It’s bad enough the government has mandated school attendance. If your kid isn’t in school, you can be arrested for truancy. But now a government in Maryland is using mandatory schooling (Side Note: Schooling is not the same as education, as a vast number of kids in government schools aren’t getting an education) as a weapon to force parents into mandatory inoculations.
More than 2,000 students in the Prince George’s school district haven’t provided the district with “proof” that they’ve received the mandatory immunization shots the district requires in order for students to attend classes. So the school district sent the parents of these kids a court notice giving them a “choice.”
No, silly. Not a choice as to what school the parents want their kids to attend. What are you smoking?
The choice was stark and outrageous, as described by Associated Press reporter Stephen Manning: “Get their children vaccinated on the spot or risk up to 10 days in jail and fines.” Parents “who fail to show up” for their court hearing, notes Manning, “could be prosecuted under truancy laws and face possible jail time and fines of $50 per day.”
Personally, I’ve made sure all my kids get the immunization shots our doctor has recommended, but there are legitimate concerns among many parents that the immunization shots themselves could pose a danger to their children. It should be up to the parents, not the government “village,” to make this decision for their kids.
Ah, but there’s the rub.
A parent can decide not to have their child immunized; however, that means the child can’t attend a government school. And if the child doesn’t attend school, the parent can be arrested - not for not immunizing their child, but for the child not attending a school which the government prohibits them from attending.
In government, that makes perfect sense. And school bureaucrats aren’t afraid to use the police powers of government to enforce their will against parents who don’t blindly do as the government instructs.
As George Washington famously said, “Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master.” The question is whether or not the American public today will wake up to this reality before all our freedoms go up in flames.
I have my doubts.
Posted on November 17th, 2007 by Chuck Muth
Filed under: National
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