realize how ****ed they are.
Endnotes:
[1] https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid_weekly/index.htm#SexAndAge
[2] https://www.bbc.com/news/health-57766717
[3] https://emergency.cdc.gov/han/2021/han00443.asp#:~:text=Each%20year%20in%20the%20United,aged%2065%20years%20or%20older.
[4] https://www.cdc.gov/flu/spotlights/2020-2021/pediatric-flu-deaths-reach-new-high.htm#:~:text=June%204%2C%202021%20%E2%80%93%20CDC%20reported,for%20that%20season%20to%20199.
[5] https://www.americashealthrankings.org/explore/health-of-women-and-children/measure/child_mortality_a/state/U.S. (9% * 20,337 = 1,830)
[6] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK220806/table/ttt00010/?report=objectonly - Note, this data is dated, back from 1999. That is because, in recent years, suicide deaths by age included a big group of between 15 to 24. However, suicide rates have done nothing but increase since 1999. More discussion about pandemic and suicide here: https://healthfeedback.org/what-has-been-the-effect-of-the-pandemic-on-the-suicide-rate-of-the-u-s-population/
[7] CDC deaths, pediatric from flu
[8] Primary research, namely my high school teacher wife and high school kids.
