(NaturalHealth365) Remember how much you enjoyed making forts out of blankets and cardboard boxes when you were a kid? Sadly, some school districts are making a disturbing twist on this popular childhood game and turning it into a Draconian measure to impose social distancing and purportedly slow the spread of COVID-19.

We’re talking about new school reopening restrictions imposed in Thailand. The photos taken of these young children in their classrooms are honestly jaw-dropping – many of them resembling kids housed in plexiglass prisons.  It’s an unnerving testament how far government overreach and complicit herd mentality can take us.

What will these children really “learn” under these social distancing conditions?  Check out these restrictions in Thailand

In early July, schools in Thailand were given permission to reopen – with what many people are calling oppressive and tone-deaf restrictions. These COVID-19 restrictions include:

• Clear plastic partitions installed on every student desk
• Desks spread out, as well as other space management changes in classrooms and lunch areas to keep children physically separate from their peers
• Clear plastic partitions (that look like ominous playpens or kennels) which young children must play in alone
• Hand sanitizer and temperature scanners installed at entrances
• Mandatory use of face masks for schoolkids – even kindergartners! (Just try to imagine how many times adults touch their masks with unwashed hands … now imagine how distracting and counterproductive these face coverings can be for children)

Some other restrictions, such as capping class sizes at 20 to 25 pupils and regularly sanitizing door knobs and other classroom surfaces, certainly don’t seem quite as unreasonable. But we can only imagine how distracting and fear-inducing it may be for children to see their teachers other school staff members – all clad in masks, of course – obsessively cleaning and wiping down surfaces.

What kind of message would this constant cleaning send?  It’s as if to say that touching something without first dousing it with antibacterial agents is dangerous.

Let’s not forget, of course, the research indicating that excessive use of antibacterial agents and hand sanitizers may actually contribute to an increased incidence of respiratory issues such as allergies and asthma, especially in children. This is because everyday exposure to common environmental germs is a normal and necessary way to support healthy immune system responses.

Which is painfully ironic, of course, to think that excessive sanitizing and other attempts to “flatten the curve” of COVID-19 may actually lead to worsening respiratory issues in some people.

“Encouraged” for some, “required” for most: Hear what this state’s public school system will demand of school-aged children

As for here in America, school systems are furiously figuring out how to open amid the ever-changing pandemic. Many, like Nevada, are suggesting “distance education” or “virtual education” for their students – meaning kids are expected to remain engaged with their schooling entirely or almost entirely through a computer screen.

We’re sure many parents remember how stressful remote learning and “distance education” was back in the spring.

One of the states with the most coverage and contention in the media during this pandemic has been California. Recently, Governor Gavin Newsom and the California Department of Public Health “issued a framework for when and how schools should reopen for in-person instruction,” according to the governor’s official website.

Embedded within this framework are face covering requirements, where it states that “all staff and students in 3rd grade and above will be required to wear a mask or face covering. Students in 2nd grade and below are strongly encouraged to wear a face covering.”

In addition, all staff must stay 6 feet apart not only from each other, but from their students, too – and kids are expected to “maintain 6 eet of distance from one another as practicable.”

The question remain: are these measures realistic or even necessary?  What is the probability that these restrictions will be maintained? Why the arbitrary delineation between second graders and third graders for determining who has to wear a mask and who doesn’t?

Our hearts go out to parents and schoolchildren around the world. Everyone deserves an education … it’s just sad to see the hoops that many people will have to go through right now in order to get one.

Sources for this article include:

Gov.ca.gov
Dailymail.co.uk
DOE.nv.gov
Edsource.org
NIH.gov
Center4research.org