Click to read & download June 2022 Statement (pdf)
The Irish Education Alliance calls on ALL PRINCIPALS, BOARDS OF MANAGEMENT, TEACHERS, EARLY YEARS EDUCATORS AND PARENTS with integrity, to read these reports and come to the realisation that they have been deceived whilst acting in good faith or that they acted in ignorance of the facts. It is now time to acknowledge and recognise that most of the above have been deceived by those who have scant regard for the truth and more for wielding authority. The damage masks, sanitising, freezing classrooms and social distancing have caused is yet to fully play out. The children IN THEIR CARE have been compromised by false beliefs in a higher authority that cannot provide evidence from scientific studies. It is time to PLEDGE that they will NEVER ALLOW such measures to be enforced in schools and childcare settings again.
Masks and other measures were only ever ‘guidelines’ from the Department of Education. It was the principals who ‘enforced’ these guidelines without any Risk Assessment undertaken. The principals are therefore responsible for any damage, mental or physical, done to the children that they have a DUTY OF CARE to.
They have based their actions on fraud and there is no statute of limitation on fraud. No funding source or pension is safe when fraud has occurred, and they have perpetuated it without due diligence. If they act now and join us, we will forgive them, but if they do not act and demand answers; this will be on them.
We understand that principals felt compelled to follow the advice from the Department of Education, but most did so without question. This was negligent and can NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN.
Most teachers and parents stood by and allowed the principals to dictate to the children in their care. We have too many principals without principles; but that can change. Principals can admit that mistakes were made and point to those above them to take the blame for their agendas or they can take their burden. Albert Einstein said ‘If I were to remain silent, I’d be guilty of complicity’ and this is what happened in Irish Schools from September 2020 to March 2022.
Below are statements from a student, parents, teachers, a psychotherapist and a doctor.
Attached is a Meta-Analysis of 109 studies (Kisielinski et al., 2021) showing irrefutable evidence of the damage that masks cause and their ineffectiveness.
Kayleigh Foy: A Secondary School Student
Hi, my name is Kayleigh. I am currently a second-year student in Magh Ene College, Bundoran, Co. Donegal. When I first joined the school in 2020, I walked into an environment of social distancing, mask wearing, and sanitising rules including washing down our own desks etc. So, because of that, myself and my fellow students didn’t get to experience a proper introduction to our new school life.
After a pretty long time of sticking with their idiocies and playing along with their ridiculous rules I decided I had had enough as I was suffering from breathing difficulties in the mask. After arguing with the teachers and especially the Principal I decided to stick up for myself, so they decided to exclude me from school. This lasted three months. Three months of little to no learning. This has caused me to fall behind and my grades have dropped rapidly. Now that I am allowed back in school since they removed the Mask Mandate I’m struggling with CBA’s and exams all whilst trying to catch up on everything I missed with little to no help from teachers when I ask.
Even though there are no more “mandates” I still see so many people walking around with masks on and to me it’s quite upsetting to see that the corruption has been ingrained in their heads. Those masks and the social distancing have ruined an important part of my life. It amazes me how blind my principal and teachers are; my main wish is that they never allow that cruelty and suffering to happen again. Please keep your eyes open, protect yourself and others from suffering at the hands of all the corruption.
Part of a letter a mother sent to her son’s previous school as the family had to move house to enrol their son in a school that would accept his exemption from wearing a mask:
My son will no longer attend ………..due to the damage and harm to his physical and mental health caused by the enforcement of the dangerous DoES, HSE and NPHET guidance and implementation of this guidance into school policy last year and in 2020.
The dangers of mask wearing are well known and as I had informed you several times of the fact of the dangers as well as the harm and suffering inflicted upon my son when you would not recognise his exemption in the first couple of weeks of school, you cannot say you didn’t know or plea ignorance. At this point to help you to avoid any further damage to those children who continue to wear masks (due to the programmed conditioning and fear mongering) the best thing you could do is to give the parents of the school informed consent, i.e show the risk benefit analysis of mask wearing, as they obviously have no awareness and have chosen to be ignorant of the fact of the risks and harms. Then ask them for signed consent if they choose for the children to wear masks. It is a violation of the Nuremburg code to carry out a mass medical experiment (masks being non-pharma medical devices) without informed consent and just following orders is not an excuse.
Jana Lunden: A mother of two young children
As a mother of two small children, I have substantial and legitimate concerns about how the wearing of masks has affected my own children.
My son, age 3 was in a preschool in Ratoath, County Meath where all of his teachers wore masks throughout the day including outdoor play. His hands were constantly sanitised, he was not permitted to bring a backpack or a lunch box and he needed to wear several layers as the classroom windows were open in the winter. He once asked me, “Mummy am I sick?” He constructed a thermometer out of Lego and aimed it at my forehead and told me his teachers often check his. The preschool also demanded PCR tests if children had a runny nose or they wouldn’t be allowed in for at least 48 hours. The impact that this had on his ability to develop social skills, build relationships and learn speech was significant. All of these Covid protocols, including mask wearing, were not risk assessed and the damage done to young children must be assessed. I moved him to another preschool after Christmas and he became a different child overnight. After one week in the school, he began to sing songs and his communication and confidence did a 180 degree turn! I asked how he learned these songs so quickly. He said “I can see my teachers’ faces”. He now races into school with a smile, trusts his new teachers and his sleep pattern and demeanour have improved.
My daughter’s teachers also wore masks through her Junior and Senior Infant years until they recently came off. Some of her classmates were also sent in wearing masks even though they didn’t fall under the HSE guidelines. She came home from school saying that the children in masks “looked sad” and couldn’t laugh like everyone else. I showed her a photo of her Junior Infant teacher and she didn’t recognise her from just months before because she rarely saw her face.
This is not the childhood I want for my children. It is a travesty that children were masked without any risk assessment done. It’s no surprise that over 3,000 young Irish children are on a waiting list for mental health and that speech and language therapists are overbooked. We must ensure that we never allow this to happen again and the officials who created these rules should be investigated and tried for crimes against our children.
The Psychological Impact of Face Coverings on Children under 12: Health Freedom Ireland (HFI) Psychotherapist and Clinical Director
The situation regarding children under twelve in relation to the use of face coverings can only be described as grim. Children rely heavily on facial queues and tones to relate to the world around them, as well as develop their neurological wiring in relation to their attachments. This can be demonstrated well by Dr. Edward Tronick’s ‘Still Face Experiment’ where he shows the internal breakdown of a toddler within minutes once the expression on its mother’s face became still. This is the closest study so far that illustrates the importance of the adult/child relations and facial expressions, and one that gives us insights to what it might look like when a child experiences an adult with a mask on.
Considering the enormous trauma inflicted on the minds of our children prior to the introduction to face coverings in schools, through isolation, lack of social time with friends and family and observing an environment and world that has now brought the monsters from under the bed to life, it is becoming apparent in the demand for child services that our children have regressed to earlier states to cope; some school going children going back to nappies! Are we at risk of destroying a generation of children due to limited understanding in the psychological and biological conditions in which they are expected to live and learn?
The impact of this in the educational setting is counterproductive in my opinion. A system that is now promoting fear and isolation, as well as denying the child the face to understand these vast changes in school is causing a regression in the capacity to learn and communicate appropriately in the world outside home, encouraging social anxiety conditions. No child can learn under these conditions. They learn how to feel afraid and alone, with just eyes to read. Teachers are experiencing massive changes too to their daily structures, which brings anxiety to the classroom.
Developmentalists in this area have put vast amounts of research into the importance of child and adult attachment and the need for social safety, school being the first social contact away from family, so I am at a loss as to why this research has been completely denied during the decision making of school institutions encouraging face coverings without considering the deeper impact this has on children’s developmental milestones. I would urge both teachers and governing bodies to reconsider these measures going forward, as well as provide a detailed study of all areas impacted in the development of children and act accordingly in repairing the damage already inflicted on our children. My concerns are the anxiety and speech disorders that we are still trying to understand and cope with professionally.
Sarah: Early Years Educator and Pre-school owner
As an early years educator I was horrified that staff in pre-schools and childcare settings were advised by the HSE and Tusla, to wear masks when caring for young children during 2021 and 2022. I am aware that staff in some settings are still doing this. Anyone who works with young children and understands child development knows it is vitally important for them to be able to see the faces of the adults who are caring for them. They are constantly learning speech and communication skills through reading facial expressions and mouth movements. Quality interactions and proper learning and care are seriously compromised by mask wearing. Young children need to trust the adults caring for them. This involves being able to see their faces, their expressions and their smiles. This situation is especially concerning for children spending up to 8 hours a day in full day care with masked adults.
Staff in my playschool never wore masks when we were with the children and we never will. I believe that the development and wellbeing of children in schools and early years settings was seriously damaged by the mask wearing agenda of 2021/22. Things are very backwards in the world when children’s wellbeing is compromised to protect adults. This is made even worse when research has shown that masks do little or nothing to prevent the spread of viruses and are detrimental to health. I was disgusted that organisations such as Early Childhood Ireland, SIPTU and the National Childhood Network, which should be promoting quality early education and the wellbeing of young children and their educators were instead promoting mask wearing for adults in early years settings. This must not be allowed to happen again.
Barra De Roiste: Primary school teacher
As a primary school teacher, I did not enforce the wearing of masks with the children in my class. This was a very simple decision for me. At the time, there was overwhelming scientific proof that masks were not only useless at preventing the spread of a virus but, more importantly, would cause physical, emotional and physiological harm to children. I did my due diligence, unfortunately, most principals and teachers did not, therefore putting the children in their care in harm’s way. This must never happen again.
Mary: Primary school teacher
It’s bad enough that thousands of primary school children had to be the victims of mask-wearing guidance from the Department of Education for three months (enforced by individual boards of management) but since September 2020 (almost two school years now), many of them haven’t seen their teacher’s face!
Teachers and SNAs who continue to persist in covering up their faces while seeking to educate children are doing so against all best practice in pedagogical methods. All pupils should be taught by a teacher who values the role of his or her whole face in communication and the education process. Parents should demand and expect as much.
John: Secondary School Teacher
The masks were ineffective at stopping any spread of infection and it went on for far too long. Secondary school students lost 17 months of normal communication and who knows what secondary psychological damage has been caused to many students? In many cases, masks were used to coerce students into getting the covid injection in return for their freedom from masks, saving granny and the general public. That level of control and over-reach must never happen again!
Paul: Special Needs Teacher
I teach in a special needs school. The masks don’t suit our cohort and with children prone to anxiety and zero support from the State they regress even more so, with some refusing to return to school and those children cannot engage with online learning. Secondly, it’s impossible to teach about emotions or non-verbal communication which are life skills because of the masks covering their mouths. Lastly, I find the staff attitudes towards those who choose NOT to wear masks appalling and bordering on bullying really; you are made to feel like a watched criminal suspect. Cases still increased despite the masks, so obviously they don’t work.
Dr. Pat Morrissey
Masking damages health and the learning environment in many ways. A study done with 343 workers in a New York hospital reported many effects including the following, 71% had headaches and 23% had impaired cognition! Another way to describe impaired cognition is that it made them more stupid! Imagine doing this to kids in a supposed learning environment.
This would be funny if it wasn’t so serious. There are also other serious harms caused by masks such as acidosis of the blood, hyperventilation, skin problems and impairment of communication, all are bad. Please let common sense and the scientific studies inform the care of vulnerable children in our schools. Let them learn that we can follow the science!
Principals, Boards of Management, teachers and parents have a choice; stand idly by or join us, ask questions and ensure that children are never again subjected to this level of harm in their learning environments.
All great educators are supposed to encourage young learners to ASK QUESTIONS and become critical thinkers. It is time for our educators to lead by example. If this does not happen, then this country will remember that it was this generation, this cohort of teachers and principals which finally destroyed the sacred bond between student and teacher.
The fire has been lit in people’s minds and they are asking questions; this is not going to go away. An honest mistake based on misguided recommendations, is one thing, but to be on the wrong side of history by continuing to inflict harm on young children and shielding liars is entirely another. Remember that government bodies and their advisors have happily sacrificed children’s health and well-being for an ideology/dogma and they will sacrifice those who carried out their orders just as quickly to protect themselves.
