“When Tyranny Becomes Law, Rebellion Becomes Duty” – Thomas Jefferson
I was in the process of writing my next blogpost when I received an email that stopped me on my tracks. It was an email from my son’s school finally detailing, just a couple of weeks prior to the beginning of classes, their new COVID protocols. It immediately became apparent that this would become one of those instances when one must walk the walk, not just talk the talk.
The school in question is located in Virginia and our son started attending this past February, after he was recruited by the school to play one of their sports. From the beginning, we suspected that it was just another Leftist school but given the limited choices and the fact that even our local public high school has become a Leftist indoctrination center in the middle of a predominantly Republican conservative county, we figured we would give it a try. Since our son wants to play sports, homeschooling is not really an option for us at this time.
The school’s COVID protocols, like most others was rigorous and ridiculous with required masks and social distancing everywhere, except the dormitories. Students could and would gather in large groups inside dormitories, without masks, but had to put on a mask when leaving the rooms and were not allowed to sit together anywhere outside the dormitories, not even in the lunch room. Apparently, the school administration believed that the dormitories were magical COVID-free zones while the rest of the school property wasn’t. This is all the more ridiculous when you consider that day students were not allowed on campus (only virtual studies for them!) while boarding students were not allowed to leave campus, except to go to a germ-infected doctor’s office. Parents were only allowed to visit during the 4 allotted blocks of time a week and only a handful of parents were allowed to visit during those times. When parents arrived for a visit, they were instructed to remain in a designated room or outside, to wear masks, and not to hug or kiss their children. How anyone can be so paranoid and heartless to come up with such policies is something I will never understand. How a parent could possibly agree to such cruel rules is wholly beyond me.
When students left campus for a break or when, as was the case of our son, they began attending in the middle of the year, they were forced to quarantine for 10 days inside a room with only a short 45 minute break to go outside a room, per day. Even their tasteless meals were delivered to and eaten in the room. In other words, it was like being in prison, but with less rights and privileges. They were also subjected to weekly COVID testings.
Those were the rules then. Still, we agreed to let him go because he really wanted to attend the school.
When it came time to re-enroll him, we hesitated. By now, we knew that the school strongly leans Left but we hadn’t seen anything yet a flagrant as some of the things we noticed at the public schools or some of the private schools we had considered. More importantly, our son had mostly a positive outlook of the school and had made some great friendships.
Mostly, we hesitated because we wanted to know what the school’s COVID policy would be in the new school year. The school had been strongly pushing the vaccines in the Spring and although they had assured us that they would respect people’s individual decisions, we suspected that that would not be the case.
Our instincts were right.
After many months of waiting, we finally got our answer just a couple of days ago. Since the document is as long as it is absurd, I will only post some of the most blatant points from the email. I also. underlined and made bold the most egregious of the points.
Even though the boarding students are isolated and constantly tested for COVID, they are the ones who must fill-out, on a DAILY basis, a questionnaire that asks about COVID symptoms. If they forget, they are written-up and “privileges” (like down time) taken away. Meanwhile, the day students who live outside the campus and attend public places on a daily basis, do not have to do this. Unless they are going on campus on a weekend. Because on a weekend, the day students may bring COVID in, but not on regular weekdays they miraculously don’t.
It appears as though school officials have not been reading the papers lately. Otherwise, they would know that it has now been clearly established and confirmed by health “experts” (even Dr. Fauxi) that the viral load of vaccinated people is IDENTICAL to that of unvaccinated people and they are just as likely to spread the virus. This fact was also evident in Barnstable, Massachusetts, one of the most vaccinated communities in the entire country where a recent outbreak of COVID occurred. 74% of those infected were fully vaccinated. Still, the school will not only disparately treat vaccinated students versus unvaccinated, it will also take the punitive action of actually charging unvaccinated students for the needless tests that they are arbitrarily demanding. It doesn’t matter that the COVID tests are free just about everywhere you go: this school will actually charge unvaccinated students while still offering the test for free for vaccinated students.
Not only are unvaccinated students been discriminated against and made to feel like pariahs for refusing to take the experimental jab, the school is also violating their medical privacy by forcing these students to wear masks in places where the vaccinated do not have to. Perhaps a bright yellow star, a scarlet letter, or a tattoo will be next?
For those of you who thought COVID was COVID, here are some news out of the erudite administrators from this school: the COVID that vaccinated people only require one single negative test result to know that it is gone. But for the unvaccinated, at least two such tests will be required.
COVID idiocy must be a real thing, a brain damaged by fear and Leftist propaganda. In any case, this one really sums it up. All vaccinated students can go without masks anywhere except a school bus or the Dining Hall. Apparently, the school’s extensive scientific research has found that busses and eating areas do not possess the magic protection against COVID that the other places, from dormitories, to bathrooms, to small labs & classrooms offer. Furthermore, and again in clear violation of a student’s medical privacy, those who are unvaccinated will be required to wear a mask everywhere. Even in places where students who were unvaccinated last year were allowed to go mask-less. So, according to their logic, being unvaccinated last year when no one was vaccinated was LESS dangerous than being unvaccinated this year when so many are vaccinated. Is this an admission from the school that the vaccines DO NOT WORK?
Yes, this school is still following the 3′ rule, even after it was found to be arbitrary and ineffective. But, since I’ve never liked people standing or sitting too close to me, I’m good with this one, regardless of COVID. Still, it is clear that the school is still not aware that vaccinated people can and do spread the virus as much as unvaccinated people.
LOL.
Again, even though we now know that absolutely everyone, regardless of vaccination status can get and spread COVID, vaccinated students will NOT be tested even if they travel to a high level area, nor will they be required to present a negative test upon their return. Meanwhile unvaccinated students will need to be tested THREE times and are not allowed to return without a negative test.
All this from a school that prefaced these mandates by saying that they will not mandate the vaccine. The truth of the matter is that this school, as well as the Biden Administration ARE mandating the vaccines through coercion, harassment, and punitive actions. That the Leftist Democrats would do this to adults is bad. That a school would do this to children is more than unforgivable: it is plainly evil.
Needless to say, this was the straw that broke this camel’s back and we could no longer ignore this situation: it was time to stand-up, speak-out, and resist the tyranny.
For those of you who are wondering, I’m including a copy of my response to the school below. It was redacted for privacy issues. However, should things not work out with the school and our son no longer attend there, I will be sure to post the name of the school.
It would have been easier to not speak out, to give up and just go along, to have my son take the damned jab and hope for the best or, alternatively, not have him take the jab and suffer the indignities that the school has planned for those who don’t comply. That would all have been easier, but not right.
It is time to stand up, to take the hard road, to speak up. It is exactly because way too many people in our country have decided to take the easy way out and because they have been cowards unwilling to stick their necks out and rock the boat that we have lost our country. We all admire and support those who have risks their jobs, ridicule, and harassment in doing the right thing: let’s not just support them from afar, let’s join them in the fight.
More importantly for me, it was time to show my son that one must not hesitate to act when doing what is right. To his credit (and my pride), despite the fact that he really likes the school and would very much like to return there, it was him who encouraged me to speak out and not give up. He knows what the possible consequences could be and yet he decided that we needed to fight for what is right. That, I believe, is a much more important lesson than anything else a school can teach.
My response to the school:
Dear Mr. XXX:
We just read your most recent email memorandum “Update from Jeb XXX, Covid Guidelines” and must say that we are very disappointed by the school’s proposed actions. While we are not wholly surprised to learn about XXX’ new proposals given the ridiculously Draconian measures that were taken last year, it is surprising that this school would pretend to be following “science” when pulling such an absurd public relations stunt, completely disconnected from scientific data. Because of that, we are hereby taking the position that we do not agree with XXX’s proposals and will not be complying with those discussed below.
Your decision to either force a vaccine which has not yet obtained full FDA approval, particularly for children, or face consequences that include being singled-out, blacklisted, and generally harassed by school officials is tantamount to coercion. A child should feel safe in a school environment and not be made to feel uncomfortable simply because his parents have actually done their due-diligence and research not just about this virus but the COVID vaccines in general. This intended policy by the school is an absolute abomination, wholly un-American and un-Christian.
The reality is that if your policies were based on science and the well-being of your students you would know that a real question among scientific circles exist about whether this vaccine is more harmful to people, especially young men, than the virus it purports to deal with. Not only have there been a record number of deaths caused by these vaccines, many of them children, but the amount of adverse effects already reported to the CDC’s Vaccine Adverse Effect Reporting System (VAERS) has shattered the records, amounting to more side effects than all other vaccines combined in over 40 years. That doesn’t sound like a safe vaccine, no matter how much our political leaders and their mouthpieces in the medical community attempt to argue.
We understand that due to our government’s obfuscation and overall lack of transparency it is difficult for some people to know what the real numbers are but, thankfully, we do have other countries who are much more transparent than our own is. The British government data for the past 10 months, for example, has found that the greatest proportion of deaths from the Delta variant was actually among those who were vaccinated, not the unvaccinated. What’s more, the British government also confirmed that while the Delta variant is certainly more contagious than the original or subsequent variants of the virus, it is also much milder and less lethal than the previous ones.
So why would any parent, armed with this information, subject their children to a vaccine that offers at best 80% protection against a virus from which over 99% of people (and virtually all children) recover from, particularly when there are well-documented side effects such as myocarditis (heart inflammation)? The fact of the matter is that there isn’t a single doctor, scientist, researcher, educator, or politician in the world who can possibly know what the long-term effects of this “vaccine” or the adverse effects (such as the potential scarring from myocarditis) will be.
(https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/safety/myocarditis.html)
Just as relevant to this discussion, if you were truly following the science and the latest actual data, rather than suppositions or the opinions of politicians, you would also know that none of the COVID-19 vaccines offer full protection against the virus and that those who are vaccinated are as likely to spread the virus as the unvaccinated. In fact, for those who believe Dr. Anthony Fauci’s authority on this matter, it was probably surprising to hear him state that the viral load of the new Delta variant among the vaccinated and the unvaccinated is “almost identical” adding “(s)o we know now that vaccinated people who get breakthrough infections can spread the virus to other people.” (https://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-talk-shows/565831-fauci-amount-of-virus-in-breakthrough-delta-cases-almost-identical)
This fact is further reiterated by the CDC’s study of the outbreak in Barnstable, Mass, where 74% of those who got the virus were fully-vaccinated individuals. Many doctors and researchers are of the opinion that the natural immunity that unvaccinated people will develop against this virus (like most other viruses throughout history) is actually more potent than the purported “immunity” created by the untested, unapproved vaccines currently on the market.
However, for practical purposes, even if you choose to believe the opinions and mandates of politicians, then your stated policy violates those mandates as well. As I’m sure you know, the latest CDC advisory states that ALL students should be wearing masks when indoors, regardless of vaccination status. (https://nypost.com/2021/07/27/cdc-to-recommend-some-vaccinated-people-wear-masks-indoors/) So if you are to mandate that unvaccinated students wear a mask, you should also be mandating the same from vaccinated students. In case you weren’t aware, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam issued a statement yesterday that parrots the CDC’s advisory with regards to Virginia schools. While we don’t believe that masks ever worked against the virus, as even Dr. Fauci initially admitted, if you are to mandate that unvaccinated students wear masks, you must do the same of vaccinated students. Otherwise, you aren’t just not following “the science” but your actions constitute harassment.
Likewise, considering the recent statements by the CDC and Dr. Fauci, if you are to test unvaccinated students regularly, you must do the same with the vaccinated students who may be carrying identical viral loads.
In sum, we are not going to allow our child to be singled-out, harassed, and discriminated against simply because we have chosen not to put a potentially harmful substance into his body. While neither of us is a medical doctor, I should point out that in my previous line of work in the United States House of Representatives I served as a Legal Counsel in the Government Reform Committee investigating the vaccine approval and recommendation processes within both the FDA & the CDC and the many conflicts of interest among those who serve in those committees. So I do have an idea about what I’m talking about.
Overall, our son has really enjoyed his time at XXX, is very fond of the coaches and many of the teachers and has grown very close to many of his fellow students. While we did not agree with the tactics used by the school in dealing with the virus last year and felt like the school too closely mimicked a Juvenile Detention Center, causing harmful, undue stress to the children, we decided to go ahead and enroll him for next year, something he has really been looking forward to. But, frankly, had we known that these were the measures the school would take, we would not have signed XXXXX up for another year at XXX.
While we are not opposed to our child being regularly tested for COVID-19, we would only agree to such testing if all children, regardless of vaccination status, are being regularly tested, as well. Additionally, we want to be clear that there is absolutely no way that we will be paying for these tests out-of-pocket, particularly when they are routinely provided at no charge just about everywhere.
To summarize our stance, the corrective measures that XXX needs to take with regard to your proposed COVID protocols are:
1.) if unvaccinated students are to be required to use a mask anywhere on school property, so should all other students regardless of vaccination status,
2.) unvaccinated students should be subjected to the exact same amount of testing as vaccinated students, not more, and
3.) the school or any other third party will assume responsibility for any costs associated with such testing, as we will not be paying for any of it.
If, however, the school still chooses to proceed with the policies as stated in the above referenced email, please take notice that XXX will be liable for at least the following legal claims:
- Breach of Contract: By engaging in discriminatory practices against the unvaccinated and failing to provide an adequate school environment, XXX is breaching various contracts, including contracts reflected by the enrollment agreement, the student handbook and statements made on its website.
- Fraud: Among other things, XXX will have failed to provide “[a] balanced and healthy lifestyle” as advertised on its website. Other statements found in the student handbook and XXX website are similarly misleading and intentionally false.
- Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress: By discriminating against the unvaccinated, XXX is intentionally causing undue and unreasonable emotional distress on XXXXX
- Negligence: XXX is committing negligence by failing to follow its own policies, as set forth in the student handbook and statements made on its website.
- Breach of Privacy Laws: The implementation of the proposed XXX COVID policy will let everyone know who is unvaccinated – a clear breach of a person’s privacy concerning medical conditions. While XXX can certainly ask us whether XXXXX is vaccinated, the proposed policy goes beyond that and publicly singles out the unvaccinated.
Naturally, we would prefer an amicable resolution to this dispute but will no longer tolerate XXX’ abusive COVID procedures. We look forward to your response and respectfully request that such response be given by August 10, 2021.
Respectfully,
XXXXXXXXXXX
Reality Shrugged 