This is a speech written by a 14-Year-Old High School Freshman for her English Class:

Jenna Sheppard
Honors 9th English/ Period 5
14 November 2009

Parents Should Make an Informed Choice about Vaccinations

Imagine your childhood. Think back to the day when your mother announced to you that it was time to go to the doctor to get your shots. You screamed and cried, maybe even threw a little tantrum. You did not like getting shots. Next thing you knew, you were waiting in the doctor's office. The doctor came in with this scary, long, pointy needle. The pinch of the needle was painful going into your arm. Even though it is hard to endure the experience of getting a shot, you did it because it was important, right?

Well, everyone believes that because they are told that vaccines save lives. It is basically a part of life that we go to the doctor and get a shot, and if we don't we won't be protected from diseases. They are important because vaccinations create immunity to disease and that's that. Period. We're told that science has proven that vaccines do prevent disease and that they are safe. It is very rare for someone to question vaccines but parents should become fully informed about vaccines before deciding whether or not to vaccinate their children.

Most parents are unaware that they have a choice to choose not to vaccinate their children. Doctors say that it is important to get them and that everyone should. Some doctors even tell parents that if they don't get the vaccines for their kids, they can't keep them as their doctor. In addition, informed consent doesn't apply to vaccines like it does with other medical decisions. Informed consent means that doctors must discuss with the patient the risks and benefits of medical treatments. A patient has the freedom to accept or reject medical treatment after becoming fully informed. But with vaccines, parents are given a quick written statement that highlights the importance of vaccines and brushes over or leaves out the harmful effects. So why would any parent want to question vaccines?

Parents do have a choice. There is no law that states that children must be vaccinated, but there is a law that says that for a child to attend school, they must get certain vaccines. However, there are exemptions. There is a medical exemption that needs a doctor's signature, but because of their beliefs in vaccines, it is hard to get a doctor to give that exemption. Another exemption is that if you don't believe in vaccines because of your religious beliefs, then you can get a religious exemption. Also, if vaccinations are simply against your personal beliefs, you can get a philosophical exemption. With an exemption, public schools have to let you in according to the law. These laws apply to California, and each state has their own exemption laws. But most parents are unaware that these exemptions even exist.

Why is it important that parents should be given a choice? There is a lot that parents don't know about vaccines that can affect their child's health. It is important to know that vaccines contain toxic ingredients such as mercury, aluminum, and formaldehyde that have never been proven safe. These are things you never want to be exposed to, but they're injected directly into your body with a vaccine.

There ARE risks and parents need to know that children can have strong reactions to vaccines. These reactions are more common than people think and are underreported. There are minor reactions which can consist of swelling and fever, and there can also be severe reactions which can include brain damage and even death. Many kids today have chronic, or long-term problems like asthma, allergies, ADHD, and autism, and many parents, doctors, and scientists believe that this is due to vaccines. For example, a vaccine has affected an important person in my family. My uncle recently got a flu shot and shortly after he got the shot, he became very sick, ended up in the emergency room, and almost died. The doctor said this was a reaction to the flu vaccine.

A big problem with vaccines is that not enough research has been done to prove they are safe. Medical doctors, who have thoroughly checked into the studies that have been done, say they are not done correctly and are not done to the best standards of science.

There have never been any long-term studies to show how vaccines affect kids in the months and years after they have been vaccinated. There has also never been a study of the health of vaccinated kids compared to the health of unvaccinated kids. There is a lot that is unknown about vaccines and the proper research still hasn't been done.

Along with there not being enough research in safety, there is also an issue with vaccines being effective. The common belief is that vaccines make you immune to diseases. However, no vaccine is 100% effective. There is a big difference between natural immunity and vaccine immunity. With vaccinations you are just creating antibodies which do not give you the type of natural immunity that you get when you are exposed to and have the natural disease. Getting some of the childhood diseases helps boost the immune system and gives natural immunity for life. Just getting vaccines does not allow for the full natural immunity. A lot of people are now saying that we've traded the acute, or short-term diseases for which people are vaccinated for with chronic, or long-term immune problems. This is because with vaccines, you're tricking immunity in a way that is not natural and can make the immune system weaker. This is never as effective as full natural immunity.

A big question is do unvaccinated kids put others are risk? We are told that a certain percentage of people have to be vaccinated in order to protect everyone. This is called herd immunity. Dr. Larry Palevsky, a pediatrician and vaccine expert says, "In vaccine science, we are concluding that if we vaccinate a certain percentage of people, we are giving protection to those who have not been vaccinated. And that has NOT been shown to be true, because the true herd immunity in theory is based on an ACTIVE DISEASE, and we know that despite what we're taught, vaccination does not mimic the natural disease."

Many people believe that unvaccinated children can spread these diseases around to others. But the fact is that all people carry bacteria and viruses in their noses, throats, skin, and body and vaccination does not stop you from carrying those viruses. So anyone can spread the diseases whether you're vaccinated or not. Instead of vaccinating me, my mother took steps to boost my immune system and make it strong. So I hardly ever got sick. I wasn't carrying diseases any more than anyone else was carrying them. I was exposed to a lot of diseases that other kids had, but didn't get sick because I have strong natural immunity. And as it turns out, it has not been proven that unvaccinated kids put others at risk.

Jane Orient, MD, the president of the Association of American Physicians says, "While we acknowledge that vaccines in the past have prevented many serious illnesses, they also have the potential to do great harm if given to the wrong individual. That decision must be made by the patient (or parent) in consultation with their physician-not through coercion by a government agency or school district." It is good to question vaccines and everyone should. Doctors should provide informed consent principles so that people can have informed choice in a matter of life and death. Whether or not to vaccinate a child is something that should be left up to the parents. After all, they're the ones who will have to deal with the consequences of whatever they decide.