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| Image courtesy of CC0 PUBLIC DOMAIN |
De Anza students interviewed when interviewed about whether on not they support California Bill 277 presented similar opinions on whether public schools should require all students to be vaccinated before attending.
“I think all students should be immunized regardless of beliefs
because children should not be put in danger from easily preventable diseases
their parents are too ignorant to educate themselves on,” said De Anza student
and English major Bradley Trout, 20.
Some students may be affected by bill 277 because they have
younger siblings who attend public schools and their families may be against
vaccinations.
Kathy Garcia, 20, an art major at De Anza College said “I think
families shouldn’t be forced to vaccinate their children because of personal
beliefs.”
Garcia said she believes families pay taxes that keep public
schools running, they should have a say in whether or not their children should
be vaccinated.
Alexis Lopez, 20, an art major who was not vaccinated until he
moved out of his parents’ house said he thinks students should be vaccinated.
“I used to get sick all the time growing up because my parents
refused to get me vaccinated. Simple things like a cold would keep me in bed
for sometimes three weeks.” said Lopez.
Once he turned 18, Lopez said he scheduled a physical at Kaiser
and had about 12 immunization shots to make up for all the vaccinations his
parents refused to give him.
“As much as I am for vaccinations, I don’t think the government
should force families to vaccinate their children and going against some of
their beliefs,” Lopez said.
According to a survey conducted by the state of California in
2013, about 90percent of Kindergarten students in California are fully
immunized, while about 7 percent of students have opted out of vaccinating
their children.
“All students should be
immunized especially in elementary school where kids get sick all the time.
When kids have weak immune systems and are not vaccinated, the possibility of
easily avoidable diseases being fatal is huge,” said Matthew Dempler, 21,
undeclared major, at De Anza college
Dempler whose mom is a nurse for Kaiser in Gilroy, Calif., says
she tells him stories very often about children who come in with a simple cold
and they have to be rushed to the actual hospital because their immune systems
are too weak to fight off the cold.
“I guess having a family member who works in medicine gives me
a biased opinion on this bill” Dempler said, “I think it’s a huge milestone for
the government to actually take initiative and realize this is a problem and do
something about it.”
