WCBS 880 Weekly Rewind: New Jersey Parents Wage War Against Masks in Schools

Produced by Neil A. Carousso

NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY (WCBS 880) — A group of New Jersey parents want their kids to have freedom.

Parents suing Gov. Phil Murphy and members of his administration argue that children are at lower risk and that masks, as well as plastic partitions around school desks, do irreparable harm and violate children’s civil rights, said Kelly Ford, who started the group Free NJ Kids.

“We have pictures of masks with nose bleeds in them,” Ford said. “We have a story of one parent whose daughter threw up in the mask and did not remove it because she was afraid of getting in trouble.”

Masks are proven effective in preventing the transmission of COVID-19. The Delta Variant of COVID-19 is responsible for soaring infections in 48 states plus Washington, D.C. with severe cases attacking mostly unvaccinated people.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is maintaining the mask mandate for students and teachers in the city’s public schools as the COVID positivity rate accelerates in the five boroughs. It’s most prevalent on Staten Island where vaccination rates are lowest and the positivity rate is above two percent. On The 880 Weekly Rewind, WCBS reporter Marla Diamond covers the nuanced issue around mask requirements.

Also on Rewind, Lynda Lopez looks at a new medical trial that aims to help better treat the most serious breast cancer cases and remembers the tragic TWA Flight 800 explosion off Long Island on its 25th anniversary.

Subscribe and download The 880 Weekly Rewind podcast for in-depth reporting and deeper analysis of the top stories of the week, produced by Neil A. Carousso, for WCBS-AM New York.