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• I believe Judge Ronnie Greer’s recent injunction regarding mask mandates to be a clear contradiction to the intentions and clauses of the ADA, with the measure constituting an unreasonable accommodation and a direct threat to the 60,000 students of KCS.
The academic literature amongst the world’s medical and psychology journals is replete with studies demonstrating that recognition of facial expressions and vocal tones is fundamental to the proper social and emotional development of children. Study after study, spanning the course of decades, has demonstrated that removal of facial cues and reduction of vocal tones is detrimental to the healthy emotional and social development of children, which may impact them for the duration of their lives.
One study placed the threshold for developmental maturity, regarding social development via recognition of facial expressions, at 11 years of age, with importance of vocal recognition extending into later childhood (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25492258/).
When K-5 students are deprived of this critical aspect of emotional and social development, they could be socially and emotionally stunted for the duration of their lives by the authorities responsible for the deprivation. This impact is a very real, and it should terrify every parent in Farragut, and every parent in Knox County. Please reach out to your elected representatives and fight for the well-being of your children in this age of court-mandated child abuse.
