People are Sheep...

People are always saying that our society is going to hell in a handbasket. With the way things are going now with the economy, the current state of politics, an uncertain future with an upcoming election, just a general disregard for life and decency you can say that and it has been said for a long time now. We know the things I just mentioned are occuring on a macro level, I sometimes take note of the micro level things that signal the disintergration of society. For example, in a previous blog I mentioned how people who dont add up to a hill of beans get alot of attention for what they say, do or dont say and do. As of late, Jenny McCarthy has been getting alot of press about her struggle as the parent of an autistic child. The gyst of her book as I understand it is that she believes that immunizations caused her child to be autistic. I think her book and subsequent campaign to tell her story and TV appearances could be leading alot of people down a very slippery and dangerous path.

As a public health professional, I am very concerned with the informational overload that is available to parents about immunizations. Just think, you can go on the internet and pick a link and read everything you want to (or many not want to) know about immunization. The problem with this is simply who is the source of the information? Now before I go on, I empathize with Jenny McCarthy and her child, they are both helpless in this situation because autism strikes without warning and no one can do much about it if it is not diagnosed early. From what I have read and seen, the odds of becoming autistic from an immunization is very low. Your odds of getting measles, whooping cough or polio (which is in the process of being eradicated) are much greater in comparision.

So what's my point? Jenny McCarthy has every right to tell her story, I would urge any parent who hears her story to not be caught up emotionally by what she has to say and join the ever expanding bandwagon of new age parents who have elected not to immunize their children. I think children in this day and age who are unimmunized are so much more susceptible to more than I was (and most kids) create a harm and risk to other children around them. You may not know this, but cases of measles and whooping cough are on the rise worldwide. Now honestly, if I had a parent come to me with a child with whooping cough and I was a pediatrician, I would have to pull off my belt and beat the cowboy s*it out of the parent! Kids cannot do more that what you provide for them...period! What you do in those early years will have an impact greater than what you could ever imagine. Dont be lead from doing what is right, ask questions of those who have the knowledge and can give you straight answers about risk vs. reward. If your pediatrician cant give you the right answers, speak with someone who can or go to the Vaccine Education Center of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia for comprehensize answers. Because I dont want you to not have healthy children (if you have them) or as the title of the blog suggests, a victim of the follow the "leader" mentality.

How many crazy ass fashion and pop culture fads have come about due to this type of mentality? I always joke that if I was a famous Puffy-like media mogul, rapper, whatever I would test that theory by showing up for an interview in construction gear and then see how long it would take to see if every fool in the club raided Home Depot to get dressed for the evening! You got guys in the club sippin on Hennssey wearing a hard hat, tool belt and red shaded work goggles. We gotta stop bowing down to the media and find new role models...better yet we need to find those who are revelant, smart and are worthy of emulation. I remember growing up that I admired singers, sports heroes, I didnt want to be them. Thank God for that because as you grew up, you found out how f*cked up they were! Kids today want to be T.I., Jay-Z, PacMan Jones instead of looking up to them (although that is probably as dangerous!!). I wanted to be like my parents, family members and those in my community who were positive, those I knew, had access to and could relate to me. I think that is the missing link, there arent good role models and thus we have a somewhat lost generation. Shows like TMZ, The Insider and even once good Entertainment Tonight need to be shot and buried, they continue to slap us in the face with celebrity ignorance and irrelevance. Kill the messenger, the sheep can run free to think for themselves! Later...i'm runnin like OJ!!!