California governor Gavin Newsom is absolutely unflappable when flaunting his hypocrisy about masks, admonishing the people of California to wear them at all times while he goes about bare-faced whenever and wherever he pleases.  Newsom's latest outrage against common human decency is his announcement that the indoor mask mandate will end on February 15th, while remaining in place for K–12 schools.  Never mind that children are half as likely to get COVID as adults.  Forget that multiple studies around the world show that children account for between 1 and 3 percent of all COVID cases.  Don't take into account that, when children do get COVID, they rarely get very sick or pass it along to adults.

Newsom is set to issue his diktat on February 15.  He believes that it will be enough to order children to remain in masks while everyone else is free to breathe.  Meanwhile, protests across the state are ramping up:

• Hundreds of students in Oakdale tossed their masks, citing Newsom's recent maskless photo with Magic Johnson.
• At Rio Del Oro Elementary School in Plumas Lake, 40 parents and students protested against masks.
• Parents gathered at Bonita High School in La Verne to call for an end to mask mandates.
• Students at Andrew Carnegie Middle School in the San Juan Unified School District staged a walkout against masks.
• Students around San Diego County are refusing to wear masks and suffering consequences ranging from being segregated at school to being sent home.
• Parents staged a protest against mask mandates in East County at Los Coches Creek Middle School.

Image: Chino Hills students protest masks (student cell phone image; Fox 11 added the smiley faces).  YouTube screen grab.

I have long held that this is not a personal freedom issue at all.  If COVID were a very contagious disease with a high mortality rate, like smallpox or polio, causing great suffering and lingering disability for the few survivors, mandating public health safety measures would be justifiable.

However, if COVID fell into that category, it is not likely that parents would be protesting across the country against public health safety measures.  No one ever held a smallpox party.  No one ever took the chance that his child would be exposed to polio.  COVID was never much of a threat to children, nor was it ever justified to take two years of childhood away while causing psychological damage that will follow these kids for the rest of their lives.

Now, when there is finally a return to normalcy for adults, Governor Newsom is determined to deprive children of the opportunity to make up for the time they have lost.  Instead of being able to learn in school and play with their friends, California's kids must become the front line in a war against masks.

Pandra Selivanov is the author of The Pardon, a story of forgiveness based on the thief on the cross in the Bible.