Education First

As a disclaimer before you read this post: Most of you know my standing when it comes to the topic of vaccinations. If you do not, I am pro-vaccine. With that in mind, this is not a blog post geared at persuading you to become pro-vaccine. This post is solely based on being educated about vaccinations before you make your decision. I have the utmost respect for those who have made the educated choice to vaccinate as well as those who have decided not to. 
For a long time I have been truly perplexed by both sides of this argument. I will admit that both sides have compelling arguments regarding the topic of vaccines.My family is full of zealous individuals that are extremely opinionated and this subject visits the dinner table frequently. Some members vaccinate while others do not. At a young age I found myself doing in depth research to form an opinion of my own.
Most recently I have had the pleasure of discussing the topic of vaccinations with several individuals. This includes professors, doctors, mothers, fathers, researchers and average individuals. People from all of these categories had differing opinions from one another. Some were pro-vaccine while others were anti-vaccine. Obviously the professors and doctors that I spoke with were highly educated individuals that had serious knowledge backing their opinions (some were pro-vaccine while others weren't). The one thing that I found immensely disconcerting on both sides of the debate is that beyond those with doctorate degrees, the others were basing their opinions off of unreliable sources such as blogs of other mothers, and unaccredited websites that were opinion based.
Even if you have no intention of changing your opinion, I still feel that it is absolutely crucial to be educated on the subject of vaccines. Aristotle said, "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
This is a subject that is very controversial and it has its extremes at both ends. In my own research, I found that the first things to pop up if you search vaccines on the internet are very popular and unaccredited articles from people who have no education or scientific proof backing their opinions either way. THIS IS WHAT EVERYONE SEES! This is very scary to me.In talking to individuals on either side of the debate a lot of the answers I heard to the question "why do you feel that way?" were: because a mom said so on her blog, because I just don't believe it in, because the doctor said that I should, etc.This is why It is so incredibly important to do your own research and find out for yourself what you believe. No one can judge you if you have educated, scientific facts to back up your opinion. Regardless of your opinion on the subject.
If you choose the internet as your route for your research I suggest only taking information from accredited websites and organizations seriously. Websites such as:

• http://www.chop.edu/service/vaccine-education-center/
• http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/ed/patient-ed.htm
• http://www.immunize.org/handouts/discussing-vaccines-parents.asp
• http://www.who.int/en/

These websites are fantastic! They are websites that have information about each individual vaccine that is offered. They also specifically talk about the science behind vaccines, statistics and also vaccine safety.
Please take the time to research and make educated decisions. This decision does not only affect you. It affects your children, other children, and countless amounts of people you will never know or meet. As with any other medical practice, there are certain risks that should be considered. But without education of the practice, you will never know if those risks are worth taking.