Should Kids Without Vaccinations Be Sent Home from School?

Should Kids Without Vaccinations Be Sent Home?

A group of Los Angeles-area parents are losing it over the fact that nearly 100 children were pulled out of their classrooms on the first day of school—and sent home—because they hadn’t completed the full list of recommended vaccinations.

On one hand, I get it. I disagree 100 percent with the anti-vax movement, but I’m not sure that singling out children (who don’t have much choice in the matter as long as they’re minors!) and embarrassing them in front of their classmates is the right answer—especially when some of those children’s parents have filed for religious or personal beliefs exemption, which is still accepted in that school district.

Still, on the other hand, having unvaccinated children in our schools puts everyone at risk and isn’t okay, which is why I’m personally thrilled that the Los Angeles Unified School District and others will soon no longer make exceptions for people whose choose not to vaccinate their children, unless of course there is a medical reason. Public health and safety shouldn’t be something you can opt in or out of, especially when it comes to children.

I just hope that in the future, schools are a bit more sensitive when dealing with this issue (and sadly, I’m sure they’ll have their hands full with anti-vax parents when the new rules go into effect). Perhaps instead of rounding up the children in question and making them leave in the middle of the day, they could instead send a note home with those children at the end of the day explaining that they will need to have their immunization record completed before they can return to the classroom again.

How do you think schools should handle children whose parents refuse to fulfill the immunization requirements? Have you encountered this in your school district? Let’s get talking in the comments.