This is an excellent article, Tina. You make so many good points, especially with your comparison to real hardship faced by the mothers and children in Afghanistan. Children don't mind wearing masks! Some of them must think its cool, because they still have them on when they get off the school bus and are walking the rest of the way home. My grandchildren, even the little ones, don't object to the masks and it hasn't squelched their personalities. And contrary to the comment made by one of your readers, children ARE being affected by the Delta variant, and there HAVE been scientific tests that show masks help slow the spread.