If there was ever a story that might make you glad to know that parents all across the country are running to remove leftist school board members, this would be it. A local school board member in Oklahoma intimated that students who do attend classes without wearing masks might commit murder by not donning the face covering.

During a Monday meeting, Norman Public Schools board member Linda Sexton said:

It’s just not OK for kids to commit murder by coming to school without a mask.

Sexton continued, arguing that maskless children “will cause a death of another child because they come to school without a mask.”

Fox News reported:

Sexton called on her district and others to stand up against Gov. Kevin Stitt, who is reportedly refusing to allow mask mandates for schoolchildren. In May, he passed a law prohibiting school districts from imposing mandates unless the governor has at least declared a state of emergency that’s in effect for their area.

The school board member asserted that she would “like to try to find a way to stand up as a district” and enlist the support of “surrounding superintendents” to push back against Stitt’s directive. She averred that it is “insane to send 5- and 6- and 7- and 8- – all the way up through 11-year-olds – that don’t have a choice about vaccine.”

Gov. Stitt defended his order, pointing out that “this is about personal responsibility.” While parents can have their children wear masks and get vaccinated, the legislation does not allow local governments to compel people to take these steps.

The subject of mandatory mask requirements and vaccines in K-12 schools has been one of debate, especially after the Delta variant emerged. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on Monday updated a report acknowledging that “adolescents can transmit SARS-CoV-2 to others.” However, the report also points out that “compared with adults, children and adolescents who are infected with SARS-CoV-2 are more commonly asymptomatic.”

This means children are less likely to exhibit symptoms than adults. Three studies conducted late last year also found that the risk of COVID-19 transmission in schools is minimal.

There is nothing wrong with wishing to take certain precautions to keep children safe. However, the notion that a child could be committing “murder” as Sexton claimed is alarmist nonsense. There is no evidence showing that this is a real risk or that masking would prevent transmission from happening. If schools are careful about handling the issue, then we are not going to see these “murders” occur. Unfortunately, there are still too many who wish to use fear to dictate our behavior.