As any parent can attest to firsthand, our children—from tots to teens—have been experiencing more anxiety, psychological stress, and behavioral challenges since the COVID-19 crisis began in March 2020. Adults, too, have been suffering from extreme stress and anxiety. Now a new retrospective study, looking at data from late 2020 and 2021, confirms what so many of us have long suspected: Masking as a prerequisite to classroom learning and participation in public life is causing children both psychological and physical harm. The study, conducted at the University of Witten–Herdecke in Germany, includes data from more than 20,000 participants reflecting on the experiences of a total of 25,930 children. The average time the children wore masks was 270 minutes (4 1/2 hours) per day. The majority of parents—68 percent—reported that masking harmed their children. In fact, parents reported psychological and physical harms associated with masking in 17,632 children. These reported harms …