When we were kids many of us feared shots and vaccines. A fear of needles is pretty common amongst people, a sharp metal object being pushed into our skin is naturally terrifying.

Today it seems everywhere you look a former celebrity, a TV host or even people you know directly are saying not to vaccinate your children.

They usually cite long debunked studies or use a graphic to show how autism diagnoses had raised in recent years along with the rise of the types of vaccines.

It would be one thing if this was a fringe movement, but we have been irresponsible and have given some of these people a platform to speak on this subject unchallenged.

Diseases we had under control or thought were eliminated in the US have started to rise in areas where anti-vaccine sentiment are the highest.

Measles were declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, yet in 2013 a megachurch in Texas had a measles outbreak. And in 2015 Disneyland in California had an outbreak of the disease.

People who were infected were usually the ones who had chosen (or whose’ parents chose) not to be vaccinated.

People who are not vaccinated not only put themselves at risk but people around them at risk for debilitating diseases.

The Texas megachurch is an example of the other reason these diseases may come back. A few religious groups have determined that vaccines are unnecessary or destroying diseases is against god.

These are only a couple of examples of recent outbreaks. A website called Anti-Vaccine body count has an updated list of preventable deaths from diseases preventable by vaccinations in the US. It is also a great resource for this topic.

If not vaccinating yourself only put yourself at risk that would be one thing, but this is pretty insidious.

The kids who are not being vaccinated have no control over it. They have no way of knowing that vaccines are helpful because their parents are indoctrinating them into thinking they are bad.

Everyone has the right to freedom of speech, and everyone has a right to their own opinion.

But when your opinion is wrong scientifically and can hurt those around you in physical ways you should not get a soap box to speak on and you should not be taken seriously.

The best advice I can give you is trust the doctors over the celebrities and friends who have no degrees in health.

Recently in California a law known as SB277 has been signed into effect. Essentially this law makes it so kids cannot be admitted into school unless they have had their vaccines.

Exceptions are made for health issues that have been verified by their doctor.

With the rise of diseases that we should have had under control it would not be too surprising if laws like this make their way to other states.

I hope one day soon people like Jenny McCarthy, Jim Carrey, Donald Trump and the other celebrities and people who are against vaccines come to their senses.

I would say it would be best to ignore them, but that will not fix anything. But for now all we can do is stay informed and do our best to educate those around us.

You would think being responsible and protecting yourself and others from diseases would just be widely accepted. Not vaccinating is a product of ignorance and irresponsibility.

Mace Mackiewicz can be contacted at 581-2812 or mmmackiewicz@eiu.edu