This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A national survey shows that about 10 percent of parents in America are ignoring the advice of health agencies and doctors and are failing to have their children vaccinated against infectious diseases. That is nothing but irresponsible parenting, and it puts not only the children of those parents at risk but other children as well.
There is a feeling among some parents that no one else has a right to make decisions about their children's health. But schools must protect all the children in their care. That's why school policies keep out strangers and require non-school personnel to register at the office and be accompanied by a school official when they visit.
In just the same way, schools must protect children from an unwelcome invasion of viruses that can also prove harmful and even deadly. Schools are perfectly within their rights to demand that all children be vaccinated before being allowed to enroll. In fact, schools that don't have such a policy are negligent in their responsibility to children and should be held accountable.
Easily preventable diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus, hepatitis B, whooping cough, measles, mumps, and now even cervical cancer are not to be taken lightly. They can leave victims with lifelong disabling effects and can even kill. Vaccines to prevent these once-common diseases are one of the greatest advances of modern medicine. To refuse to take advantage of this simple way of preventing disease is a mistake that parents almost certainly will one day regret.
Schools should provide exceptions to the vaccination requirement only for religious beliefs certified by parents. "Personal beliefs" should be no basis for parents to be able to send their unvaccinated children to school. Such exemptions are increasing, in Utah and elsewhere, while vaccination rates decline.
Parents would not be permitted to let their children carry a knife or gun to school because of "personal beliefs," and neither should they endanger the school with preventable diseases.
The potential risks of vaccinations are minuscule, despite rumors fostered even by irresponsible politicians. The unfounded fear that vaccines and autism are linked has been thoroughly debunked but some parents are unconvinced.
An unvaccinated child faces much greater risks to his health and even his life than another child whose parents have diligently followed the guidelines provided by health agencies for infant and childhood vaccinations. It's easy, cheap and it's the right thing to do.