As a student interested in medicine and all it has to offer, the fact that people choose to not immunize their children, and actually advocate for this practice, is quite mind-blowing to me. Data from countless studies have supported papers published on the necessary benefits of vaccines; it seems like irrefutable information to me.
This novel allowed me to step into the other mindset, that of timorous parents. The author, Eula Biss, in her novel, On Immunity: An Inoculation, discussed her vaccination journey and the extreme thought she put into it for the safety of her family. She explains one difficulty of parenthood, “my son’s birth brought with it an exaggerated sense of both my own power and my own powerlessness” (5). As a parent, it is her job to protect her defenseless child from all possible harm. You buckle your child in the car seat to ensure they stay safe on the road, but you can’t avoid distracted drivers and accidents. It’s impossible to protect someone from everything in the world, which must be an incredible fact to face as a parent. But why wouldn’t you try to protect against things you could, like previously eradicated diseases?
I had not stepped into the shoes of a fearful parent before, but I can now sympathize with their fears (but not with their inaction). It seems “every day with a child […] is a kind of time travel,” with parents having to make important decisions for their child, “wondering what [they] might be giving or taking from [their] child in the future” (66). What if you didn’t give your child the opportunity to have a future by refusing to vaccinate? It must be a scary thing, to have an infant and subject them to inoculations that make them scream and cry, especially if you don’t have a background in medicine. But those few seconds of pain can help prevent days of painful disease in the future.
The choice to not vaccinate your child is selfish. As parents, it is your job to educate yourself and do what is best for your child’s future. Put in time reading the papers, ask your physician and child’s pediatrician, do your best to protect your child.
References:
Biss, E. (2015). On immunity: an inoculation. Minneapolis, MN: Greywolf.
“The Anti-Vaccine Generation: How Movement Against Shots Got Its Start.” National Geographic, National Geographic Society, 20 June 2016, news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/02/150206-measles-vaccine-disney-outbreak-polio-health-science-infocus/.
I wrote about a similar topic regarding the choice of vaccination. As a nursing student, I understand how beneficial receiving vaccinations can be, but I can also see why some people decide not to receive them. The main vaccine people don't receive is the annual flu shot for the fear that they will get the flu from it, which is pretty ironic. Like you mentioned, it's important for people to educate themselves on today's vaccinations for their health and safety.
ReplyDeleteI have never quite understood anti-vax parents. When my cousin told me she wasn’t going to vaccinate her first daughter I was bewildered and took it on myself to come in with statistics and proven facts on the effectiveness of vaccination (she did ultimately vaccinate, in case you wondered). Being in the health care arena, I’ve always viewed immunization as one of the best and most responsible choices you can make for yourself and your children. That said, Biss did help me to understand the alternative perspective. The things we don’t quite understand are scary and vaccines have a lot of misinformation swirling around them. For a lot of people, I think learning more about vaccinations would quell the fear.
ReplyDeleteI think giving children vaccines is usually viewed as a selfish move by the parents. They want simply to protect their kids and they don't often think about anyone else. It is interesting to think that not vaccinating your children could also be a selfish act. Normally this type of action is viewed solely as the product of fear but I can see how these parents think they are protecting their children through inaction even though their children would be more protected with the vaccines.
ReplyDeleteI think you started to make an excellent point. It is hard to change someone's mind without first knowing from where they come. One of the anti-vaxxer parents I know suffers from MS, and believes it came from one of her vaccinations. I do not know if there is any scientific data to support her belief, but for her it is a real and present danger. I have received every vaccination that a doctor recommended, but I find that if we truly wish to change people's minds, we must be willing to put in some effort to understanding their position to argue effectively.
ReplyDeleteI love how passionate your post is. Like you, I never really understood why parents chose not to vaccinate their children, but Biss definitely helps me to see the opposite perspective. Growing up in a household where research and staying up with current events was promoted, I have always sought background information before making my choices. You are right in where people need to put in more work, especially since they are impacting more than just their own child when making a choice regarding inoculation. Hopefully, more people will begin looking into vaccinations and seeing that the benefits outweigh any potential negative.
ReplyDeleteI really liked your sentence, "But those few seconds of pain can help prevent days of painful disease in the future." It blows my mind that people still choose not to vaccinate their children with all of the information we now have access to. To make the decision to not vaccinate your child, knowing that it could cause them to contract a possibly fatal disease in the future, seems foolish. But even more accurately, "selfish," as you said.
ReplyDeleteI like how assertively you write about vaccinations. I could imagine it could be a scary thing to be a parent and have to constantly make decisions and choices for the safety of your child. I think the fact that there are rumors about vaccinations being dangerous still floating around makes it difficult for the average Joe to make a decision whether or not to vaccinate. I wish there was a way to erase all the blogs against vaccines that are on the internet.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely love this! I could not agree more that it is selfish for a parent not to vaccinate their child, because they fear having child that is different, i.e. autistic. Parents who don't vaccinate their kids are also putting everyone else's children at risk, because a vaccine is not a magic potion that can cure all diseases.
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