Gardasil is the vaccination for the HPV that causes cervical cancer. It's been in the news because of the governor in TX mandating that girls in public schools be vaccinated. The interesting thing about HPV is that it is an STD (enough acronyms for ya?). So the only way to catch HPV is to be sexually active. What is being taught by giving 12 year olds a vaccination against a STD? Is it the equivalent of passing out condoms to highschoolers, yet saying abstinence is best, because you know their going to have sex anyway? As a mother of a 12 year old girl what are the issues to consider. An interesting blog from Vida, before you settle the answer for yourself: www.normalis.blogspot.com (scroll down to the Gardasil entry)
13 comments:
Well, you could think of it as preparing for the future, not that the 12-year-old is sexually active now! IMHO, if you've got a kid sleeping around at a young age, you lost them years ago. I'm saddened when I see kids dressing 'sexy' when they are too young to really understand what that's all about. Let kids be kids. As far as the vaccination, I'm glad to know it is there and available. Maybe your daughter doesn't need to worry about it now, but she might want to get the vaccination in the future. She could meet the nicest guy on earth and marry him...and he might have made some bad choices in the past. You know what else? You could tell your daughter this prevents a kind of cancer...not that it relates to an STD!
I will tell you one thing that bugs me. I'm pretty sure a kid that young can get the vaccination without parental consent. I could be wrong about the age. But like I said, if you have a child sneaking off to get an STD shot...you didn't do your parenting years ago! (You realize that's a general 'you', of course.)
Gah! This is a tough one. My sister had HPV. She was also incredibly promiscious (I'm pretty sure she'll never read this comment so I'm putting it out there). However, she refuses to accept that her sexual activity might have caused the HPV. She thinks that we are oppressing her as a woman by claiming that.
So while I think better sex education is the ideal way to go, It might not be realistic given the strange perspectives women have.
Thanks guys for your opinions. It's great to hear what others are thinking. I think the best adage in regard to getting your daughter vaccinated is prepare for the worse and pray for the best.
I just read the comments from Vida. Good points. Good blog, just like yours, Barbie. Food for thought.
One of the speakers at Youth Day talked to the kids about this subject as well. Her name is Pam Stenzel. She had a powerful personal story to tell.
I have deep trust in you know who, Barbie, but hope and pray she makes good choices and meets 'the one' who will have made good choices himself.
I'll have to let go one day soon and put all my faith and trust in God that she will walk down the right paths and make good decisions throughout her life, including choosing someone who truly shares her morals and values.
I've been thinking about this issue as physical time is near. I''m glad I read Vida and mom2fur 's comments, but like Dave wrote, I'd like to do more research myself on the actual vaccine.
If I didn't have my faith and trust in God, it would be "Atarax, here I come!" See my link for those nutty, retro instructional/ephemral movies from the 50's.
The Relaxed Wife
This surreal industrial film fom the 1950's by Pfizer promotes "Atarax," a tranquilizer, and how this new drug can help us all to achieve the relaxed state we long for.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=016&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=260093238186&rd=1&rd=1
Well here's one from another generation...as I anxiously look to see the lastest blog....I see "Gardasil" and I think....Barbie's got a new herb, garlic and basil!!! It did flash throgh my mind. This is a serious subject and as I've listened to the news my thoughts have been similar to Dave's and Valorie's....what are or are there long term side effects?...do you give the vac. among the routine shots...and not mentioned what it's for (as also mentioned)? What child (even teen) asks about routine shots? Should the vac. be mandatory? These are tough calls. Valorie you are exactly right...it's our personal faith in God...knowing He is in control, even when we/our children don't make the best choices/decisions that gets us through the day.
Here's a thought for comment ....what is this vacine conveying to our sons and grandsons?
Side effects of Gardasil:
http://www.rxlist.com/cgi/generic/gardasil_ad.htm
Mixed feelings here.
But in the end, if it lowers disease and alleviates suffering, then we probably need to do it, even for those girls that will never need the vaccine.
Better to err on the side of compassion, is my take on it.
BTW--I FINALLY will add your blog to my links at my place! Sorry it took so long...
Many people miss the point of what is going on. The governor of TX has usurped the parents responsibility for raising our kids. This should be a decision for the parents - not a politician. And yes, there are bad parents out there.
Having met parents of a retarded child who was brain damaged by a government mandated vaccination, I realize that I am emotional about this topic, rather than objective. So please forgive me if I am wrong.
Liberty4U:
I don't think you are wrong and it's okay to be emotional - it's our daughters we're talking about. But I think this is a multi-fauceted issue. I don't advocate for what the governor of TX did - quite the opposite. In fact it's the way gardasil became mandatory in TX that makes me question it all the more - follow the money and it looks pretty suspicious. I began to wonder is gardasil really all they (Merck) prop it up to be and all that necessary. Yet when I read Vida's story and I was moved to consider it from a different angle. That's what I want to look at. Thanks for adding you input.
Toby, thanks for adding me to your list. However I don't feel worthy to be linked under presbyterian blogs. I don't talk about the PCUSA much/at all. You really don't want to get me started on that topic (really, Dave doesn't want me to get started). I do enjoy listening to the conversation on your blog, though.
Everyone seems to forget that teen sex is not always consensual. You can catch an STD from rape, incest, or other molestation, just easily as you can from "fooling around."
The FBI says by the time they are an adult, 1 in 6 adult women in the US have been molested or raped. I believe those figures - when I was a very young teenager, a school official attempted to molest me, and I was raped when I was twenty. Being raped or molested is bad enough -- if a girl does end up being forced to have sex, shouldn't she be at least protected from contracting cancer?
I agree CJ, that's why I linked Vida's blog. There are so many unknowns, unpredictables for our/our daughter's future. We can't control. Giving an outright NO to Gardasil is not thinking through the consequences.
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