Should Vaccinations Be a Legal Requirement for Schools - Essay Example

Should Vaccinations Be a Legal Requirement for Schools? Vaccinations should be a legal requirement for schools to protect all children against disease. Though there are parents that argue that vaccinations cause long-term effects and illnesses such as asthma, multiple sclerosis, and diabetes, the benefits of being vaccinated still outweigh the risks. For example, on average, a child is 22 times more likely to get the measles and six times more likely to contract a disease such as whooping cough without being vaccinated1.

All 50 states require vaccinations for children entering public school, though there are still exemptions allowed. For example, 48 states, including Mississippi and West Virginia, permit a religious exemption, and 20 states allow an exemption for philosophical reasons2. With these exemptions, children are able to enter public school without having had the battery of up to 40 shots that most are given between the ages of birth and two years old. It is the opinion of those that choose not to vaccinate their children for religious reasons that the government, in requiring vaccinations without exemption, would violate their religious freedoms and therefore also violate the First Amendment.

For this reason, this issue remains at rest and exemptions are far more likely to be considered than not. The benefits of being vaccinated far outweigh the risks. In 1991, a measles outbreak in Pennsylvania caused seven deaths among unvaccinated children. Going beyond the fact that an unvaccinated child is far more at risk in a group of other children for exposure to a disease, there is the simple fact that being vaccinated not only saves lives, it also saves money. According to a study done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, $1.

00 of every DTaP vaccine causes a direct medical savings of $8.50 and $24.00 of societal savings3 – in other words, money that will not have to be spent on a patient that was hospitalized because of Diphtheria, Tetanus, or Whooping Cough. Though arguments are made that vaccines are only put out for financial gain, and that the side effects or problems caused by vaccines are worse than the disease they are trying to prevent, vaccines should still be a legal requirement for entering public school.

Any parent that pauses to consider whether vaccinations are ‘worth it’ should also pause and consider life without their child – because that is what can happen without a vaccination. References: Michigan Department of Public Health. “Why Vaccinate Your Child?” Childhood Immunizations: Vaccination Safety. May 2009. Available at http://www.michigan.gov/ documents/mdch/VaxSafetyFINAL_250419_7.pdf (February 11, 2011) “Should Any Vaccines Be Required For Children?” ProCon.org, no date listed, available at http://vaccines.procon.org/ (February 11, 2011) Carter, Rosalynn and Betty Bumpers.

“Childhood Vaccines Save Lives and Money”. Every Child By Age Two, no date listed, available at: http://www.ecbt.org//advocates/ (February 11, 2011)