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Dad goes viral for emotional speech against mask mandate at Naperville school board meeting

The unidentified father, who attended the Naperville school board meeting, claimed that due to the face-covering policy, his daughter’s development has been damaged

NAPERVILLE, ILLINOIS: A video of a father has gone viral on the internet as he gave a very passionate and emotional speech against mask mandates in schools. The unidentified father, who attended the Naperville school board meeting on Monday, February 7, claimed that due to the face-covering policy, her daughter’s development has been damaged.

Addressing the board members, the man said: “I’m here for my daughter and beyond anything else she loves school… The last two years have been shameful as the district has been busy lauding themselves while they enact policies that have been absolutely devastating for her growth. We have seen two years of almost no growth. Missed goals. Goals removed.”

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He went on to say, “Her team is doing everything that they can. We’ve hired specialists. She still loves school. My 10-year-old daughter has kept these feelings to herself about how much she desperately wants to take her mask off. When we told her maybe it will be possible on Monday she cried tears… You’ve harmed her so much for this. Everybody talked about everybody’s got to be safe. Everybody’s got to have everything. And we’ve left so many children behind. We tried to protect her…”

“This morning she got up and she started singing a song to her dolls about how excited she was that kids were going to be able to see her smile, that she was going to be able to see other kids smile. That kids would be able to understand her, and she would stop being picked on because kids could not understand her through her mask because her speech has been delayed even more than her special needs… It broke me. I will never forgive myself for fighting more. I feel that I have failed her for not fighting more… You have failed them!” the father concluded.

According to reports, after the man’s moving speech, the woman in charge of the meeting ironically responded by asking attendees to wear their face masks. However, people online showed support to the man while slamming the in-charge. A user tweeted, “She absolutely loves giving the ‘reminders.’ Awful people like that love a sense of control over others. It’s her defense mechanism to the anxiety she feels from hearing the dad speak.” Another one wrote, “This was caused in very large part by politics. Politics!  Adults treating children in this manner bc adults can’t set aside power and control for children.  Children. I won’t ever forget and neither should you. Sigh.”

A person commented, “WTF!?! That is the comment that the school board member had to say after this father talked about his daughter?!? WHERE IS THIS????? This is horrible!!!!! #UrgencyOfNormal #UNMASKOURCHILDREN @Elex_Michaelson Must watch both videos. Shocking!! Elected officials don't care!!!” The second one added: “What a great dad!  You’re fighting for her now, and that’s what counts. I’m praying for you from Texas ( no mask mandates here) We could use people like you in Texas.”

Besides, the Daily Herald reported that at least thirty-eight people spoke against the mask mandate during the meeting. A student of Naperville Central High School, Taylor, mentioned that multiple nearby school districts have given the kids the option of wearing masks. She asked, “Can you tell me what the difference is between our Naperville bubble and schools that are just miles away that are giving students their rights?”

A parent named Jena McKinnon also expressed the anger and added: “I have no hope of getting the administration or school board to even acknowledge another perspective than their own. They have tunnel vision, and they are unwilling to pivot when they have been proven wrong. This is a call to action. Our school district is violating the rights of our children.”