Masking Our Schoolchildren Was Child Abuse – A Rare Chance to Stop It Returning

While more and more people are becoming aware that masking healthy people is both ineffective and harmful – as illustrated by the current rarity of face coverings in community settings – pockets of pro-mask zealotry remain smouldering in certain sections of our society, constituting an ongoing risk of re-ignition in the future. Health and social care is one such example – a hazard addressed in Smile Free’s recent film, Masking Humanity. Another is our education system, where, for prolonged periods during the Covid event, headmasters and teachers cruelly muzzled our kids in schools. Now, as a result of the sterling endeavours of the ‘Declaration of Dumfries’ (DoD) team – a fellowship of people promoting common law principles of truth, rights and sovereignty – a rare opportunity has arisen to land a telling blow against those in authority and thereby deter any future imposition of masks on our schoolchildren.

The Actions of the ‘Declaration of Dumfries’ Fellowship

In brief, what the ‘Declaration of Dumfries’ (DoD) people have accomplished is to force a local council to explicitly admit that they never had the authority to mask children, nor to punish pupils for non-compliance. By doing so, there is now an opening for parents of children who were victims of the unlawful mask impositions during the Covid event to sue their local councils and, by doing so, land a blow that will ensure that those in positions of power within our education system think twice before ever pulling such a stunt on our nation’s children again. 

To achieve this victory required 17 months of dogged determination and persistence. The sequence of events is detailed in a DoD flowchart. The timeline can be summarised as follows:

• 14^th of February 2022: The DoD submit a Freedom of Information request to Dumfries & Galloway Council asking for, “documented evidence of their authority to mask children”
• 4^th of March 2022: Dumfries & Galloway Council respond that they had “complied with… regulations and guidance from the Scottish Government… and refutes any contention to the contrary”
• 30^th of March 2022: Following a DoD request for a review, the Council reiterate its position that “it has followed all appropriate guidance & regulation” and provide links to several government documents. Given that these publications did not address their questions, DoD request arbitration from the Scottish Information Commissioner
• 18^th of October 2022: The Council deny that any “enforcement” of masks had taken place
• 10^th of August 2023: The Council accept that they did not hold information confirming their authority “to impose masks on other people’s children” and also acknowledge there was “no policy/guidance that permitted (granted authority) to headmasters/teachers… to ask pupils to leave school if they did not wear a face mask”
• 11^th of August 2023: Following prompts (from the DoD) for further clarity, the Council also accepts that they had no authority to impose any other kinds of punishment for non-compliance with their mask requirements

The Implications of This Admission by Dumfries & Galloway Council

The rising number of us who recognise that the generic masking of healthy people does far more harm than good have been increasingly frustrated by the failure of our political elite to openly acknowledge this fact, and to provide the general public with reassurance that this restriction will for ever be condemned to reside in that cupboard labelled, ‘Crazy public health restrictions, never to be repeated’. Unfortunately, this admission has not been forthcoming; it seems that the Government and their ‘experts’ hope we will all forget about this shameful period in our history. But now – thanks to the tenacity of the DoD team – there is a unique opportunity to land a telling blow against the establishment. 

The explicit recognition by Dumfries & Galloway Council that the imposition of masks onto other people’s children was an illegitimate act now renders every local authority in Scotland (and probably in the rest of the UK) vulnerable to being sued by the victims of this inhuman practice. A legal precedent such as this would go a long way to ensuring that our children are never again bullied into wearing de-humanising masks by headmasters and teachers. If you are a parent of a child who was harassed (or even harmed) by these policies, you may have the chance to prosecute your local council and – if successful – go a long way to protecting our future youngsters from this cruel restriction.

Is anyone out there willing to grasp the nettle?

Those interested in suing those culpable of muzzling our kids can find further details here, or they can email dod@declarationofdumfries.co.uk to discuss potential options. 

 Dr Gary Sidley is a retired NHS Consultant Clinical Psychologist and co-founder of the Smile Free campaign opposed to mask mandates.