Mandatory Immunizations and ADHD: Are We Losing Control?

I’ve noticed a LOT of angry and hateful posts lately in social media from people who have been emotionally bashing parents who choose not to vaccinate their children, shaming them and calling them criminals and irresponsible, accusing them of being brainwashed or misinformed. Not every parent who refuses to vaccinate their children is ignorant or irresponsible or uneducated. While I don’t have any young children at home anymore, I’d be one of those parents now if I did. I’d home school my children if I could, not just to prevent other kids from getting sick from mine, but to keep them away from all the hate and fear mongers. This may be upsetting to some people, but here’s why I would make that choice:

I recall all too well how my son’s elementary school teacher, student teacher, school nurse, counselor, and principal all ganged up on me one day in a conference and bullied me into agreeing to drug my son with Ritalin. I left that meeting feeling attacked and like I had been given zero choice in the matter.

Up until that point, their method of “dealing” with his enthusiasm at school (because he wouldn’t sit still at his desk quietly like a zombie all day long, which isn’t natural for a child by the way) was to make him sit in the back of the classroom, then with his back facing the rest of the class, and finally out in the hall away from everyone that he was “disturbing.”

I was told that he was required to go to counseling and would not be let back in school without a note from a doctor stating that he was taking the medication and going to counseling. They specified Ritalin, because they apparently all had medical degrees. And the doctor based his diagnosis in large part on their reports rather than testing – testing which had proven inconclusive either way. So in a way, the doctor was also bullied by the teachers. He complied with their need to legitimize their claims, stating it was better to pacify them and that he'd monitor the situation.

Anyone who knows my son now, or who knew him then, can certainly understand how absurd this was. It wasn’t until we moved to Washington the following year and I stopped giving him the Ritalin, that his new teacher told me my son was a delight to have in class, was bright, and certainly not disruptive. He did not see any evidence that Nick might have ADHD and other teachers over the years supported that opinion.

Against my better judgment, I believed the teachers and the doctor who prescribed Ritalin for Nick. I trusted that they knew best. It wasn’t until I saw my normally happy son sitting on a sofa during an entire birthday party, like a zombie, looking like a druggie, that I decided to stop giving him the pills. All they wanted to do was manage my son, to keep him quiet, to subdue him, to control him, to not have to deal with him – because he did not conform to their expectations. They stole a year of my son’s life.

Not the same as vaccinating my child, you say? I beg to differ. It’s emotional and behavioral “management” by forced medical action. I had no choice. I was told I was not being a responsible parent and that my decisions were negatively affecting not just Nick’s class, but the entire school. Yet he was endangering no one. Was he a challenge? Perhaps. Did that warrant such measures? Absolutely not.

Now here’s my disclaimer:

It’s not that I don’t believe in vaccinations. I just don’t believe that a child needs to be subjected to SO MANY vaccines, up to 36 by age 6. I believe they are good in theory but need to be improved. They DO contain harmful ingredients and anyone who believes that they don’t should do some more research of their own. Stop blindly believing every single word the "sick care" industry tells you... after all, they are the ones making a profit from all those vaccines, not you.

I believe it’s a parent’s choice whether or not to vaccinate their kids. However, if they choose not to, they are responsible for making sure their kids don’t go to school while they’re sick or they should home school their kids. For illnesses that have an incubation period making a person contagious before they even know they are sick, those vaccines should be mandatory to prevent outbreaks. All the others, should be voluntary.

Now for all the people who patriotically wave the American flag and bash anyone who dares to say anything negative about this country, just remember that FREEDOM is one of the things this country was founded upon; and with freedom, does come responsibility. But who gets that freedom?

If you're allowed to carry a gun as your god-fearing right as an American citizen, then as a women I'm allowed to choose whether or not to have an abortion, as a parent I am allowed to decide whether or not to vaccinate my children, and as a spiritual person I'm allowed to worship whatever god or gods I want or to not worship at all.

Choice is freedom.

Freedom is a gift and a human right. Rights should be protected and used responsibly. History has proven how easily rights and freedoms and choices can be taken away.

Be responsible. Stop bashing. Stop being so hateful.

Stop living in fear.