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There is an influx of foreign nationals from countries that either don't have the resources to vaccinate their children or don't require it by law. In those countries such diseases as smallpox, tuberculosis, polio, and whooping cough still take the lives of thousands of children every year. When they immigrate to this country, legally as well as illegally, they can potentially carry these lethal viruses. Vaccinations provide a barrier between our children and the chance of infection from one of these diseases. It is in the best interests of all of society, the society in which these children live and play, that they be vaccinated so that they don't spread these dangerous, life-threatening ailments.

Americans don't see the effects of these diseases first hand because of the vaccinations that are available. We're lucky in that aspect. We're also lucky that these diseases don't run rampant through our population anymore- because of the vaccinations available. So when a parent decides that they don't want their children vaccinated they are running the risk of those children becoming infected. This can then cause a public health crisis as more people come in contact with infected children. Because of a parent's fears of the small chance of adverse effects from the vaccine, hundreds of people can suffer.

In an ideal world, children all over the world would be vaccinated at birth and all of these diseases would be eradicated. Then there would be no danger of an immigrant coming here and infecting the population. But we don't live in an ideal world. So in the interest of keeping the public safe and preventing the wildfire spread of these diseases vaccinations should indeed be mandatory.

Learn more about this author, Lizzie Flynn.
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