In the past decade, we have seen several things - two un-winnable wars, the rise and fall of The Jersey Shore, a decrease in overall gun violence accompanied by a curious increase in mass-killing incidents involving firearms - the list is virtually neverending. We have also seen two curious and entirely unrelated increases that have somehow become related in the minds of the American public - the number of children being diagnosed with some form of autism and an increase in parents unwilling to vaccinate their children against disease.
I'm going to be honest, here, and say at the beginning of this piece that I believe the people who think their children are going to be stricken with autism as the result of vaccination are absolute morons; they're the modern day equivalent of the Catholic Church insisting that the world was both the center of the universe and was also flat.
I'll go even further to say that there's a part of me that hopes some sort of virulent plague is visited upon their families so that they learn their goddamned lessons.
I know, I know...that's harsh. But, as someone living with a compromised immune system who occasionally works with teens and young adults, I am watching out for me, first and foremost. Some will say, "But, Marcus, I believe that children are our future, and if God wanted them to get sick, who are we to stand in his way?" And to those people, I say, "Well, why don't you just go stick your children in a leper colony, and let me get on with staying alive?"
Like most diseases, Leprosy is entirely preventable, and in this instance, actually curable. In fact, there are a whole handful of preventable illnesses that have, for the most part, been largely eradicated on a global scale thanks to the modern medicine of the past fifty years. However, several diseases are no making a fantastic comeback in the U.S., and while that cannot be entirely blamed upon these idiot parents and their paranoia, they're certainly not doing anything to prevent the spreading of these diseases.
I get it - having a child with autism can be frustrating; but, a more realistic view of the situation actually reveals that how we define autism has broadened along with our understanding of the condition, leading to an increase in recognition, awareness, and diagnoses among children. Whether or not we're just starting to lump various behavioral patterns and previously overused diagnoses (such as ADD and ADHD) under the autism umbrella is not the point of this article; but, I digress.
Here's the truth - if you refuse to have your child vaccinated before they attend public school, that's your choice; it is not, however, the choice of other parents who live in the real world and don't want their children to get various childhood illnesses from your disease carrying human vermin.
The American school system is beleaguered enough by idiot parents who insist that teachers rear their children for them, so why should they be further burdened by even stupider parents who send their home brewed germ warfare into the classroom?
The time is nigh for the U.S. Department of Education to take a stand, and begin demanding that all children be immunized and vaccinated before being allowed to step foot into the school, even if that means footing the bill for it. The relative costs involved with paying for those vaccinations pales in comparison to the potential costs involved with caring for the blameless plague carriers when they end up in the hospital emergency rooms.
Yes, I'm aware that every child is guaranteed a K-12 education, and in many places is required to receive some form of education until the age of 16; but, that comes with strings attached, and should come with syringes in the social contract, as well.
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