Social Morals and Ethics of Childhood Vaccines for STD's
"Hi Suzy, and happy 12-year birthday. Today, we're going down to the health clinic to get a vaccine that all 12-year old girls are getting these days. The vaccine helps prevent woman from getting a disease that they can get through having sex. Oh, and while we're there, maybe we'll have you fitted for a diaghram, because disease isn't the only thing you can get from having sex."
Funny thing about this scenario. There are those that are completely aghast by it. And an equal number that see this as completely appropriate. Which group is imposing their values upon the other? I believe the pendulum swings both ways. We all know, or suspect, that society must do something besides ignore teenage VD. But perhaps there is wisdom in discerning how, and how much we should institutionalize VD discussion in our society, especially our schools. As a young man, I attended a highschool in northern Virginia with one of the highest VD and pregnancy rates in the nation. As a result of classroom education initiatives, I was avirtual expert on VD and conception by the time I graduated. Everyone was. Sex was all we ever talked about, in the classroom and out. Did the initiatives stem the tide? Maybe. On teenage sex, however, how can an adolescent refuse the temptation to partake or participate in something that was around us all day long? All we heard was "here is a toy that everyone is playing with, but it can make disease or babies if you're not careful...oh, and you can choose whether or not you want to play with it." Experts on VD and conception nonetheless, I bet most in my highschool still learned the hard way about adolescent pycho-social maturation, hormones, relationships, emotions, "baggage," commitment, jealousy, intimacy, love, lust, family and all those things (that society tries to ignore) that go hand-in-hand with sex outside the potential for VD and pregnancy. I for one, want my child ready for all the consequences (good and bad) of sex, not just a knowledge of VD and conception. Maybe there are those that are afraid their children (and society) will get the inference that it is perfectly -scientifically- acceptable, and even anticipated that any and every 12-year old should experience all of it. Hopefully, I've argued a rare instance where advocating something that appears to be backed by black-and-white science, is perhaps more gray, and therefore isn't always a good idea.
nawledge
Funny thing about this scenario. There are those that are completely aghast by it. And an equal number that see this as completely appropriate. Which group is imposing their values upon the other? I believe the pendulum swings both ways. We all know, or suspect, that society must do something besides ignore teenage VD. But perhaps there is wisdom in discerning how, and how much we should institutionalize VD discussion in our society, especially our schools. As a young man, I attended a highschool in northern Virginia with one of the highest VD and pregnancy rates in the nation. As a result of classroom education initiatives, I was avirtual expert on VD and conception by the time I graduated. Everyone was. Sex was all we ever talked about, in the classroom and out. Did the initiatives stem the tide? Maybe. On teenage sex, however, how can an adolescent refuse the temptation to partake or participate in something that was around us all day long? All we heard was "here is a toy that everyone is playing with, but it can make disease or babies if you're not careful...oh, and you can choose whether or not you want to play with it." Experts on VD and conception nonetheless, I bet most in my highschool still learned the hard way about adolescent pycho-social maturation, hormones, relationships, emotions, "baggage," commitment, jealousy, intimacy, love, lust, family and all those things (that society tries to ignore) that go hand-in-hand with sex outside the potential for VD and pregnancy. I for one, want my child ready for all the consequences (good and bad) of sex, not just a knowledge of VD and conception. Maybe there are those that are afraid their children (and society) will get the inference that it is perfectly -scientifically- acceptable, and even anticipated that any and every 12-year old should experience all of it. Hopefully, I've argued a rare instance where advocating something that appears to be backed by black-and-white science, is perhaps more gray, and therefore isn't always a good idea.
nawledge
posted by nawledge at
8:50 PM
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