Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I have combined a few of the OP's posts into a longer top post so that it's more clear what the thread is about. I also deleted the vax debate posts and will have to do so again if the thread gets hijacked too much. I know vaccination is a hot topic, but it's not this topic.
I just think it's interesting that without access to the internet, I don't think we would currently have such a large number of families in America choosing not to vaccinate. And now that there are problems arising from not vaccinating in states like California, Oregon, and Washington... it's Mr. Microsoft, one of the father's of the internet, that is swooping in to try to help re-educate people and save the day.
Not to mention that there are third-world countries with thousands of supposedly uneducated parents who do not have internet access or college degrees who scramble and beg to get their children vaccinated to keep them healthy, yet here in this country we have highly educated "self confidant" (as the article puts it) parents refusing to allow their children to be vaccinated.
I just find this interesting.
I opted not to get the Swine flu vaccine for myself and my children because that particular vaccine was not being administered at doctor's offices. Instead you had to go to government centers, drugstores and the like to be vaccinated which just seemed odd to me. There was all that panic and talk about shortages which were in part fueled by the internet, no doubt. But the panic to vaccinate just never resonated with me.
When I was pregnant with my first daughter, someone gave me a copy of What to Expect When You're Expecting, which was pretty helpful overall. I was young (21) and anxious to do the right things. I remember following the recommended diet, trying to make sure I got enough protein and calcium and magnesium and folic acid and everything ... I was eating ALL THE TIME. I had to eat like six times a day and felt like I was choking down corn tortillas and cheese every few hours. I had to stop after a few weeks. That was way too much food for me.
One of my friends knew I had the book and said, "Do NOT read the 'When Things Go Wrong' section" (or whatever it was called), but I did anyway. Oh my goodness. Talk about fear-inspiring. Prolapsed uterus, and something where the umbilical cord goes down the vagina and gets kinked (a very dangerous situation) ... those still haunt me. None of those things happened, but I did spontaneously hemorrage a week or so after giving birth. Just started dumping out blood for no reason (luckily I was at a doctor's office at the time for my daughter's first checkup). I don't think I read anything about that in the book. Freaked me the heck out.
I see a lot of fear on these forums about "the world today," especially about kidnapping, child molesters and serial killers. A lot of people think today's world is scarier than the world of yesteryear, with strangers around every corner waiting to abduct and hurt children. I think a lot of this comes from reading stories on the Internet, or because of the great availability of information we have now. We read it, think it's commonplace, and start to fear and despise our fellow man. But just this morning I saw video of about a dozen bystanders who pushed a burning car off a motorcyclist who was trapped underneath. Ordinary men and women!
Seeing the terrible, frightening stuff is inevitable. Just remember to look for the good and inspiring news too.
I opted not to get the Swine flu vaccine for myself and my children because that particular vaccine was not being administered at doctor's offices. Instead you had to go to government centers, drugstores and the like to be vaccinated which just seemed odd to me. There was all that panic and talk about shortages which were in part fueled by the internet, no doubt. But the panic to vaccinate just never resonated with me.
I normally do vaccinate but that time I did not.
The shortages were the very reason the vaccine was distributed differently. So the panic on the internet did influence your decision. It just instilled a different fear in you.
I see a lot of fear on these forums about "the world today," especially about kidnapping, child molesters and serial killers. A lot of people think today's world is scarier than the world of yesteryear, with strangers around every corner waiting to abduct and hurt children. I think a lot of this comes from reading stories on the Internet, or because of the great availability of information we have now. We read it, think it's commonplace, and start to fear and despise our fellow man. But just this morning I saw video of about a dozen bystanders who pushed a burning car off a motorcyclist who was trapped underneath. Ordinary men and women!
Seeing the terrible, frightening stuff is inevitable. Just remember to look for the good and inspiring news too.
I think this is such a good point, Julia. Yes, bad things happen, but good things happen too. It's all about the probability and likelihood.
With information now available 24/7 and sources ranging from reputable organizations to anyone who can set up a blog and say whatever strikes their fancy, it is easy to forget that what is talked about most is not necessarily what occurs most. Bad news, controversy, and sensational stories make for good ratings/entertainment but don't reflect reality/factual information all that well.
I swear search engines should come with a warning: "search at your own risk - lots of silliness easily available." Either that, or we need to do a better job teaching ourselves and our kids how to evaluate the source of the information we're listening to.
This is one of the most important things my father taught me. I ensured my children learned this too.
I made it a point to teach this in my Intro Psych classes for undergrads - I didn't want them to take my word (or anyone's) for things, I wanted them to learn how to discriminate between reliable and shoddy sources for themselves. I'd like to think that was the most important thing they learned in my class - learning how to think, not just learning a specific set of information. I'm looking forward to teaching this to DS as he grows, too.
Call me cynical, but I think it's a waste of money. There is a growing sub-set of people that do not value scientific research, and will never accept the results.
The shortages were the very reason the vaccine was distributed differently. So the panic on the internet did influence your decision. It just instilled a different fear in you.
Was there an actual shortage, or a fear that there might be a shortage? I thought (heard on the Internet - LOL) that there was a fair amount left over, but I might be wrong.
At any rate, rightly or wrongly, I never felt very compelled to stand in one of those l-o-n-g lines to get a shot.
Last edited by springfieldva; 09-16-2011 at 01:48 PM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
