Vaccinating kids doesn’t put a microchip in their bodies that allows the government to control their brains. It just doesn’t. That’s a fact. Believing otherwise doesn’t make it true.
I don’t see any point in trying to educate those parents, explain the truth to them, or argue with them. They’re stupid people whose minds have snapped shut against facts, logic, and reason. When they make their ridiculous demands, principals and school boards have a duty to tell them, “No!”
In a society that values free speech, telling people who are just plain wrong to shut up is a bit problematical because we believe in letting everyone have their say, unless they’re speaking out of turn in which case it’s appropriate to order them to sit down and be quiet, like you would an unruly child in class.
When people exercise free speech to regurgitate false propaganda or spew absurd nonsense, the correct response is to tell them they’re misinformed, what they’re saying is wrong, and you’re not going to meet their demands.
I appreciate the frustration felt by professional educators facing the tsunami of ignorance and racism unleashed by rightwing agitators (read story here). I’d sure hate to see them driven out of their jobs by morons. This is asking a lot, but I’d like to see them stiffen their spines and tell these people politely but firmly, “No.”
There are, of course, some people who not only disdain truth, but also civility and rules of order (photo below). In that case, the adults in the room need to not only stick up for truth, but also for civility and order; and they should forget about being polite and very firmly say, “No!”
A closing thought: Our society needs functioning public schools, and kids need a good education. Today there are organized ideology-driven and propaganda-driven groups trying to bully the education establishment. It’s hard to ask school boards, principals, and teachers to stand up against this.
But there are times in all professions when people have to be heroes: Soldiers in war, the pilots of a plane in distress, health care workers in a pandemic, utility workers in a storm. In times of stress, we need them to stand up; and they need us to stand behind them. Right now we have to ask educators to be heroes, and we must let them know we support and appreciate them.
