A recent study from Virginia found that COVID-19 mask mandates led to double-digit drops in reading benchmarks in schools.
The study showed that there was a 13.6% increase in the rate of children from kindergarten through second grade scoring below the benchmark from 2019 to 2021. The effects were particularly harmful to Black and Hispanic students, as well as children who are economically disabled, low-income, or not fluent in English.
“Masks specifically inhibit learning of reading; for instance, it is very difficult for children to hear and pronounce correct phonics sounds when the teacher and student are masked,” Sarah Smith, a leader of the New Mexico Freedoms Alliance (NMFA) and the National Coalition for Health Integrity, told the New Mexico Sun. “Young children still learning to read and communicate were greatly affected. Kids with special needs such as autism or speech delays were also especially affected by mandatory masking. Doctors have been seeing firsthand the damages caused by masks, in terms of psychological impacts as well as educational and emotional well-being.”
Smith further discussed the mask issue.
“New Mexico teachers and school personnel have reported that masks directly impede the learning of crucial skills such as reading, have serious negative effects on children’s emotional and developmental health, and interfere with children’s ability to learn communication and facial expressions,” she said. “School closures/online schooling led to many children falling behind in school overall.”
Many doctors have called for an end to child masking due to negative impacts such as inhibiting learning through speech development and communication. Shira Doron, a hospital epidemiologist at Tufts Medical Center and associate professor at Tufts University School of Medicine, co-authored an op-ed for The Washington Post on the issue. Doron wrote the op-ed with Westyn Branch-Elliman, also an infectious diseases physician and an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, and Elissa Perkins, associate professor of emergency medicine and director of emergency medicine infectious disease management at Boston Medical Center/Boston University School of Medicine.