"I feel that it is 100% physical and mental abuse to impose such draconian measures on our amazing healthy children. The governments ignored the report from The Hospital Sick Children that masks are not recommended for children. I’m floored that it has gotten as far as it has. I don’t feel I have any rights anymore, each day they are infringed up on and it’s breaking me slowly. My son's education doesn’t seem to matter anymore. My son is an athlete and missing out on that as well." (TDSB)
"Every morning my son tells me he is not going to school and that his tummy hurts. He says he doesn't want to go if he has to wear a mask. My daughter hates the masks as well, but admitted to me that she sometimes wears her mask out to recess so that she can play with her friends. I have submitted two doctors' notes stating that my children should not be wearing masks at school, and the principal and superintendent have denied their exemptions." (HDSB)
"We were forced to homeschool due to absolutely draconian measures that our board introduced upon children's return to school this year, such as mandatory masking for all elementary students, sanitizing, and social distancing. We had to place both children in an educational pod that we have organized with friends and acquaintances, which takes a significant toll on our family budget, but currently we have no choice." (TDSB)
"The children were supposed to be in the French immersion program and were forced to take a year off (at least a year depending on how the situation progresses), and are missing out on French language instruction. When we pulled them from school we were not informed of the conditions of return to the FI program. I have heard from other parents in a similar situation that schools principals told them they cannot be re-accepted to the French Immersion after a year of homeschooling, which creates additional worry for my family." (TDSB)
"My daughter started talking about killing herself daily. Her doctor said she was hearing this from many parents." (TDSB)
"My son told me that during lunch recess, he ran to the washroom without getting the teacher's permission. He was returned back to the classroom to put his mask on and then go to the washroom. By the time my son reached the washroom and unzipped his pants - he told me that he mostly peed in his pants and not in the toilet. As per my son, it was a terrible day because he had to constantly hide his wet pants." (Halton Catholic)
"My 4-year-old has eczema and has rapid and aggressive flare-ups. Having a dirty mask stuck to his face all day would aggravate that and his pediatrician agreed. His pediatrician was also quite shocked to hear that a 4-year-old would have to wear a mask to begin with – and fully noted that they are not old enough to handle it to be effective or be kept clean enough." (HDCSB)
"My 6-year-old is very shy, quiet and anxious. She cried quite a bit and froze up when we talked about going back to school. We strongly felt that putting a muzzle on her would have a very negative impact on her social development, her willingness and ability to participate in class and conquer her fears." (HCDSB)
"This is my son's first in school experience – and he’s being physically isolated and encouraged to play alone. My 6-year-old with anxiety has also been placed in a “low traffic” area where there are fewer children near her or that would need to pass by her. What a way to treat a shy and anxious littler girl. I do call it discrimination – and I even further question if my exemption is being questioned. If my child had a visible physical disability and unable to put on the mask – would they be put in a corner too?" (HCDSB)
"They destroyed my children’s mental health. My healthy 5-year-old was put at the back corner in class on his own. My 11-year-old is also placed away from other kids at the back of his class. One of the first days of school , they put my children in an isolation room together on their own with no teacher, and just given worksheets. Teachers were outside the room but didn’t go in. My 5-year-old was eating lunch in the room alone when his brother had a separate recess. Principal just checked on him but didn’t remain in the room." (TCDSB)
"My kids are not allowed to go into the classroom until everyone is in and seated. My oldest son's teacher forces hand sanitizer on him constantly after recess and when he declines and says he will wash his hands instead, she doesn’t allow it and says he can’t go into the school after recess with germs on his hands. One day she yelled at him while he was washing his hands because another kid got too close to him. My son broke down crying to me because of this. This has affected his mental health. Also after speaking to the superintendent the day my kids were put in isolation , he said that all the school was required to do is provide my kids with a program, which they did, so in other words they did their job." (TCDSB)
"I pulled them out for homeschooling because I was told "even though they would be granted an exemption they would be encouraged to wear it because it was "safer". We would require YMCA care and no way would my kids have to wear a mask for that long." (HCDSB)
"I opted my son out of in-school learning because my faith in the government is dwindling and especially with the TDSB. He has not successfully joined a virtual class to date and it’s insanely frustrating to see his spirit get killed each day he is not at school learning with his friends." (TDSB)
"What was deeply concerning to me was her emotional state. It took a couple of days for her to talk about it. Normally an outgoing child, she became quiet and closed off. She explained to me how she was in fear of dying, my 5 year old was afraid of death from as she calls it “the virus”. This isn’t right, this isn’t keeping our children “safe and healthy” this is destroying their souls." (UGDSB)
"Going to school physically was out of the question. My daughter is most definitely exempt but we knew if we sent her to school maskless she would be bullied and shamed. After one week of online my daughter was in tears and we had to make the decision to homeschool. This has caused a huge increase in mental health issues for our daughter. She is extremely sad. She misses her friends and school. It also means I couldn’t return to work." (Conseil Scolaire Catholic)
"A week ago, my daughter expressed her desires to self-harm. She jokingly pretended to cut her wrists with a Costco membership card. When I asked why, she told me she just doesn’t like life anymore because of this “stupid virus” and that she misses her friends, misses school, and wishes it could go back to normal. She is now attending play therapy, which is an additional cost that I have accrued and cannot afford!" (TVDSB)
"My son didn't want to hug me. He wanted to use his elbows to say Hi to me. He said that his teachers tell them that it's dangerous to shake hands or give hugs." (HCDSB)
"We had to keep our son in daycare (costing over $1000 per month) because of the masking mandate. This has driven us into financial disaster. We can't homeschool or do remote learning so we don't know what we will do in the future if this masking mandate continues." (HCDSB)
"We are deeply concerned about the health ramifications of him wearing a mask especially since it gets dirty throughout the day. Who is going to pay for the long-term side effects of masking?" (HCDSB)
"He can't see the teacher's expression. She can't correct his reading if she can't see his enunciations. He has reported several hours of video watching around Covid protocols. Fear mongering and poor use of time. Heightened his awareness of this "deadly virus". This is an abomination of human rights and needs to be reviewed." (HCDSB)
"My daughter says she cannot breathe properly when wearing a mask. It greatly affects how she interacts with her classmates and learns from her teacher" (HDSB)
"Presently doing online classes due to the mask mandate and our concerns that wearing a mask will have long term health and mental consequences. Both my husband and I are back at work thus had to hire an older student to be at our house during the day and are paying around $1000 per month for it." (HDSB)
"Every morning my son tells me he is not going to school and that his tummy hurts. He says he doesn't want to go if he has to wear a mask. My daughter hates the masks as well, but admitted to me that she sometimes wears her mask out to recess so that she can play with her friends. I have submitted two doctors' notes stating that my children should not be wearing masks at school, and the principal and superintendent have denied their exemptions." (HDSB)
"We were forced to homeschool due to absolutely draconian measures that our board introduced upon children's return to school this year, such as mandatory masking for all elementary students, sanitizing, and social distancing. We had to place both children in an educational pod that we have organized with friends and acquaintances, which takes a significant toll on our family budget, but currently we have no choice." (TDSB)
"The children were supposed to be in the French immersion program and were forced to take a year off (at least a year depending on how the situation progresses), and are missing out on French language instruction. When we pulled them from school we were not informed of the conditions of return to the FI program. I have heard from other parents in a similar situation that schools principals told them they cannot be re-accepted to the French Immersion after a year of homeschooling, which creates additional worry for my family." (TDSB)
"My daughter started talking about killing herself daily. Her doctor said she was hearing this from many parents." (TDSB)
"My son told me that during lunch recess, he ran to the washroom without getting the teacher's permission. He was returned back to the classroom to put his mask on and then go to the washroom. By the time my son reached the washroom and unzipped his pants - he told me that he mostly peed in his pants and not in the toilet. As per my son, it was a terrible day because he had to constantly hide his wet pants." (Halton Catholic)
"My 4-year-old has eczema and has rapid and aggressive flare-ups. Having a dirty mask stuck to his face all day would aggravate that and his pediatrician agreed. His pediatrician was also quite shocked to hear that a 4-year-old would have to wear a mask to begin with – and fully noted that they are not old enough to handle it to be effective or be kept clean enough." (HDCSB)
"My 6-year-old is very shy, quiet and anxious. She cried quite a bit and froze up when we talked about going back to school. We strongly felt that putting a muzzle on her would have a very negative impact on her social development, her willingness and ability to participate in class and conquer her fears." (HCDSB)
"This is my son's first in school experience – and he’s being physically isolated and encouraged to play alone. My 6-year-old with anxiety has also been placed in a “low traffic” area where there are fewer children near her or that would need to pass by her. What a way to treat a shy and anxious littler girl. I do call it discrimination – and I even further question if my exemption is being questioned. If my child had a visible physical disability and unable to put on the mask – would they be put in a corner too?" (HCDSB)
"They destroyed my children’s mental health. My healthy 5-year-old was put at the back corner in class on his own. My 11-year-old is also placed away from other kids at the back of his class. One of the first days of school , they put my children in an isolation room together on their own with no teacher, and just given worksheets. Teachers were outside the room but didn’t go in. My 5-year-old was eating lunch in the room alone when his brother had a separate recess. Principal just checked on him but didn’t remain in the room." (TCDSB)
"My kids are not allowed to go into the classroom until everyone is in and seated. My oldest son's teacher forces hand sanitizer on him constantly after recess and when he declines and says he will wash his hands instead, she doesn’t allow it and says he can’t go into the school after recess with germs on his hands. One day she yelled at him while he was washing his hands because another kid got too close to him. My son broke down crying to me because of this. This has affected his mental health. Also after speaking to the superintendent the day my kids were put in isolation , he said that all the school was required to do is provide my kids with a program, which they did, so in other words they did their job." (TCDSB)
"I pulled them out for homeschooling because I was told "even though they would be granted an exemption they would be encouraged to wear it because it was "safer". We would require YMCA care and no way would my kids have to wear a mask for that long." (HCDSB)
"I opted my son out of in-school learning because my faith in the government is dwindling and especially with the TDSB. He has not successfully joined a virtual class to date and it’s insanely frustrating to see his spirit get killed each day he is not at school learning with his friends." (TDSB)
"What was deeply concerning to me was her emotional state. It took a couple of days for her to talk about it. Normally an outgoing child, she became quiet and closed off. She explained to me how she was in fear of dying, my 5 year old was afraid of death from as she calls it “the virus”. This isn’t right, this isn’t keeping our children “safe and healthy” this is destroying their souls." (UGDSB)
"Going to school physically was out of the question. My daughter is most definitely exempt but we knew if we sent her to school maskless she would be bullied and shamed. After one week of online my daughter was in tears and we had to make the decision to homeschool. This has caused a huge increase in mental health issues for our daughter. She is extremely sad. She misses her friends and school. It also means I couldn’t return to work." (Conseil Scolaire Catholic)
"A week ago, my daughter expressed her desires to self-harm. She jokingly pretended to cut her wrists with a Costco membership card. When I asked why, she told me she just doesn’t like life anymore because of this “stupid virus” and that she misses her friends, misses school, and wishes it could go back to normal. She is now attending play therapy, which is an additional cost that I have accrued and cannot afford!" (TVDSB)
"My son didn't want to hug me. He wanted to use his elbows to say Hi to me. He said that his teachers tell them that it's dangerous to shake hands or give hugs." (HCDSB)
"We had to keep our son in daycare (costing over $1000 per month) because of the masking mandate. This has driven us into financial disaster. We can't homeschool or do remote learning so we don't know what we will do in the future if this masking mandate continues." (HCDSB)
"We are deeply concerned about the health ramifications of him wearing a mask especially since it gets dirty throughout the day. Who is going to pay for the long-term side effects of masking?" (HCDSB)
"He can't see the teacher's expression. She can't correct his reading if she can't see his enunciations. He has reported several hours of video watching around Covid protocols. Fear mongering and poor use of time. Heightened his awareness of this "deadly virus". This is an abomination of human rights and needs to be reviewed." (HCDSB)
"My daughter says she cannot breathe properly when wearing a mask. It greatly affects how she interacts with her classmates and learns from her teacher" (HDSB)
"Presently doing online classes due to the mask mandate and our concerns that wearing a mask will have long term health and mental consequences. Both my husband and I are back at work thus had to hire an older student to be at our house during the day and are paying around $1000 per month for it." (HDSB)
