When I registered my children to a public school in the U.S., I was told to bring a "transcript, birth certificate and immunization records." In many U.S. cities, local municipalities are happy to subsidize summer camps for children as long as they are up to date on their immunizations.
This holds true in Maryland and New York and many other liberal strongholds, where privacy and individual rights are sacrosanct. No one there will ever dare tell you what to eat or what to wear. But if you choose to take advantage of the public education system, you must immunize your children.
This week, a kindergarten in Ramat Hasharon, a city in central Israel, decided that as of the beginning of the coming school year, only immunized children will be admitted. Children whose parents use flower remedies to treat illnesses and believe that they can prevent measles with vitamin C will not be accepted into the kindergarten. Only children with real immunizations, that really protect against diseases.
There are many who oppose vaccinations. They believe that we, the parents, have the exclusive right to choose what enters our children's bodies. That is true, but that doesn't mean that parents can "protect" their own children at the cost of endangering other people's children.
Vaccines changed the world. Smallpox, a virus that killed hundreds of millions of people, has been eradicated by a simple vaccine. Polio has also been all but eradicated. So while it is true that the administration of the vaccine entails a minuscule risk, the benefits clearly outweigh it.
There are parents who claim that there is a link between vaccines and the onset of autism or developmental regression. But with all the sympathy that these cases elicit, no link has ever been established between the vaccines and these developmental setbacks.
There are also always those who tell the story of how they got the flu shot one year and were "sicker than ever before." This reminds me of some left-wing politicians who have one random conversation with a taxi driver and become convinced that they will win the next election. It always ends in disappointment. A gut feeling, based on a single case, is no substitute for numerical data and research.
It is our duty as parents to make sure that the education system respects and supports our children, even when they stray from the beaten path. But when our children behave like violent bullies over time, it is our responsibility to punish them and remove them from their peers, to prevent harm to others. Parents who don't vaccinate their children are bullies. They forcibly expose others to threats, hiding their violence behind sweet words.
The education minister should take a page out of the Ramat Hasharon kindergarten's book and declare that only immunized children can be admitted to all Israeli educations facilities. Such a move may draw criticism and outrage, but it is the moral and right thing to do in the face of the danger that faces all children as a result of failure to vaccinate.
So if you don't want to vaccinate, that's fine, but keep them at home. They are not welcome in our schools.
