This is 100 percent a public health issue, and I feel like those should be taken quite seriously. However, personal choice is also a big factor. Normally, I would be opposed to forcing an individual to take any medical treatment, but with vaccines it is more than any single person’s illness. Compared to, say, Jehovah’s Witnesses. They refuse blood transfusions, and it only affects their personal health. Vaccinations are a requirement for all people to be healthy. Preventable, fatal diseases are coming back.
If parents aren’t going to vaccinate their children, those children should not be attending public school.
Holly Baer is a junior religious studies major from Flowood, Mississippi.
Nope. Unless you’re a newborn or you’re immunocompromised (as a result of chemotherapy, for example), there’s nothing dangerous about vaccines. In fact, by vaccinating yourself, you help prevent the spread of diseases like measles and chicken pox to those who can’t be immunized. If you don’t, however, you put yourself and others at risk for contracting these easily preventable diseases, which are sometimes fatal. We have speed limits for the same reason; it’s not about taking away your right to go 120 miles per hour on Highway 6, but rather about ensuring that you don’t threaten others on the road.
Reid Black is a sophomore biochemistry and philosophy major from Pascagoula, Mississippi.
Yes, it should be left up to the parents on how they would like to raise their children. And if vaccinations are not one of the parents’ choices: so be it.
David Huff is a junior mechanical engineering major from Brandon, Mississippi.
