Chicago City Wire

A Northside mom says she is fed up with the Archdiocese of Chicago’s intolerant attitude toward parents who want to put the pandemic and protocols they deem unhealthy for their children to rest.

A group of fatigued parents who have children in parochial schools overseen by the Archdiocese are pleading with Cardinal Blase Cupich to reverse course now on the continuation of COVID-19 protocols.

“We are happy our kids are in school, albeit sad that my children have to wear masks,” the mother – who was granted anonymity for fear of retribution –– told Chicago City Wire.

St. Mary of the Woods School, located at 7033 N Moselle Ave, Chicago, is a private Catholic school. It serves 360 children in grades pre-kindergarten through eighth grades.

The school’s Twitter account reads, “St. Mary of the Woods is dedicated to providing a Catholic education to advance and promote the academic, spiritual, physical and social growth of our students.”

The mother decried the prolonged nature of the protocols.

“After a few months, I was not OK with it, and here we are at almost the two-year anniversary of (masks) and my children are in their stages of learning how to read,” she said.  

Research suggests a marked effect on young children in school settings. Depression has increased in schoolchildren since the pandemic began.

While the parent said she understood the use of masks in the beginning, she believes the practice should have been abandoned long ago, especially with widespread learning loss weighing against it.

“I feel like it's super important for children to be able to see faces and to see lips, especially when learning how to read and pronounce letters and words, and even to see their friends' and teachers' facial expressions,” she said. “I tried to keep it as very, very normal for my children as possible, but they haven't really stopped anything, where a lot of people in my neighborhood kind of did.”

Missing out on the community opportunities given by Archdiocese schools, she says, is the biggest disappointment of all.

“I'm just sad. I don't even think my kids know the difference, but they haven't had a Christmas party, a Halloween party or Valentine's Day party,” she said. “They haven't been able to experience that, and I'm just so sad because they're only little once.”

In addition, she added schools as a whole should not be involved in healthcare decisions between parents and children.

“I think it should be virtually zero mandate. Same thing with the vaccines, and I think it should be completely up to the parents.”

She expressed concern about the disparity in treatment between Chicago residents and those merely a few miles distant across state lines.

“I just was in Wisconsin –– we just got back today –– and there's no masks there, and there's masks everywhere here,” she said. “You walk around in Chicago and our numbers are higher.”

The mother said it is time to face the facts.

“Masks don't work, and neither does the vaccine,” she said. “I feel like people would have more of a leg to stand on their mandate in a vaccine if they worked.”  

A University of Illinois at Chicago study found that "cloth masks and face coverings are likely to have limited impact on lowering COVID-19 transmission, because they have minimal ability to prevent the emission of small particles.. and offer limited personal protection with respect to small particle inhalation.”

She said the matter is pronounced in that the children over five who took the vaccine as mandated by Cook County are now testing poise for COVID-19.

“And all these kids that are getting COVID right now at our school, they're all vaccinated. You know, as always, I just think it should be parent choice,”  she said.

Harvard Professor Martin Kulldorff, an epidemiologist and infectious-disease expert, Tweeted in March 2021 that “thinking that everyone must be vaccinated is as scientifically flawed as thinking that nobody should. COVID vaccines are important for older high-risk people, and their care-takers. Those with prior natural infection do not need it. Nor children.”

“Chicago is so corrupt, and the Cardinal (Cupich) with (Gov. J.B.) Pritzker,” she said of the faith leader’s relationship with the billionaire governor.

Cupich, the Archbishop of Chicago, is recognized for his staunch support for Pritzker's COVID-19 protocols. Cupich recently updated the schools' mask rule to require pupils to wear masks during recess before later rolling it back.