There are just so many lines crossed here, how do I even know where to begin???
A flu shot is a medical issue. It is a medication! It is a biologic. It has known side effects that can actually be compensated for in a special court in the United States. It is a decision that should be made between a patient and their provider, or in this case, the patient, the parent, and the provider. A TEACHER has NO BUSINESS in the healthcare of her students. Period.
How about the teacher, teaching pre-AP Biology, a course where students who are interested in this line of higher learning have a much higher chance of becoming health care professionals than the general population of students, teach her students something called INFORMED CONSENT. Why doesn't she have them do an assignment on what informed consent is and why it's important. She could teach about "First Do No Harm", autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence, and justice. She could actually have the children LEARN SOMETHING FOR EXTRA CREDIT.
What if the assignment was to go out on the internet and actually come up with peer reviewed research article links backing up why or why not they would be receiving a flu shot? Now THERE is a pre-AP assignment worth something! This post would be my assignment answer for this question.
This is discrimination. Discrimination against a family who hasn't fallen as sheep to Western Medicine and Big Pharma. Discrimination against a family that may have religious reasons for not injecting foreign matter including proteins and DNA from other species into their bodies. She could be discriminating just because a family doesn't vaccinate for reason of conscience. How on earth is it ok to have this as extra credit with literally no other avenue at obtaining extra credit for the semester?
What the hell else is she teaching in her class that is highly inappropriate that the students don't ever report to their parents. And how many parents out there who never had any inclination to get their students the flu shot, simply went out and did it because their child wanted a 100 on a minor grade for a grade boost? I just can't even wrap my brain around ALL THE STEPS that happened, and all of the moments to stop and THINK about what you are actually doing along the way leading up to someone injecting themselves with something without a good reason or any logical exercise in weighing the pros and cons?
Is this teacher prepared to pay for any medical bills ensuing from reactions or adverse outcomes from any of these flu shots? Because in my opinion she should be. If you are SO SURE that the flu shot is SO SAFE and SO EFFECTIVE, I vote that she not only be responsible for any medical bills rising from the administration of the shot, but that she should also pay for any medical bills that roll in when these children still get the flu when the shot doesn't work. (Because let's face it, anyone who would take their child for a flu shot just for extra credit is probably also the type that takes their kid to the doctor every time they sneeze too.).
Lastly, I think I am most disturbed about the fact that the school initially didn't seem to care, then decided it probably should as the story started to go viral, and then none of the students were notified of the revocation of the extra credit, so they are all out there getting flu shots for literally nothing.
We have GOT TO GET INFORMED CONSENT BACK IN THIS COUNTRY. The first step is through the nurses. Apparently the second step is going to be to knock the teachers back a notch!
Original story can be found here.