Vaccines Required for Children The controversial issue is vaccinations required for children. No one wants to see children get sick. Every child should receive every vaccine that the school requires. Disease outbreaks still happen in the world. Thanks to vaccines some diseases are rarely seen these days, or gone completely, such as smallpox. Vaccinating a child could prevent them from contracting diseases like polio, measles, diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), rubella (German measles), mumps, tetanus, rotavirus and Haemophilus influenza type b (Hib). Children ages newborn through six years old are required to receive vaccines. Preschoolers and children in elementary schools are recommended flu vaccines. Before children ages seven through eighteen head back to school they are required to get the HPV, Tdap, and meningococcal conjugate vaccines. One reason children should be vaccinated is to protect other children, not just themselves. Getting a child vaccinated helps them from contracting a disease and then spreading it to another child. By not vaccinating a child it in turn hurts that child, in their schooling; schools are permitted to require unvaccinated children to stay at home during outbreaks (Kluger). If there is an outbreak of a disease the unvaccinated child could be infected and spread the disease. Vaccine-preventable diseases can be very serious, may require hospitalization, or even be deadly- especially in infants and young children (Protect). Another reason children should be vaccinated is to help rid the world of as many diseases as possible. The diseases that vaccines prevent can be dangerous, or even deadly. Vaccines reduce the risk of infections by working with the body’s natural defenses to help it safely develop immunity to a disease. (How). A third reason children should be vaccinated is to keep children safe from some of the most deadly diseases in history. “It is always better to prevent a disease than to treat it after it occurs. Diseases that used to be common in this country and around the world, including polio, measles, diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), rubella (German measles), mumps, tetanus, rotavirus and Haemophilus influenza type b (Hib) can now be prevented by vaccination. Thanks to a vaccine, one of the most terrible diseases in history- smallpox- no longer exists outside the laboratory.” (Why) People need to be informed on the effects of these diseases. Not all parents believe in vaccinating their children. Some parents believe mandatory vaccinations deny their rights. New Jersey angered parents by requiring children between six months and five years that attend daycare or preschool to receive a flu shot (Kluck). New Jersey gave reasons such as; publics best interest, fewer children getting sick and/or dying. The parents should not be worrying about their rights, but about their children and