Please purchase Better Essays and Persuasive Techniques in order to access the Free Online Study Exercise Program: Buy Now: $24.95 (including postage).
Should parents be forced to vaccinate their children?
Imagine being a young boy suffocating from whooping cough because mucus prevents you from breathing. Imagine being crippled by polio. Imagine your body being rigid with cramp, shaking with cramp caused by tetanus.
Fortunately for most of us, these are things we did not have to go through as children.
Good morning Ladies and Gentleman, today, I will present to you the reasons why children should be vaccinated. Importantly I will focus on what the government plans to do and what they should do to ensure that all children are vaccinated.
Clearly, vaccinations should become mandatory because not vaccinating children is
detrimental to a child’s health and to society as a whole.
This leads me to my first point. Parents who do not vaccinate their children are potentially subjecting them to immense pain and suffering. Parents who do not vaccinate their children are condoning their suffering. The trend is getting worse. In some areas of Victoria, the immunisation rates are as low as 83 % which means that 17 % of children are not vaccinated against preventable diseases. Last year for instance, in Victoria alone, over 39,000 children under the age of seven were not vaccinated. This leads to severe problems. One of these problems is that children can contract serious diseases. In the last six years, 12 babies have died as a result of whooping cough. Worse than this, between 2008 and 2011, 130,000 babies in Australia caught the disease. Unfortunately, one in 2011 babies who contract whooping cough will die from it. And remember, that is just one of the diseases! As a result, parents need to feel ashamed that their behaviour is endangering the lives of their children.
Secondly, parents who do not vaccinate their children are extremely irresponsible and they are putting the lives of other children at danger. The attitude of these parents is extremely callous and because of the behaviour of these parents many preventable diseases can become extremely dangerous. In addition to this, many diseases which were virtually eliminated have returned. In Britain, were measles was almost eliminated, there is an epidemic because many parents refused to vaccinate their children in the early 2000’s. In addition to this, there are measles outbreaks throughout Europe, mumps in the US and a rubella outbreak in Japan. The worst part about these diseases, is that parents who fail to vaccinate their children are putting the lives of other children in severe danger. Riley Hughes was one such child who fell victim to the irresponsibility of other parents. Riley was just four weeks old when he died as a result of whooping cough. Riley was too young to be vaccinated, meaning that his safety relied on other parents vaccinating their children. Clearly, those parents who fail to vaccinate, are responsible for the deaths of these children. Those parents have blood on their hands and should be ashamed.
As a result of this, the government should implement certain policies to ensure that children are vaccinated and that their health is not compromised.
- No Jab no play policy – kindergarten and daycare.
- Taking away money – incentives so that they vaccinate
Those in opposition to vaccinations say that immunisations are unsafe and that there may be a link between vaccinations and disabilities. Some parents are also worried that vaccinations will exacerbate their children’s allergies. In addition to this, some parents have older children who reacted badly to a vaccination and believe that their other children may as well. However, despite these points, there is no proven link between vaccinations and disabilities. In accordance, the risk of other children dying outweighs the fear of parents that their child might have a reaction and be ill for a few days. EXPAND 2-3 more sentences
Parents should not forget that the lives of other children rely on their actions and behaviours. Do the right thing !.
Another Sample
Speech: It should be mandatory for parents to immunise their children.
Could you bear to watch a boy suffocating from whooping cough because mucus prevents him breathing easily? Or children crippled from polio? Or a boy locked in a contorted grimace, his body rigid with cramp, racked by spasms from tetanus.
This is the fate of many young children in Australia thanks to the misinformed and recalcitrant stance taken by many anti-vaxxers.
Vaccination rates are falling in Australia and this has serious consequences for the widespread health of the community. The best way to halt this growing complacency is to introduce the government’s, ‘No Jab, No Play’ policy which will make it increasingly difficult for so-called do-gooders to become “conscientious objectors”. As a nation whose health system is ranked as one of the best in the world, we must maintain this image and make it mandatory for parents to immunise their children. This will not only protect all children, but also ensure that those who do not take the necessary precautions will not undermine the health of others.
Introducing compulsory vaccinations can and will prevent children from contracting a potentially fatal disease. Vaccinations are quick, safe and extremely effective and once an individual has been vaccinated against a disease, their body is able to fight it more effectively. It is just a couple of immunisations every now and then that can potentially save a life. They are free, effective and harmless.
Contrastingly, those who fail to vaccinate are not only endangering themselves but other children. Health Minister Jill Hennessy said “Children who are not fully immunised face the very real risk of contracting a range of vaccine-preventable diseases, some of which can cause serious illnesses or be fatal.” In other words, the children of objectors may well suffer from a curable disease. How could any parent even think about putting their child through this pain? For example, research shows that between 2008 and 2011, up to 130,000 babies suffered unnecessarily from whooping cough, an infectious disease that usually affects infants and young children and can lead to death. Cases quadrupled between last April and December last year in New South Wales, and doubled in Victoria and in the Australian Capital Territory. Likewise, in countries such as Britain many diseases that once thought to be eradicated such as measles and diphtheria are re-occurring because of the low level of general immunity. Young Australian’s don’t have first-hand experience of these diseases but this could change.
The Government’s decision to withhold welfare benefits to so called “conscientious objectors” is a good move, because taxpayers should not subsidise those members of the community who undermine the health of all children. Because voluntary inducements are not working, stricter measures are needed. For this reason, the new mandatory policies are so important. Parents will lose the Family Tax Benefit Part A supplement and childcare subsidies if their child is not up to date with their immunisations. The government has estimated that more than 39,000 children under the age of seven are not vaccinated because their parents are vaccine objectors. Social Service Minister Scott Morrison said, “It’s not fair for taxpayers to subsidise parents who choose not to immunise.” At stake are the $200 a week childcare benefit, the $7500-a-year childcare rebate or the $726 Family Tax Benefit A annual supplement. The amount of welfare benefits each family receives depends upon family income, the number and age of children, and if parents don’t immunise their children, they could lose up to $15,000 worth of benefits per child. The ‘No Jab, No Play’ policy introduced by the Abbott Government will encourage families to immunise their children, as there may be a financial incentive involved. So therefore, parents should immunise their children in order to receive these welfare benefits. I’m sure every parent would love a financial help.
Australian research shows that some parents are concerned about vaccine safety and effectiveness. Some objectors dramatically think that vaccinations are unnatural and there are prevalent fears about a link between vaccination and autism. This is incorrect. A news report led by the University of Sydney has found that there is no link between vaccination and the development of autism or autism spectrum disorders. The study examined seven sets of data involving more than 1.25million children and concluded that there was a lack of association between common vaccines for measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough and the development of autism. According to Sir Gustax Nossal, an Australian research biologist specialising in immunology said, “the disease is far, far worse than vaccine side effects.” According to Nossal, the chances of a patient reacting to immunisations are only ‘one in a million’ and are lower than contracting the same disease naturally. Vaccinations are just like any other kind of medication, where some people may have side effects and others may not. The side effects of vaccinations may only be mild, such as pain and soreness at the injection area and fevers, however they usually resolve quickly without any medication and are minimal compared to the pain, discomfort and trauma of the diseases vaccines are able to prevent. Serious side effects following vaccinations such as severe allergic reactions are not common.
As a nation, we are privileged to live in a modern society where science has advanced to ensure future generations are immunised to life-threatening diseases. Parents must know that vaccinations are important, that one immunisation can make a huge difference. Since past use of immunisations has eradicated epidemics such as measles and diphtheria, young Australian’s don’t have first hand experience of the devastations these diseases can have. So introducing compulsory vaccinations will ensure general immunity of the wider community. In this process, disease will not spread, as most people may be immune to it and as for the future, this ‘no jab, no play’ policy will benefit them the most, as nearly everyone will be protected against these life threatening diseases. It is estimated that vaccinations save three million lives world wide each year.
Continue your Better Essays Learning Journey
- Return to Chapter 4: Persuasive Text Types and Revision Exercises
- Return to the Better Essays Home Page