Dear parents of the world,

I am a social worker, I have been in this field since 2003, and my specialty has largely been child protection, though more recently it is in mental health. I provide this information for the purpose of credentials, as the topic I am addressing requires a rather specific understanding and experience if one is to authentically contribute. I wish to comment upon the issue of parental rights and cognitive distortions.

I have recently seen, within the vaccination debate, a trend of parents stating their absolute right to make decisions for their child, and that it is not the place of someone else to interject. This is a fallacy – though certainly parents hold rights, parental rights. These include such things as: cultural considerations, residency choices, naming, schooling, food, and haircuts. They are not exclusive though, parents must school their children, they must feed them appropriately, they must house them safely, and they must not significantly harm them. These caveats have changed over time, and differ through regions – though most are similar, and as our societies progress the overseeing of parenting has become more unified (see United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child).

The simple reason for this is children are vulnerable, and the biological matter (or social standing) of being a parent does not automatically mean that you will always know best. It is asinine to believe you do, it is akin to superstition, and it has no basis in observable and measurable reality. Your understanding and knowledge of your child (your intimate familiarity) is based upon the most basic of scientific measures; that of pre and post test, without quantifiable control groups, and an overt reliance upon qualitative data. It stands as a precursor to actual knowledge, but it is biased, it is flawed, and it is unreasonable – you know your child by exposure, by experiencing them. Not by anything innately magical. It is trial, error, and re-trial – reviewing the data as you go, and hoping it all works out.

In my experience as a social worker I have witnessed adults who have ward of a child and harm them in ways that cannot be reconciled. Parental rights, parental knowledge, parental familiarity, and the intentions of an adult who parents are not absolute – they can be removed. The wish to believe that parents might hold some fantastically profound knowledge regarding their children is an instinctual one, but it is not realistic; if it were then no mistakes would be made, no harm would be done.

You must not hurt children, you must make the greatest effort to do the least amount of harm to children (regardless of how your own parents treated you), you cannot put their emotional and intellectual growth at risk, and you cannot neglect their health (regardless of your beliefs). This, invariably, causes problems because it raises the question of who is able to make such judgments? Who knows better than a parent what is good for their children?

Appropriate professionals do: board registered, educated, peer reviewed, supervised, and legally answerable professionals are able to address these issues. The world we live in is unpredictable, it is uncertain, but the best hope we have (as a species) is through science, and reviewing the chance it offers us.

Science equates power, and in order to acknowledge the power imbalance that arises community and medical professionals adopt a person centered and ‘client as expert’ perspective. This means finding value and worth in people, and understanding that they bring a knowledge and experience of their lives that is unique. It isn’t exclusive though, it doesn’t simply trump input by merit of kinship or familiarity. That is the reality of a society, and the reality of parenting.

Parents who mistreat and maltreat their children, regardless of their reason, are abusing them. It is actually very straight forward, and it is based on scientific principles. Not the science-lite that appears in social media feeds, but real number crunching, long-term, experiential, peer reviewed, critical, factual, and determined science. The science that informs us how hitting a child has far reaching consequences that are both subtle and gross, impacting: wellbeing, outcomes, future relationships, health, and behaviour throughout the entire life-course. Science has more meaning than adults saying ‘being hit never did them any harm’. Science understands how the multisided impact of that harm is insipid and hidden, that denial and obfuscation are part of that consequence. Science trumps culture and is brave enough to challenge fallacy.

That same science is consistent in responding to the ‘vaccinations cause autism’ argument with the reality that it does not, regardless of your thoughts, feelings, and even your anecdotal experiences, it does not. You are simply wrong. You are confused by chance, coincidence, limited data, opinion, and self-generated thought. You are misunderstanding how science works, and you are making mistakes in reasoning.

There is no conspiracy to destroy the lives of children; there is no hidden agenda. If there were then vaccines wouldn’t even be the tip of the iceberg, and our existence as a global culture would be predominated by a pointless and terrifying struggle that leads nowhere against monstrous cabals who seek our subjugation. That is the conclusion of the vaccine conspiracy – the organized destruction of children’s lives, for profit, and against all hope. But that is not the case, we live in the world we co-create, the one we vote for, the one we engineer in unison.

The terrible truth of is that children die; children become ill, that we are vulnerable to unknown risk, and unexpected disaster – that statistically some children will not grow to be adults as a consequence of the intersections between their genetics and their environment. We seek to remedy that, it is slow, and it is complex. I invite you to test the information you are given by talking to professionals, seek out 2nd and 3rd opinions if necessary, but the ability to read, to write, to think, and to speak are commonplace, consider where your advice is coming from, who is telling you about your child’s health?

You are most likely looking in the wrong places for information: journalists, bloggers, celebs, chat-show hosts, gurus, yoga instructors, spiritual guides, newsreaders, and pretty much anyone else that doesn’t have a relevant qualification are simply mistaken. Even those with qualifications can be mistaken. They can be bought. They can be liars. They can be unstable. And they can be charlatans – the much lauded ‘MMR vaccine causes autism study’ has been retracted, found to have been fraudulent, and the medical license of Andrew Wakefield has been revoked.

That is why we have boards, and peer reviewed data, and exhaustive testing/re-testing protocols against measures and controls. It is why we have a scientific community that pushes itself through higher standards, toward unified theories and proven method. These are the individuals we should look to, the collectives we should watch, they are the ones who reach into our bodies, or minds, or strata and understand how we collectively share the responsibility for ensuring children receive effective parenting.

As said above, the world is chaotic – we try to find reason, we attempt to effect change, but we are largely overwhelmed. Science is our best hope against the odds, but the odds do exist, and as such a few children will become ill, and fewer still will likely die as a result of their body’s synthesis and reaction to a vaccine. That is a horrible truth, a seemingly unfathomable choice – but a choice exists. You can choose to put many, many children at risk of illness and death by choosing to not vaccinate your children (your own child included) / or you can significantly reduce (almost eradicate) that risk for all children by vaccinating your child.

The risk of injury or death from a vaccine is so small that you could consider it like this: read the information enclosed with any medication you take, consider which of those adverse effects you have experienced? If you worry about side-effects consult your doctor, if they appear vague then obtain another opinion – seek medical advice to see if specific medications are a match for you. Inform and educate yourself. Apply the same principles and protocols to your children. Doctors inform parents of the risk, that is their job.

I am not telling you to vaccinate your child, I am not your doctor. Discuss your child’s health with your doctor, not with online forums, not with hokum vendors, and ever so carefully with other parents. Our best hope is science, we are lost without it – if you choose to reject science then you highlight yourself as potentially harmful toward children, for this simple reason: your whole existence, from your birth to the birth of your own children, has been supported and safeguarded by science – why would it suddenly be against our wellness?

Think about who is telling you to reject objective reasoning.