Welcome to Opt Out Washington! Our goal has always been and will always be to protect children from harm. We started this website several years ago in order to provide parents with information about why and how to opt their kids out of the draconian SBAC test – a test which severely harmed hundreds of thousands of children in Washington state by unfairly labeling normal children as failures. The SBAC Test was so unfair that most of the members of the legislature could not pass it. Over the years, more than 60,000 parents in Washington state downloaded our forms and opted their kids out of the SBAC test. However, in the summer of 2020, an even greater harm to children emerged. On June 12, 2020, Washington Superintendent, Chris Reykdal, released a set of draconian mandatory regulations for parents, teachers and students called Reopening Washington Schools 2020. Here is a link to this document: https://www.k12.wa.us/sites/default/files/public/workgroups/Reopening%20Washington%20Schools%202020%20Planning%20Guide.pdf
These new regulations, which start on Page 17, are so harmful to children that parents should not send their kids to public schools until these rules are rescinded. Therefore, the new purpose of our website is to explain why these horrific regulations being imposed on our schools and kids are both unnecessary and harmful to children.
Why You Should Opt Your Kids Out of Corona Indoctrination Camps
The new school regulations are not anything at all like the child friendly schools we have grown use to. Instead of a place to learn independent thinking, our schools are being converted into a ruthless system of prison camps intended to indoctrinate children through a culture of fear – fear of parents, fear of teachers and a needless and exaggerated fear of the corona virus. What is being taught is not independent critical thinking - but rather mindless blind obedience to authority.
Our second purpose is to provide you with the ability to organize with other parents in your school district to create more child friendly options for continuing the education of your children until the current crisis in our schools is resolved. We have built a unique social media platform that is similar to Facebook. But instead of the platform being controlled by billionaires from the top down, you have the ability to invite and work directly with other parents in your own school district – and even in your own neighborhood – to form educational networks with other local parents. Our hope is that, over time, you can use these same local networks to eventually take back control of your public schools.
This home page covers four important topics:
#1 Why the Corona Virus is No More Harmful than the Seasonal Flu
#2 Why the Corona Virus is not a Threat to Children and Why Children are not a Threat to Adults even if children get the Corona Virus
#3 Ten Horrific Regulations about to be unleash on our kids and schools this fall.
#4 Resources and options you can use to opt your child out of public schools this fall, how to reach out to your school board and how to network with other parents in your school district
Please share this important information with every parent you know who is concerned about the changes in our schools and how those changes will affect their kids.
#1 Why the Corona Virus is No More Harmful than the Seasonal Flu
Those who still believe what they read and hear on the mainstream media can be forgiven for thinking that the corona virus has overwhelmed our hospitals and caused a tidal wave of fatalities. However, the fact is that corona virus hospital admissions in March and April of 2020 were less than Flu Type A admissions in February, 2020:
This is why a multi-million dollar emergency hospital built in Seattle in April 2020 was never even used and why our hospitals are now so empty that they have been forced to lay off staff:
Contrary to what we were told, corona virus infections started falling on March 4, 2020 – two weeks before the Lockdown order was issued and our schools were closed on March 20, 2020.
Even more surprising is the fact that despite claims of a tidal wave of Corona Virus fatalities in Washington state, according to the CDC, there has been no increase in daily or weekly fatalities in Washington state at any point in 2020 compared to 2019 or 2018:
While the corona virus may have killed some people in Washington state in 2020, the number was so small that it made no difference in the number of daily fatalities which remained normal at about 170 per day for the entire time period from January through May. The number of daily fatalities also remained normal after the Lockdown order – confirming that shutting down our schools and businesses did not result in any reduction in fatalities. For more information on why the corona virus did not increase fatalities and why the lockdown did not reduce fatalities, see our book, Common Sense versus Corona Virus Hysteria – which you can read for free at our website Common Sense Book dot org.
#2 Why the Corona Virus is not a Threat to Children and Why Children are not a Threat to Adults even if children get the Corona Virus
In March 2020, for the first time in the history of our state, every school was closed regardless of whether a single child was sick with the corona virus. Schools were simply shut down under the misguided belief that somehow closing schools would stop the transmission of the corona virus. However, on April 22, 2020, a study was published in the UK by the Royal College of Child Health concluding that children do not pose a significant threat of transmitting the corona virus to adults. Here is a link to this study: https://dontforgetthebubbles.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/COVID-data-top-10.pdf
The researchers reviewed all 78 scientific studies on this subject. They found that there was not a single reported case of any child under the age of 10 transmitting the virus to any adult – anywhere in the world! The report then included links to all 78 studies and summaries of all of these studies. Thus, there never was a rational reason to close schools and there is also no reason to require children to wear masks.
Here in Washington, the seasonal flu was more of a threat to children in 2020 that the corona virus was. According to the Washington Department of Health, there have been no fatalities due to the corona virus to any child under the age of 20 anywhere in Washington state. Your child is more likely to be killed by a bolt of lightening while playing on the school playground than they are to be killed by the corona virus.
There were more Flu Type B hospitalizations per day for under age 19 in December 2019 than there were corona virus admissions in March 2020:
Total admissions started falling on March 1, 2020 and had fell for 3 straight weeks before schools were closed on March 20. There never was any reason to close schools in March and there is no rational reason to impose draconian regulations on our kids and our schools when they reopen in September 2020. So let’s take a closer look at these new regulations.
#3 Ten Horrific Regulations that will be unleashed on our kids and schools this fall.
The biggest problem with the new rules is that they will brainwash children into believing that the corona virus is a threat to them and their families - when in fact, the corona virus is not any more of a threat to children and their families than the seasonal flu. Many of the new rules we are about to review are particularly harmful to younger students in elementary schools. While these rules are also harmful to middle school and high school students, at least older students have the coping and processing skills as well as prior learning experiences that reduce the chances of permanent harm to older students. However, because younger students lack these coping skills and prior learning experiences, the rules we are about to cover could be permanently harmful to their development and future attitudes about learning and about their relationships with others. In particular, younger students will likely come to see school and their peers and teachers in a needlessly fearful manner. A basic tenet of learning and social relationships is that neither can occur in an atmosphere of extreme irrational fear. These are the ten worst new state imposed regulations:
#1 Cloth Masks Required All Day: All students, teachers and parents must wear cloth face coverings at all times in all school settings regardless of whether anyone in the school or community is sick. Below are links to two YouTube videos that confirm wearing a cotton mask will reduce the concentration of oxygen from a normal level of 21% to below 17%. Note that the minimum OSHA federal safety standard for oxygen is 19.5%. Please watch these two very short videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekFVJ2vo3nc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMrOxPTpbC4
Because wearing masks all day is particularly harmful to students, lower down on this page we provide additional information on the drawbacks of forcing children to wear masks at school.
#2 Daily Morning Interrogations: Each student is interrogated at entry each morning. Student are excluded from school if they answer yes to any of these 3 questions: Does anyone in your home have any symptoms of any illness? Have you been in close contact with anyone suspected to have the corona virus? Have you had any medication to reduce a fever before coming to school?
During the morning exam, students are treated as if they had the plague. Here is an image of students lining up for their morning medical examinations:
#3 Students isolated the entire day: Students are isolated into small groups and prevented from interactions with students not in their small groups. Here are students isolated in a school hallway:
#4 Students never within 6 feet of any other students or teachers: Students are required to maintain a physical distance of six feet within their small group – even when everyone is wearing a face mask. Here are a group of students being taught how to stand 6 feet apart:
#5 All Group Events are Canceled: Any classes or activities where 6 feet of spacing can not be maintained or masks cannot be worn will be canceled including choir, band, field trips, assemblies, events, special performances, school-wide parent meetings. For many students, these special events are what keeps them coming to school. Canceling these events will simply lead to more children dropping out of school.
#6 Students positioned to only face the front of the room: All desks are to face the front of the class room (rather than facing each other).
#7: Students remain in classroom even during meals: To limit potential mixing of classes in the cafeteria or gym or playground, have students take their meals in the classroom.
#8 Limited Bus Transportation: Riders and staff members must wear a cloth face covering. Riders must sit as far apart as possible on the bus. Parents are asked to drive students to school.
#9 Corona Indoctrination Camp Cops: A site-specific Corona supervisor shall be designated at each school to enforce the corona regulations. As noted earlier, the real point of the new regulations is to teach students how to obey and not question orders.
Corona cops will be most harmful to the development of younger children who are most susceptible to brain washing:
#10 Interrupted Learning Schedules: In-school classes are only two days a week (Either Mondays and Tuesdays or Thursdays and Fridays with Wednesdays and weekends reserved for cleaning). Here is the proposed schedule for the Seattle School District:
Students meet with each instructor only once a week. – making it difficult for parents or students to establish any regular work and school schedule. Erratic school schedules will be especially harmful to younger children who do poorly in school when they do not have a normal routine.
The ultimate goal of corona indoctrination camps is to convince all kids in our schools to stop thinking and join the corona cult:
Meanwhile hundreds of teachers would could have been used to help struggling students will be replaced with an army of janitors who will spent their time needlessly cleaning classrooms to protect students from a virus that was not a threat to them in the first place. The estimated cost of these new schools just for the Seattle School District is expected to be $15 million.
Join our Community Network!
Never have schools subjected children to such a dishonest, fear-based and anti-educational environment. The question all parents now must face is how we can organize to protect our kids from this harm? One option is to set up a community Facebook page. But what happens if Facebook refuses to share your post – or even worse, decides to take down your entire community page?
We believe that the best solution is to offer parents a tool that can not be taken down by some billionaire… A tool where parents and teachers can work direct with other parents and teachers in their community to provide kids with better options. We have therefore created a tool called Our Community Network. It is unique in that you can build your own local network through a simple Search function – either by school district, by county or by zip code. Our community network is free and easy to use.
If you think your child would be harmed by these draconian new rules, then click on this link to learn how you can opt your child out of corona indoctrination camps this fall:
INSERT LINK HERE
“Even if you are a minority of one, the truth is still the truth.”
Mahatma Gandhi
Additional Information on the Drawbacks of Requiring Children to Wear Masks in Schools
Earlier in this article, we showed that there is not actually a health emergency in Washington state. We also showed that children have not died from the corona virus and do not transmit the corona virus to adults. Thus, there is simply no reason to require children to wear masks. However, even if there was a health emergency, requiring children to wear cotton masks at school would not reduce the transmission of the corona virus because cotton masks do not stop the transmission of small packets of viruses suspended in the air that are called aerosols. You have probably seen some version of this scary picture which is being used to justify mandatory mask orders:
The extremely simplistic and misleading picture shows a very ill person coughing viruses out in large droplets. The claim is that if we all wear cotton masks we can stop the spread of these large drops. Cotton masks might stop some of the large droplets. But the real problem is that infected people who have no symptoms exhale millions of viruses in small packets called Aerosols.
Here is a slightly more accurate picture of how viruses are transmitted. The person on the right is a sick person who is coughing, and the person on the left is a person who might get infected from inhaling aerosols containing the corona virus:
Corona Virus Transmission Differences Between Aerosols and Droplets
As the above image shows, droplets are large packets of viruses and water that are subject to gravity and fall quickly to the ground. Droplets are what are caught in cotton masks when a very sick person coughs or sneezes.
Aerosols by contrast are extremely small packets of viruses and water that are not subject to gravity. Some researchers have made claims that aerosols are only in certain size ranges such as one to ten micrometers (There are 1000 micrometer in a millimeter and 1000 millimeters in a meter). By comparison, the corona virus, like the common flu virus, has a size of about 100 nanometers and an N95 mask has a pore size of 300 nanometers and small bacteria have a size of about 1000 nanometers or 1 micrometer (There are 1000 nanometers in a Micrometer).
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7175919/
As I explain in detail in my chapter on viruses in my free book, Common Sense versus Corona Virus Hysteria, scientists have known since 2015 that viral aerosols commonly exist in extremely small packets – even smaller than 1 micrometer - that can remain suspended in stable air conditions inside of buildings for very long periods of time and be carried throughout the building through the heating and air conditioning vents.
N95 versus Surgical or Cotton Masks
There are three kinds of masks. N95 masks have small pore sizes, Surgical Masks have Medium pore sizes and Cotton Masks have large pore sizes. Here are images of all three:
N95 masks used in hospitals have been shown to be effective in stopping both the aerosol and droplet transmission of viruses. Surgical masks may stop the droplet spread of viruses but do not stop the aerosol transmission of viruses. Cotton masks do not appear to have any value at all and often increase the risk of infection.
A recent study found that both surgical and cotton masks were ineffective in blocking the corona virus. Here is the quote: “Both surgical and cotton masks seem to be ineffective in preventing the dissemination of SARS–CoV-2 from the coughs of patients with COVID-19 to the environment and external mask surface.” Here is the link: https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M20-1342
Here is a link to a study that compared cloth masks to both no masks and surgical masks. https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/5/4/e006577
The cloth mask group had a higher rate of infection than the no mask group and a much higher rate of infection than the surgical mask group. The penetration of viruses was 97% in the cloth mask group versus 44% in the surgical mask group. Here is a quote: “The results caution against the use of cloth masks. This is an important finding to inform occupational health and safety. Moisture retention, reuse of cloth masks and poor filtration may result in increased risk of infection... cloth masks should not be recommended ... particularly in high-risk situations.”
Here is what the Johan Carlson from the Swedish Public Health Agency said on May 13, 2020, in response to a question on why wearing masks is not recommended in Sweden: "Face masks in public spaces do not provide any greater protection to the population."
Aerosols Defeat the 6 Foot (2 Meter) Rule
The purpose of the 6 foot or 2 Meter rule is to protect against large virus laden droplets – which generally fall to the ground within 6 feet of a very sick person who is sneezing or coughing. However, viral laden aerosols can extend way beyond 6 feet. Here is a link to a study that found viral laden aerosols can travel up to 25 feet: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2763852
Here is an image from a video study in Japan that found aerosols (the micro-droplets shown in red) from a single sneeze can spread throughout an entire 30 foot or 10 meter wide classroom in under 20 minutes:
Here is a link to this YouTube video (see Minute 5): https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=LLzMDvzWeV8
The video recommends opening at least two windows at least once an hour so cross ventilation can reduce the concentration of viral laden aerosols. Opening windows certainly helps. But it does not eliminate this problem. Going outside helps even more. But if you live in a city with a lot of air pollution, there will still be viruses piggy backing on the smog.
Viral Laden Aerosols are Not Stopped by Cotton Masks
Here is an image from a June 13, 2020 study showing that more than 30% of aerosols go right through surgical masks:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7293495/
While the above study did not report on the transmission rate of aerosols through cotton masks, it is likely that the transmission rate of viral laden aerosols in cotton masks is close to 100 percent.
The point is that there is really no way to avoid viruses. Every time you breathe, you inhale a literal soup of a million viruses. This is why I have urged two things:
Number One: Work on protecting your immune system, because you are eventually going to get the corona virus. Anyone who says we can stop the corona virus simply does not know what they are talking about.
Number Two: Do not stay inside of your house! Go outside and go for a walk – without your mask on. In short, if you want to protect your health, you should do the exact opposite of what you are being ordered to do.
The government order to “Stay Inside to Save Lives” is false. Staying inside increases infections and fatalities. Going outside reduces infections and fatalities.
Wearing masks can harm your immune system
It might be acceptable to have everyone wear masks if it made them feel more comfortable about going out in public – and if there were no serious health drawbacks of wearing masks. But in fact, masks do not make everyone feel more comfortable. Instead, they simply instill more fear in people and make them even more afraid to go out in public.
As for the health drawbacks, there are several. A leading German virologist, Dr. Hendrik Streeck also stated that masks are a “wonderful breeding ground for bacteria and fungi”.
The main problem is that - even when you are not sick - when you breath inside of a well fitted mask, you exhale air with a high concentration of carbon dioxide and a relatively low concentration of oxygen. You then inhale this same “bad” air back in again. You then repeat this process over and over again – with the air quality getting progressively worse each time you breath. It will soon become obvious to you that you are feeling ill and feeling like you are about to pass out. This is because your brain needs a lot of oxygen and is trying to warn you to stop wearing the mask.
Here is a link to a short YouTube video confirming that wearing a cotton mask drops the oxygen level from a normal level of 21% to 17% in less than one minute.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekFVJ2vo3ncyoutube.com/watch?v=ekFVJ2vo3nc
Here is a link to another video showing how oxygen levels fall far below the minimum 19.5 % Oxygen minimum OSHA Air Quality Standard after just one minute of wearing a cotton mask: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMrOxPTpbC4
The oxygen level fell from an initial room reading of 20.5% without the mask to 17.5 % oxygen inside of the mask after just one minute with the person just standing and not doing any work or exercise.
This third video is a former OSHA inspector explaining why wearing a mask violates OSHA standards.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbtNsf5Ga2Q
Here is a fourth video discussing blood oxygen levels being lowed by masks. Note that it takes much longer to lower ones blood oxygen level than it does to lower the air oxygen level inside of a mask.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSO1U7nMOug
But the biggest problem is that a drop in oxygen levels is certain to harm your immune system – which is the only thing that actually is protecting you from the corona virus. There are several ways wearing masks harms your immune system. First, masks reducing the oxygen level in your blood. Second, masks increase the carbon dioxide level in your blood. Third, masks increase the concentration of viruses and bacteria you inhale - thereby increasing your risk of illness. Fourth, wearing masks can interfere with your immune system production of T cells.
Studies have shown that hypoxia can reduce the immune cells that fight viral infections (CD4+ T-lymphocyte). Here are a couple of links: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5359232/
http://europepmc.org/article/PMC/4679538
The reduction in T cell metabolism and function occurs because hypoxia (low oxygen) increases the level of a compound called HIF, which reduces T-lymphocytes. This reduction in T cells increases the chances of you contracting any infection, including the corona virus - and makes the consequences of that infection much graver. In short, wearing a mask may actually increase your risk of infections.
People with cancer should certainly not wear masks since many cancers grow best in a low oxygen environment. Low oxygen levels may also play a part in increasing heart attacks and strokes – which along with cancer are the three leading causes of death. Some doctors have claimed there are even more serious problems with having sick people wearing masks. Here is a quote: “By wearing a mask, the exhaled viruses will not be able to escape and will concentrate in the nasal passages, enter the olfactory nerves and travel into the brain.” — Russell Blaylock, MD
Requiring adults to wear masks is emotionally harmful to children as adults wearing masks causes children to react with fear
Requiring young children to wear masks and be in schools where teachers are required to wear masks is basically child abuse. On April 17, 2020, Dr. Kathleen Pike from Columbia University posted an article, Psychological Harms of Face Masks. Here is a link to this article: https://www.cugmhp.org/five-on-friday/why-a-mask-is-not-just-a-mask/
Here are some quotes from this article:
"Many young children burst into tears when someone wearing a mask approaches. It’s so common that some elementary schools prohibit masks at the school Halloween parade. One reason for this is that the development of facial recognition is relatively weak in young children. It is not until kids are about 14 years old that they reach adult skill levels in recognizing faces. Before then, kids tend to see individual facial features, rather than recognizing the person as a whole. Masks make it especially difficult for children to recognize others and read emotional signals, which is unsettling and disconcerting. We depend on facial expression to know and understand each other. Wearing masks leaves us feeling less able to communicate and less able to understand each other.”
School children have died from wearing masks
In late April 2020, in separate incidents in different cities, two boys age 14 and 15 died from exercising at school while wearing masks. Below is a picture of the 15 year old boy with his father on a prior outing. The boy was declared dead at Caiyuan Middle School in Henan Province of central China after jogging while wearing a mask during a PE class.
Given how harmful wearing masks can be to your immune system, if you or your child is forced to wear a mask, my advice is to use the thinnest most breathable cotton mask you can find – and poke a few extra breathing holes in it so you do not pass out. Remember it is your immune system that stops viruses – not masks or social distancing.
I hope the above information helps you understand the severe harm that the new state regulations impose on our kids and why we need to provide students with alternative learning arrangements until these new regulations are removed. As always, I look forward to your questions and comments.
Regards,
David Spring M. Ed.
spring for schools at gmail dot com