One of the most profound developments in the 20th Century was the idea of vaccinations. The decision to get a shot and prevent a possibly life threatening disease seems like it would be a no brainer, however some people are against it. I personally am interested in why some people would refuse to vaccinate themselves and their children, potentially putting their lives at risk. I myself haven't always had the appropriate vaccinations. Last June I was required to get a record of my immunization in order to attend the University of South Carolina.  Upon arriving at my pediatrician I then realized I was missing one shot and would have to take it in order to attend the university. It is because of this requirement that I first started my research into the topic of vaccination. Through my research, I have found three sources that reveal both the benefits and the possible side effects of vaccination and, come to the conclusion that people should vaccinate their children because the benefits far outweigh the risks. 

My first source is analyzes the benefits and drawbacks of getting vaccinated. I found this article very useful to get facts and statistics from for both sides of the arguments. One of the key points of the article was that a reason people are against vaccination is because vaccinations have potentially harmful materials in them such as aluminum. However, while it does have these harmful materials it isn't in enough quantity to be harmful.  Another interesting fact that I found was that natural immunity is more effective than vaccinations, although it can be more dangerous as well. What I liked best about this article is that it just gave key points of both sides of the argument and tried not to be biased for or against either side. While I like the points made in this article, I have to call into question the credibility of this article since it was printed by ProCon, a nonprofit dedicated to presenting the facts of the issue. 

Speaking of credibility, my second source was a peer reviewed study done by BMC Public Health into why parents don't vaccinate their children. The study was conducted in 2013 which means that the information is relevant.  The study found that a reason parents don't vaccinate their children is that they believe that their lifestyle coupled with good nutrition will be enough to prevent the diseases. They also believe that it is unlikely that their child will contract a disease preventable by a vaccine, and that it wouldn't be that serious to treat. This study shows firsthand that some of the reasons parents choose to not vaccinate their children are based upon them betting that their child won't catch the disease which is an inexcusable thing for parents to do. 

Now that I know the parent's line of thinking I found my third source to focus on ways to communicate the dangers choosing to not vaccinate their children. One of these dangers that the article focuses on is herd immunity. Herd immunity is the idea that as long as a certain percent of the population is vaccinated the whole population will be safe from diseases. While herd immunity can help protect people, specifically the ones unable to be vaccinated, if the minimum threshold of the population isn't vaccinated then there will be an outbreak of the disease. The article also outlines 3 approaches physicians can use to help families decided to get vaccinated they are, the presumptive, participatory, and guiding approach. While the first approach is the most effective it may cause the family to feel as if the physician doesn't care about their opinion. The significance of this article is that it not only explains why vaccines are important, but also gives a plan of action to try and convince people to vaccinate their children. From the plan of action and the importance of vaccinations, it is easy to say that this article is biased for vaccination. However although it is extremely biased, it is also a credible source. I conclude this based on the fact that the article is peer reviewed and that all of the authors are affiliated with Department of Pediatrics with the Indiana University School of Medicine.

So, through my research I feel that parents should vaccinate their children because it will prevent them from getting diseases in the future. While most of my sources agree with this, some bring up points such as harmful material in vaccines, immoral materials in vaccines, and potential allergic reactions and side effects. These differing points cause me to feel more strongly about my source and inspire to research more into the benefits/drawbacks of vaccines. It also leads me to possibly changing my research question to what are the benefits/drawbacks of vaccinating children. 

