New Jersey Republicans in both houses of the Legislature have criticized the new executive order issued by Gov. Phil Murphy that reinstated indoor mask mandates at schools for the upcoming school year. “Mandating masks in schools has more negatives than positives,” Republican Assemblyman Brian Bergen said about the measure announced on Friday. “The governor’s new mandate and the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] recommendations are looking at the issue from only one angle,” Bergen said in a statement. “They are not considering the damage to our kid’s emotional well-being. We need to add that element, and when we do, the answer is, ‘No mandatory masking in schools.’ The long-term harm to kids from masking is psychologically enormous and disrupts learning.” “Experts have raised legitimate concerns that the risks of masking outweigh the potential benefits for children because masking children can negatively impact communication, learning, emotional, and social development,” …