CBS reporter: ‘Crushing’ lockdowns like those in NM have hurt our children

Over the weekend, CBS News correspondent Jan Crawford blew the whistle on the most underreported story of 2021, which she claimed resulted in a “crushing” impact on our country’s children.

“My kids hear me rant about this every day, so I may as well tell you guys. It’s the crushing impact that our COVID policies have had on young kids and children, by far the least serious risk for serious illness,” Crawford said.

She spoke about how healthy teenagers have “a one-in-a-million chance” of catching and dying from the virus, noting how they have a greater chance of perishing in a car accident. 

“They have suffered and sacrificed the most, especially kids in underrepresented, at-risk communities. And now we have the surgeon general saying there’s a mental health crisis among our kids,” Crawford said. “The risk of suicide attempts among girls now up 51% this year. Black kids nearly twice as likely as white kids to die by suicide.”

“I mean school closures, lockdowns, cancellation of sports. You couldn’t even go on a playground in the D.C. area without cops shooing the kids off…. Tremendous negative impact on kids, and it’s been an afterthought. It’s hurt their dreams, their future, learning loss, risk of abuse, their mental health,” Crawford added.

In New Mexico, school lockdowns and clapping down on sports have had a tremendous impact. In April, scandal-ridden alleged serial groper Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham finally lifted a one-year ban on in-person learning. 

As we previously reported:

The damage the Governor’s lockdown caused was much more painful than merely the year of education many children lost altogether. Hundreds of children in New Mexico took their own lives in 2020 and early 2021, with New Mexico ranking the second-worst state for suicides. As for teen suicides, New Mexico ranked as the fifth-highest state nationwide in 2020. In July 2020, New Mexico hit a boiling point as the state with the highest rate of suicide in the nation, with the rate for children ages 4-15 increasing by 88%.

The Albuquerque Journal reported that around 12,000 “missing” children were going without instruction at all during the pandemic. 

Early in the pandemic, many students cried out about their lack of access to education, with some children having to camp outside of their shuttered school to get wifi access to complete assignments. Many New Mexico children went over an entire year without an education. 

The New Mexico Public Education Department’s updated guidance includes “indoor sports is 100% mask wearing” According to the report, “Outdoor sports, including football, has now been changed back to recommended mask wearing.” 

During the summer, students were forced to wear masks while running in 100-degree heat due to the edict from the Lujan Grisham regime. The body count continues to climb in New Mexico, with children taking their own lives and being the subjects of bullying because of the mask mandates. But the strict policies remain in place despite national outcry over how they negatively effect the state’s children.