The vast majority of Americans, and others around the world knowledgeable about modern medicine, recognize the effectiveness of vaccinations in battling communicable diseases. About 1 percent of Americans refuse all vaccinations. In Bentonville and other school districts, the issue of communicable diseases is rightly a crucial issue that, on occasion, demands unfortunate choices.
Bentonville School Board member Rebecca Powers' family recently got caught up in one of those instances.
What’s The Point?
A decision not to vaccinate a child in public schools, regardless of the reason, comes at a cost when a communicable disease is at play within a school system.
Powers has declined the typical vaccination process most American children go through in their early years. She's among a minority who questions the ingredients of vaccines and their effectiveness.
"The body is our temple, God's temple, and you're not supposed to put poisonous substances into it," Powers recently told a reporter.
That kind of decision is a parent's right. Arkansas Department of Health rules require certain vaccinations for children who are taking advantage of the education offered at public schools. As any parent can attest, schools are a breeding ground for communicable illnesses. The vaccinations most kids get prevent many of those childhood diseases that formerly killed or severely affected youngsters, and that protects the other kids who gather at school every weekday.
Rules allow for exemptions, however, and Powers has sought an exemption from vaccinations on religious grounds. Nonetheless, she got a call on a recent Monday saying she needed to pick up her 11-year-old son because another student with whom he rides the bus had contracted chickenpox. The rules say exposed kids whose vaccinations are not in compliance with state standards must then be excluded from school for 21 days, the full incubation period for the disease.
"I honestly believe my son cannot go to school because of his religious beliefs," Powers said.
We honestly differ. School or state standards do not care one wit what a person's religious beliefs are and should remain neutral to them. What matters is the lack of a vaccination and the heightened danger that creates for contracting and spreading a disease. A person whose only personal conviction is a hatred of needles would be treated the same way if that resulted in the same heightened danger.
Powers, a single mother who works full time, says she now feels "a little more bullied to get him the vaccine" as a result of the district's actions. She shouldn't. The pressure comes from the situation created by an adherence to her convictions, which must be respected but cannot be permitted to change state or district policies designed to protect all children. Facing a child care emergency is enough to make anyone feel pressured, but providing an education in a safe school environment is the school district's job. The job isn't about daycare for a working parent. Any parent who clearly goes to great lengths to do what she views as best for her children knows the responsibility for child care rests with the parent, not the school district.
We're thankful the rules of the state recognize the faith decisions of parents. They should. But parents must know such accommodations don't come without a cost when the potential of a communicable disease enters the picture.
Commentary on 10/03/2014