Abstract
Vaccinations have been around for many years. Edward Jenner was the first person who invented a successful vaccination. He was credited for eliminating smallpox. There has been a lot of debate about parents vaccinating their children. There are many viewpoints about vaccinating a child. Some believe that vaccines are great because they have eliminated deadly diseases. Other people believe that vaccines are harmful, and they shouldn’t be injected into a child. I believe that vaccines are powerful because they can get rid of horrible diseases such as measles. Vaccines are used to protect the community and to keep us safe.
Background/History
Vaccinations have been around for hundreds of years. Vaccines have been named one of the best developments in the 20th century (ProCon.org, 2019). Edward Jenner was the first person to create a vaccine for smallpox (Vaccines for kids, 2020). This vaccine used a part of cowpox which was like smallpox but instead cows were infected. Jenner’s smallpox vaccination was used for over 200 years and got rid of smallpox (ProCon.org, 2019). Later, Louis Pasteur was another famous scientist who invented a vaccine for rabies. Pasteur also developed a vaccine for avian cholera (ProCon.org, 2019). There have been other vaccines that have been introduced since Jenner that have eliminated diseases such as diphtheria, measles, mumps, and rubella.
In 1855, Massachusetts was the first state to require a child to be vaccinated to go to a public school (ProCon.org, 2019). Some public schools and states will let you exempt from vaccinations due to religious reasons (Vaccines for kids, 2020). Other states followed a couple of years later. A physician named Benjamin Waterhouse began using the cowpox vaccination that later led Massachusetts being the first to encourage vaccination (ProCon.org, 2019). There is a schedule that is recommended for doctors and parents to follow when vaccinating a child. This schedule starts at birth to about 18 years old. Although vaccinations are thought to be safe and unharmful, there are people who think that vaccinations are harmful and evil.
Viewpoint 1
There are many viewpoints for the requirements and if parents should be allowed to opt-out of vaccinating their children. The first viewpoint is from the article, Con: Don’t Mandate, But Nudge Parents Hard to Vaccinate Their Kids. This article by Julie Gunlock states that doctors and nurses need to encourage parents to vaccinate their children but not push them to do something they do not want to do (Gunlock, 2018). Many parents get their information about vaccines from other parents or unreliable websites. Most parents ignore research from doctors and scientists because they are worried about the diseases that their child might get if they are vaccinated (Gunlock, 2018).
Even though vaccines for children are safe, many parents fear vaccines and are overwhelmed. Parents think that their child is going to get autism or other disorders and diseases due to the vaccines (Gunlock, 2018). According to the article parents that do not vaccinate their children could cause problems to the public (Gunlock, 2018). The children who are not vaccinated could cause the public to catch measles or other diseases that are caused by not getting vaccinated. Gunlock states that parents who are obsessed with their child’s health are the ones who are taking the risk of their child getting a disease that could kill them (Gunlock, 2018). The Centers for Disease Control reported in 2014 that a record number of measles cases were out (Gunlock, 2018).
Most of this issue is due to parents not vaccinating their children. One study from the American Journal of Public Health noted that between 2009 and 2013 parents were not vaccinating their children due to personal and religious reasons (Gunlock, 2018). These exemptions like personal and religious reasons were increased by 19 percent for school vaccines (Gunlock, 2018). There are many in the medical field and childcare field that are worried and concerned about parents not vaccinating their children. There are many people in these types of jobs that believe vaccines should be mandatory.
People in the healthcare field and childcare field believe that parents oversee their child’s health so people that work in the healthcare field do not want to push something uncomfortable on the parents. Gunlock states that parents who do not vaccinate their children are not only putting their owns lives at danger but others too (Gunlock, 2018). Some people question whether the government should step in and enforce rules about making parents vaccinate their children. Other people question if children should be taken away from their parents if they choose not to vaccinate their child.
Instead of going to this extreme other people say that parents who are anti-vaccine need to be denied for certain government services (Gunlock, 2018). A government service such as schools may start dropping personal reasons as a reason why a child is not vaccinated. Another option that the government might enforce if parents do not vaccinate their children would be to deny the parents from welfare or require proof of their child’s vaccination record for welfare (Gunlock, 2018). According to the article, you must give up something to protect the community (Gunlock, 2018).
Viewpoint 2
The second viewpoint is from the article, Vaccine for Stupidity Needed by Daniel Ruth. Ruth states that the Pinellas County Health Department discovered a couple of measles cases over the past couple of days (Ruth, 2018). These cases that they are discovering have not been seen since over twenty years ago. The patients that they are discovering who had measles at the Pinellas County Health Department were not vaccinated against measles (Ruth, 2018).
Measles can cause several different health issues including pneumonia, encephalitis, and even death. Ruth says this is a problem because not that long-ago measles was gone because of the measles vaccination (Ruth, 2018). This is also a concern because the patients who were not vaccinated who got measles could have come in contact with other children who were not vaccinated also. The measles vaccination was one of the best achievements that the health industry has created (Ruth, 2018).
The modern-day scientist and doctors made measles almost completely gone due to people being vaccinated. Since measles was mostly gone doctors and scientists moved onto other things that were important in the health industry. Ruth states that “morons” and the social media have made parents of children believe vaccinations are evil and harmful (Ruth, 2018). Some parents of children believe that the measles vaccine in particular causes autism.
Others believe that all vaccinations cause autism or other diseases (Ruth, 2018). Some people say that a child’s immune system can fight off dangerous infections without a vaccine (ProCon.org, 2019). They say that injecting something harmful into a child’s body can cause side effects. Parents who would rather believe the internet or believe something from other parents is concerning because scientists and doctors have done their research.
The article explains how scientists have done studies after studies to prove that certain diseases can be prevented from vaccinations (Ruth, 2018). Even though scientists are still doing studies after studies, parents are still not vaccinating their children. The article states that not vaccinating your children could be considered child abuse (Ruth, 2018). It could be considered child abuse because vaccinations are supposed to eliminate your chances of getting a horrible disease like the measles. It might also be considered child abuse because parents are taking a chance of their children getting a horrible disease and possibly die (Ruth, 2018).
In 2018 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had announced there had been over 124 cases of measles that could have been prevented by the measles vaccination (Ruth, 2018). Ruth explains how parents who do not decide to vaccinate their children will have to explain why there is a rash on their child’s body (Ruth, 2018). They would have to explain why they were not vaccinated and explain why other children do not have rashes all over their bodies. Today there is an issue with parents not choosing to vaccinate their children.
There are many people who are at stake when deciding whether to vaccinate a child. A child is affected either way. If a parent chooses to vaccinate their child, they will most likely be prevented from that disease. If a parent chooses not to vaccinate their child, they will most likely have consequences such as symptoms and possibly death. There are also many people who are involved with vaccinating children. The people who are involved with vaccinating a child is the child, the parents, and doctors. The people who are impacted can contract a preventable disease. The people who are impacted are the child, the parents, and everyone who is around that child. If a parent vaccinates their child, then this prevents others from contracting a horrible disease. If a parent chooses not to vaccinate their child, then they are putting the public at risk.
My Point of View
When I went to the doctor for checkups as a child, getting a vaccine or shot was a normal thing for me. As a child, I did not think anything about it because my parents thought it was a good idea for me to get vaccinated against certain diseases. Now that I am older, I am happy that I was vaccinated against certain diseases.
In my opinion, I think that vaccines are an amazing invention. Vaccines are meant to get rid of certain diseases. There is a reason that the measles disease was eradicated. Also, you can see other diseases such as mumps and rubella that have been eradicated because of a vaccine. The reason is that parents were smart enough to vaccinate their children, so they do not get the measles or other diseases. I know that a lot of parents listen to other parents and look at social media to get their information about the measles and other diseases that can be prevented by a vaccine.
There is a reason why we have doctors and scientists. These people are the ones who create a vaccine and test it on animals or other things before testing it on humans. They know the science behind vaccines and what they are supposed to get rid of. I do not think that vaccinating your children causes autism. This is a big debate with the topic of vaccines causing autism. If this were the case, then more people would have autism because a lot of people have been vaccinated against certain diseases.
I think there should be some consequences for parents if they do not vaccinate their children. It is not the child’s fault if they end up getting a disease that could have been prevented. I think that vaccines should be required for all public schools and all colleges. This could prevent other children from getting a disease that could be deadly.
References
- Gunlock, J. (2018, March 29). Con: don’t mandate, but nudge parents hard to vaccinate their kids. TCA News Service. https://explore-proquest-com.proxy154.nclive.org/sirsissuesresearcher/document/2264391690?accountid=13601
- ProCon.org. (2019, March 7). History of Vaccines. https://vaccines.procon.org/history-of-vaccines/
- Ruth, D. (2018, September 09). Vaccine for stupidity needed. Tampa Bay Times. https://explore-proquest-com.proxy154.nclive.org/sirsissuesresearcher/document/2266140786?accountid=13601
- Vaccines for kids (2020). Ann Arbor: ProQuest. http://proxy154.nclive.org/login?url=https://explore.proquest.com/sirsissuesresearcher/document/2257693172?accountid=13601
