Why Vaccines Should Be Required For School Children. The

Recently, many diseases that had been eradicated because of childhood vaccinations have been making an appearance. Health officials are concerned that diseases will spread and lives will be lost. Officials all agree that vaccinations will benefit the population. Some parents feel it is an infringement on the right to keep the children healthy and safe. Vaccinations should be mandatory for all children because it will prevent diseases from spreading, protect future generations, and save children and parents time and money.

Polio, mumps, and diphtheria are a few of the diseases that have killed numerous amounts of people in the past. Yet, in today’s time, they are diseases people rarely hear about others dying from unless they are discussing the past. The reason for this is modern day vaccinations. Vaccinations are shots that help prevent against certain diseases. Vaccinations not only prevent diseases, but can also cause them to become nearly extinct in treated areas. One example of this would be the small pox vaccine, people were dying from this disease every day, and now you rarely, if ever, hear people talk about it. Although these vaccines are lifesaving, parents are becoming reluctant to provide these treatments for their children. For this reason, all children should be required to get particular vaccinations, unless they have certain medical conditions.

Throughout the years, there have been many serious diseases that plagued the world, a number of which have been eradicated through the widespread administration of vaccinations. In the 1950s, the number of polio cases in the United States was at 58,000, and in 1988, this disease had affected 350,000 people (11 Facts About Polio). Because polio mainly affects children under the age of five, it became very important to parents that something was done to cure and protect their children. When the polio vaccine was created, doctors were able to administer it to people across America, eventually erasing the virus from the country. While the majority of parents in the United States agree that vaccinations should be mandatory for children (excluding certain children with medical conditions preventing vaccination), there are a growing number of parents choosing to take a stand against these rules. Vaccinations are important because when they are administered, the child becomes protected against the diseases, resulting in fewer cases of contraction. In order to protect the children and adults of the United States from many potentially life-threatening illnesses, vaccinations should be mandatory for every able-bodied child.

Diseases and illnesses are studied constantly by doctors and scientists trying to find a cure for them. Plague and disease once ravaged our world killing thousands, with no hope or cure to prevent them from occurring. Today, however, is different. Technology is more advanced than ever, and people are living longer than ever before. Life expectancy in the United States has gone up by more than 30 years in the last decades. It isn’t by luck that many diseases now cease to exist, but through extensive studies, and research. The medical field is at the height of its studies with more people being cured of diseases than ever before. Most of this is to the credit of doctors and scientists developing vaccinations that help the body create antibodies, which help fight away diseases, and give the body immunity. I believe that forced vaccinations in children should be mandatory as they have the potential to prevent life threatening diseases, and save countless lives. Though many are against forced vaccinations and say they can cause mental illnesses or brain damage, this has not been proven. The rewards far out way the slight risk, if risk at all of the vaccination having side effects. The individuals who are not vaccinated are left vulnerable to illness, and can potentially infect those around them as well. Leaving scare of an epidemic, and wide spread of a virus. Forced vaccinations in the United States have been beneficial by preventing young children from contracting certain

Between 1924 and 2013, vaccinations prevented 103 million cases of polio, measles, rubella, mumps, hepatitis A, diphtheria, and pertussis (Bailey). Vaccinating is “the process by which pathogenic cells are injected into a healthy person in an attempt to cause the body to develop antibodies to a particular virus or bacterium—successful creation of antibodies is referred to as immunity to the disease caused by the particular pathogen” (Introduction to Should Vaccinations be Mandatory). Popular conflicts regarding vaccination include the worry that this form of immunization isn’t natural, the idea that vaccination schedule for children in the U.S. takes away parents’ rights to make decisions for their children, and the concern that vaccinations aren’t safe for all children. Most doctors and scientists advocate for vaccinations in the name of herd immunity, protection against foreign diseases and prevention against pockets of disease outbreaks. Vaccinations should be mandatory for all children in the United States for who they are deemed safe and effective.

Mothers who are vaccinated are protecting their unborn children from viruses that could cause birth defects. Protecting future generations is vital in order to try and exterminate disease. The dangers of not vaccinating include exposing the individual child to disease, and also exposing other vulnerable people who may have compromised immune systems or not are eligible for vaccination. By receiving a vaccination you are limiting a future outbreak. Disease has been a problem for as long as mankind has been around. By making vaccinations mandatory for schools in every state we as a whole will be much healthier and less likely to get sick. 93% of children between the ages of 19-35 months have gotten the vaccine for Polio and the causes for that disease have decreased by 99%. In today’s world our medicine and science is getting much better. One of the first vaccines created was for smallpox. A man named Edward Jenner discovered that by taking the right amount of the live virus cowpox (vaccinia) and injecting it into his patients they did not catch smallpox. Like most things, the right dosage of a vaccine can prevent people from getting sick. The fact that vaccines have nearly gotten rid of some deadly diseases is a reason why getting vaccinated is important. With better education and information, people who choose not to vaccinate their children can be encouraged to consider vaccination, which will benefit both their families and society as a whole.

The argument encompassing whether or not parents should vaccinate their children is ongoing. It is a very interesting matter to learn about and I possess some strong feelings about the case. This issue interests me because there are parents who don’t have their children vaccinated, and there are parents who do have them vaccinated. But all these parents share one particular quality: they all would like for their kids to be safe.

Millions of lives have been saved thanks to a global effort to vaccinate for deadly diseases. Peter Yeo reports “Immunizations have saved more children than any other medical intervention in the last 50 years” (Reforming the U.N. 118). Yet, a new trend for parents is opting out of vaccinating their children for personal beliefs or religious exemptions. Although, the majority of Americans believe vaccines protect children, and conclusive evidence has proven vaccines can prevent the spread of deadly diseases. Still, a few parents believe vaccinating children is not essential for their health, additionally, they believe an increase in mandatory vaccines has insufficient scientific research to prevent serious medical side effects.

Protecting a child’s health is very important to parents! That is why they should vaccinate them as young children. All children should be required to have vaccinations in order to start school in every state. Each year about 85% of the world’s youth receive vaccines that protect them against several diseases like tuberculosis, pneumococcus, and many more. Even with great success and improvements with vaccinations, more than 3 million people die each year from

Throughout history, it has been shown that vaccines make a significant impact on the health of our communities and “administration of these vaccines led to dramatic reduction in the number of cases of, as well as deaths from smallpox, polio, diphtheria, pertussis, measles, mumps and preventable diseases” (Jacobson, 2012, p.36). Generally, those involved in campaigns for and research in these preventable diseases attribute vaccines for children as the main contributing factor to the overall decline in diseases such as measles, mumps, smallpox and pertussis (Jacobson, 2012). In the public health setting, there are many issues that threaten the health and safety of the public, not just in the local community but the nation and world-wide. One such issue, surfacing in public health, is the issue of vaccinations; those who choose to vaccinate, those who choose not to vaccinate and those who do not

As a child, everyone remembers having to get shots. My first memorable experience with shots came at age four. I didn’t understand why I needed shots. All I knew was this sharp thing was going to be stuck in my arm and it was going to hurt. Before I got my four year old shots I received my first set of vaccines, vaccines that people are now claiming are dangerous. Research shows that vaccination rates fell. MMR (mumps, measles, and rubella) vaccine rates dropped from 93.5% to 90.6%, tetanus, whooping cough and diphtheria rates dropped from 87.2% to 85.4% in 2009. (Kluger) Why are vaccination rates dropping so significantly? Pediatrician Dr. Robert Frenck says “Very articulate, very good-looking movie stars or personalities … are giving

We have all raised our eyebrows when the person sitting the row behind us starts coughing, and not just the “soda went down the wrong pipe” cough, but the real, mucus breaking, uncontrollable hacking. Likewise, many of us have also tried to not get too close to the person with the visibly red, irritated nose and the constant sniffling that comes with the absence of a tissue. As a society, we tend to be conscious of the threat of contracting a disease, but regardless of these common concerns, opposition to mandated vaccinations for school-attending children continue to be raised. The effectiveness and overall safety of vaccines have repeatedly been questioned by society (especially when it comes to vaccinating infants and young children), and some studies have possibly even shown the danger of certain vaccinations. However, upon closer examination, it is clear that vaccines have prevented more disease and have improved the overall health of the United States, and consequently, should—with few exceptions—continue to be mandated in our school system.

Despite significant progress in the fight against preventable disease, millions still die needlessly each year. According to UNICEF, originally known as the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, a vaccine preventable disease is responsible for 2 million fatal infections worldwide each year. About 75% of these deaths occur in children under five years of age. (N) In more vivid terms, UNICEF notes that vaccine-preventable diseases kill a child every 20 seconds. (D) Due to high rates of childhood vaccination, the United States has experienced a dramatic reduction in such deaths. A comparison of the years 1950 and 2010 clearly illustrates the benefits of vaccinations. During this 60-year period, deaths from diphtheria reduced from 410 to 0, tetanus from 336 to 3, pertussis from 1,118 to 26, and polio from 1,904 to 0. Measles deaths dropped from 468 in 1950 to 0 in 2008, the last year a United States death rate was recorded. It’s not surprising that vaccinations have been touted as one of the top ten health achievements of the 20th century by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Vaccines are the leading cause of disease prevention in the world, given this fact, though there is still a large amount of people who avoid getting their vaccinations. One reason it is so important to make vaccinations mandatory is because they prevent the spread of diseases to people who can’t afford them. For example, in America with the rising prices of life insurance is leading to a decrease in people insured and because of this many people cannot afford to go to the doctor’s office to get the vaccines they need. Although this has been a problem in the past, those that get vaccinations have created a sort of shield for those who either too poor to afford them or those who have conditions where they cannot physically get them. Professor David M. Perry states that “Anti-vaccinators risk not only the lives of their own children, but

Vaccinations should be a requirement because they take part in saving a child’s life. Some diseases are preventable if the right precautions are taken. By receiving a vaccination, the Centers for Disease Control approximated that “732,000 American children were saved from death and 322 million cases of childhood illnesses were prevented between 1994 and 2014” (“Should Any Vaccines”). If a child obtains a vaccine, the risks of him contracting the disease decreases. Opponents to this argument propose that vaccinations can do more harm than good to a child’s well-being since they can