Children's Vaccinations

Children Vaccinations For every parent it’s one of the first decisions that you must make when you have a child, but how many of us really know the pros and cons of vaccinations? Sure, doctors tell us that they are safe but most Americans do not even know exactly what a vaccination is. When asked, they simply reply that vaccinations are “shots to make sure their children are healthy.”
A vaccination is weak or killed bacteria that is injected into your child to make their body prone to this disease, and helps the body fight it off (Terry, Carol. 2007). How safe does that sound to you? Everyday we make our kids wash their hand to keep the bacteria away, but those who choose to vaccinate, are injecting their own children with the very thing we try to keep them away from. Vaccinations are not 100% effective and that is one of the reasons why parents argue that their child should not be vaccinated (McNeil, Donald G. 2002). Parents don’t want to put their child through the pain of the injection, when it may not even work for their child. Another reason why some opt out of vaccinations are for religious and spiritual reasons. There are claims that childhood vaccinations are linked to autism in children as well, but there is no medical proof to back this claim up.
On the other hand, parents who do choose to vaccinate their children argue that it’s the only way to keep their children safe. Throughout the years vaccinations have saved millions of lives, and helped prevent many of diseases from spreading like they could have. Yes, children are born with antibodies from their mother to make them immune to these diseases, but those antibodies only last for a year, making the child very vulnerable to disease (Importance of Childhood Vaccinations. 2007). Having your child vaccinated also helps the community to stay healthier, because there are some that cannot be vaccinated, either for medical reasons, or that they are too old or still to young. “Vaccines are held to the highest standard of safety. “ (Importance of Childhood Vaccinations. 2007) In the end, the only real argument to have your vaccinations is that they keep you healthy, but does there need to be anymore reason than that?
I believe that children should have their childhood vaccinations. It keeps everyone a little safer than if they didn’t have them. Before vaccinations came along, hundreds of people died from what we call today simple diseases or “childhood diseases”, all because they didn’t have the vaccinations that we have today. They use to have plagues, and I for one do not want something like that to happen again. Medical research has come along way and I fully believe that we should advantage of it and its offerings. In my opinion if every child was vaccinated then sickness and diseases will become less and less, like they have been over the past few hundred years.

Works Cited
"Importance of Childhood Vaccinations." National Immunization Program. 09 Nov. 2006.
30 Mar. 2007 <http://www.cdc.gov/nip/publications/fs/gen/importance.htm>.
McNeil, Donald G. "When Parents Say No to Child Vaccinations." New York Times. 30
Nov. 2002. 30 Mar. 2007 <http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec= health&res=9F00E3DB1038F933A05752C1A9649C8B63>.
Terry, Carol. "Why Should You Vaccinate Your Child." Associated Content. 22 Mar.
2007. 30 Mar. 2007 <http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/178303/why_ should_you_vaccinate_your_child.html?page=2>.

Cited: "Importance of Childhood Vaccinations." National Immunization Program. 09 Nov. 2006. 30 Mar. 2007 <http://www.cdc.gov/nip/publications/fs/gen/importance.htm>. McNeil, Donald G. "When Parents Say No to Child Vaccinations." New York Times. 30 Nov. 2002. 30 Mar. 2007 <http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec= health&res=9F00E3DB1038F933A05752C1A9649C8B63>. Terry, Carol. "Why Should You Vaccinate Your Child." Associated Content. 22 Mar. 2007. 30 Mar. 2007 <http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/178303/why_ should_you_vaccinate_your_child.html?page=2>.