I read an interesting article the other day about the teenage children of the anti-vac crowd and how there were a number of them trying to get vaccinated over the objections of their parents.
I hope they can get the shots they want. Imagine being old enough and smart enough to understand the situation and know you are unprotected (because of your parents!)
Some state allow teens to get shots at 16 and one (forget which one) had a program through the public health department that an 18 year old could just walk in and get the shots for free. I think we’ll see the laws start changing on this.
I certainly hope so. Those kids need access to that protection if their parents are unwilling. Because those unvaccinated kids are not only at risk themselves, but they’re a danger to everyone else. This should not be happening in a country where measles was once considered eradicated.
How can the US and Americans claim to be the World Leaders??
They are so far behind countries like Australia Canada Germany England France; etc when it comes to the welfare, health care of the population.
I’d like to think that’s what others call us, not what we call ourselves (egotism is so unattractive). And with Trump in charge, I don’t think anyone is calling us a world leader anymore.
The problem here with vaccinations is that we still allow parents to opt out of them for their kids. The alternative is requiring vaccinations for everyone, which smacks of too much government regulation for some people. Also, there’s a lot of objection to regulations that smack too much of socialism. But things are slowly changing. In reaction to Republican extremism, Dems are swinging more and more left. Too far, in my mind. I like to think most Americans are somewhere in the middle, but I’m afraid we’re in a pendulum mode, swinging far right and then reacting by swinging far left.
We are the world leaders in lazy thought processes and in poor education when it should be otherwise….Some say it comes from everyone’s a winner and free K-12 education where nothing is required other than showing up and you get a diploma…so after wasting 12 years of education opportunity, they now want free college (including spring breaks!)?
Basically the majority of people in this country just want to be left alone – not really interested in leading other countries in philosophy/style of government.
We’ve ruined our education system. We don’t look at whether the kids learn; we look at how many a teacher can promote and a school can graduate — regardless of whether the kids have actually learned anything — because that’s the way they get their money. If they hold a kid back a year, or keep him from graduating on time, they look bad and lose funding.
The invention of scanners for multiple choice tests and the rare use of short answer (spelled correctly) and essay test hastened the slide. Then came the data frenzy – (teachers stopped checking to see which questions the majority of the class got wrong and adjusted to reteach the concept…) while analyzing student progress is good, not using the information to adjust teaching is bad. Thinking data has all the answers ignores the fact that kids are not factory widgets. I plead guilty to being in the first research wave of data /progress monitoring (handled data with analysis for most of the US school kids/all of the Fed reading programs) – but ran when it became obvious the data got in the edu driver’s seat instead of one of several tools available for teacher…). Data is convenient for administration for so many reasons…..
that and the current crop of classroom teachers really didn’t want to bother/have time to bother with their classroom analysis and recommendations – even if specific trainings with student activities paid for by state/fed funds – were brought to their buildings.
Love the chart. So true
Teaching to the test. Ugh. Kids aren’t standardized. Their education shouldn’t be either.
One of the prices of freedom that’s lacking in most other countries. Without, however, the attendant need for personal responsibility.
We have several measles outbreak areas now (one in an “enlightened” area. Gads, the fools). The local leaders are begging people to get their kids vaccinated- free! (It would probably help if the local media would stop showing pictures of measles on kids when talking about mumps…which is also around – along with TB in secondary schools )
The state legislature is being pushed to reduce number of reasons for exemptions. It’s gotten absurd.
Those parents are not even considering that they are putting teachers in schools who are pregnant/do not know they are pregnant yet at risk as well as those unborn children.( as well as shop keepers and the general public) at risk, too.
(And why do teachers and school personnel have to have TB tests and all vaccines before setting foot in the classroom when the kids don’t?)
Personally I think we need to go back to each child having to present health records at time of registration – and updated as the vaccine schedule progresses. It used to be the school nurse had to check student records each year and notify parents their child would not be allowed to return to school until all vaccinations up to date.
It is a free country, Don’t like what schools mandate, you are free to move, go to private school, or homeschool. You are not free to endanger other children. (Yes, this is a hardship on children undergoing medical treatment or compromised immune systems, but at some point the good of the whole should be the guide)
Selfish anti-vaxxers think herd immunity will protect them. That won’t work if they keep infecting the herd. I remember the little yellow card I had that showed all my son’s vaccinations before he entered school. I would have no problem requiring all shots for any kid entering school and, frankly, I assume all schools did. And it seems to me it would be cheap insurance to immediately vaccinate all new immigrants.
They stopped TB test proof for kids in the 70’s here. Teachers still have to have theirs. Some health records are required at first entry now in K-1, but rarely updated – varies from building to building.
The “unaccompanied children” are a big issue with schools here. All without any health records, yet schools forced to take them, (even if it leaves no room for neighborhood children and they have to have parents drive them to other schools outside their neighborhood/area)
Houston and these counties constantly offer free free free vaccinations all year long – at most big events in the city like city wide Thanksgiving, Halloween at the malls., the downtown park, the Christmas giveaways….
No excuse for anyone not to be covered if they wish to.
I recall having a TB test when I entered CU in 1961. They lined up the incoming freshmen and we all got tested. Don’t think my son ever had one.
As a teacher, I would get every vaccine under the sun and be tempted to wear a hazmat suit to class. Kids are the world’s best disease vectors. My grandkids, one or both, are out of school all the time with one bug or another. Part of the problem is sick kids being sent to school by working parents when they ought to be kept home. All kinds of snotty little respiratory and GI bugs that vaccines don’t cover.
All those free vaccines are great, but minors still can’t get shots without parental approval, I assume.
I read an interesting article the other day about the teenage children of the anti-vac crowd and how there were a number of them trying to get vaccinated over the objections of their parents.
I hope they can get the shots they want. Imagine being old enough and smart enough to understand the situation and know you are unprotected (because of your parents!)
Some state allow teens to get shots at 16 and one (forget which one) had a program through the public health department that an 18 year old could just walk in and get the shots for free. I think we’ll see the laws start changing on this.
I certainly hope so. Those kids need access to that protection if their parents are unwilling. Because those unvaccinated kids are not only at risk themselves, but they’re a danger to everyone else. This should not be happening in a country where measles was once considered eradicated.
How can the US and Americans claim to be the World Leaders??
They are so far behind countries like Australia Canada Germany England France; etc when it comes to the welfare, health care of the population.
I’d like to think that’s what others call us, not what we call ourselves (egotism is so unattractive). And with Trump in charge, I don’t think anyone is calling us a world leader anymore.
The problem here with vaccinations is that we still allow parents to opt out of them for their kids. The alternative is requiring vaccinations for everyone, which smacks of too much government regulation for some people. Also, there’s a lot of objection to regulations that smack too much of socialism. But things are slowly changing. In reaction to Republican extremism, Dems are swinging more and more left. Too far, in my mind. I like to think most Americans are somewhere in the middle, but I’m afraid we’re in a pendulum mode, swinging far right and then reacting by swinging far left.
We are the world leaders in lazy thought processes and in poor education when it should be otherwise….Some say it comes from everyone’s a winner and free K-12 education where nothing is required other than showing up and you get a diploma…so after wasting 12 years of education opportunity, they now want free college (including spring breaks!)?
Basically the majority of people in this country just want to be left alone – not really interested in leading other countries in philosophy/style of government.
We’ve ruined our education system. We don’t look at whether the kids learn; we look at how many a teacher can promote and a school can graduate — regardless of whether the kids have actually learned anything — because that’s the way they get their money. If they hold a kid back a year, or keep him from graduating on time, they look bad and lose funding.
Reminds me of something a friend recently sent me:
https://piedtype.files.wordpress.com/2019/02/2608-1-e1550251397220.jpeg
The invention of scanners for multiple choice tests and the rare use of short answer (spelled correctly) and essay test hastened the slide. Then came the data frenzy – (teachers stopped checking to see which questions the majority of the class got wrong and adjusted to reteach the concept…) while analyzing student progress is good, not using the information to adjust teaching is bad. Thinking data has all the answers ignores the fact that kids are not factory widgets. I plead guilty to being in the first research wave of data /progress monitoring (handled data with analysis for most of the US school kids/all of the Fed reading programs) – but ran when it became obvious the data got in the edu driver’s seat instead of one of several tools available for teacher…). Data is convenient for administration for so many reasons…..
that and the current crop of classroom teachers really didn’t want to bother/have time to bother with their classroom analysis and recommendations – even if specific trainings with student activities paid for by state/fed funds – were brought to their buildings.
Love the chart. So true
Teaching to the test. Ugh. Kids aren’t standardized. Their education shouldn’t be either.
One of the prices of freedom that’s lacking in most other countries. Without, however, the attendant need for personal responsibility.
People who don’t assume that personal responsiblilty are at risk of losing the freedom they have — because somebody has to be responsible.
We have several measles outbreak areas now (one in an “enlightened” area. Gads, the fools). The local leaders are begging people to get their kids vaccinated- free! (It would probably help if the local media would stop showing pictures of measles on kids when talking about mumps…which is also around – along with TB in secondary schools )
The state legislature is being pushed to reduce number of reasons for exemptions. It’s gotten absurd.
Those parents are not even considering that they are putting teachers in schools who are pregnant/do not know they are pregnant yet at risk as well as those unborn children.( as well as shop keepers and the general public) at risk, too.
(And why do teachers and school personnel have to have TB tests and all vaccines before setting foot in the classroom when the kids don’t?)
Personally I think we need to go back to each child having to present health records at time of registration – and updated as the vaccine schedule progresses. It used to be the school nurse had to check student records each year and notify parents their child would not be allowed to return to school until all vaccinations up to date.
It is a free country, Don’t like what schools mandate, you are free to move, go to private school, or homeschool. You are not free to endanger other children. (Yes, this is a hardship on children undergoing medical treatment or compromised immune systems, but at some point the good of the whole should be the guide)
Selfish anti-vaxxers think herd immunity will protect them. That won’t work if they keep infecting the herd. I remember the little yellow card I had that showed all my son’s vaccinations before he entered school. I would have no problem requiring all shots for any kid entering school and, frankly, I assume all schools did. And it seems to me it would be cheap insurance to immediately vaccinate all new immigrants.
They stopped TB test proof for kids in the 70’s here. Teachers still have to have theirs. Some health records are required at first entry now in K-1, but rarely updated – varies from building to building.
The “unaccompanied children” are a big issue with schools here. All without any health records, yet schools forced to take them, (even if it leaves no room for neighborhood children and they have to have parents drive them to other schools outside their neighborhood/area)
Houston and these counties constantly offer free free free vaccinations all year long – at most big events in the city like city wide Thanksgiving, Halloween at the malls., the downtown park, the Christmas giveaways….
No excuse for anyone not to be covered if they wish to.
I recall having a TB test when I entered CU in 1961. They lined up the incoming freshmen and we all got tested. Don’t think my son ever had one.
As a teacher, I would get every vaccine under the sun and be tempted to wear a hazmat suit to class. Kids are the world’s best disease vectors. My grandkids, one or both, are out of school all the time with one bug or another. Part of the problem is sick kids being sent to school by working parents when they ought to be kept home. All kinds of snotty little respiratory and GI bugs that vaccines don’t cover.
All those free vaccines are great, but minors still can’t get shots without parental approval, I assume.