In
recognition of the national launch of the Invisible Threat movement on May 1st,
2014 the Moms Who Vax blog is participating in a blog relay to raise awareness
of the threat the film explores—the anti-vaccine movement. Each day, a
different blogger discusses his or her personal perspective of the film as part
of an exciting ten-day countdown to a kick-off event for the film, which will
be attended by national legislators at the Capitol Visitors’ Center in
Washington, D.C. You can follow along to find out how you can join us in
this movement, arrange for a local screening of Invisible Threat, and continue
our fight against infectious diseases.
Karen Ernst
Teenagers are amazing people. If you want to
view the world through a lens of optimism and idealism, ask for a teenager’s
perspective. My other career--the one I began long before I had children or
embarked on my mission to get parents to pitch in and help prevent disease
outbreaks--is teaching. I began my adult life as an English teacher and became
who I am today because I spent my hours learning along with the teenagers who
populated my classroom and my life.
So I am difficult to surprise with news about
how incredible teens can be. Stories in the media detailing how these young
people are transforming our world through their activism and creativity often
feel like merely revealing the spirit of what it means to be on the cusp of
adulthood.
But a group of student-film-makers has
surprised me. By delving into the world of vaccine-preventable disease and
rationally examining the claims of the anti-vaccine movement, the
student-creators of Invisible Threat
have done what many adults fail to do: discover the objective facts about
vaccines. Before all of us pro-vaccine parents go patting ourselves on the back
for arriving at the truth about immunization, we need to recognize that these
teens have also gone above and beyond what most of us do. They’ve chosen to
speak publicly about the importance of vaccination.
Most vaccinating parents are not telling
their stories. Some of us are afraid to cause discord in our families and so we
don’t speak up. We have looked at the science, but don’t want to start debate
because it’s just not our area of expertise. So we remain silent, and by our
silence we allow the anti-vaccine voice to be the default voice of parents.
The Invisible Threat filmmakers faced steep
challenges when creating their documentary. They came to the topic green:
with no experience with any vaccine-preventable disease, and largely unaware of
the anti-vaccine movement, they read materials both for and against vaccines.
They sought out experts and got their opinions. The interviewed anti-vaccine
parents. They discussed among themselves what all the information meant and
came to a conclusion that was both reasonable and in line with the scientific
consensus: vaccines are safe and save lives.
Invisible Threat follows
the evolution of their thoughts on vaccines, but behind the scenes, these
students faced the same obstacles that we vaccine advocates face. Lisa Posard,
parent volunteer and executive producer, explained that when news about the
topic of this documentary first came out, anti-vaccine bloggers wrote about the
teenagers. Anti-vaccine
activists even called
their school to try
to convince them not to do the film.
Despite this harassment, the students were
adamant that they would not be bullied out of tackling vaccines. These young
people have done the hard part, and we can do something easy right now. We can
invite our senators and representatives to an event on May 1st at 10am in
Washington D.C. to discuss the issues behind the documentary.
Invisible Threat is
a fantastic documentary, and we are fortunate the filmmakers had the moral
fortitude to stand up to those who were trying to shout them down. Next time we
are tempted to be quiet about vaccines because we don’t want to make enemies or
because we aren’t up-to-date on all the latest science or because it takes
effort and we are busy, we need to remember that making a difference
means taking a risk. It might mean we have to hearken back to our youth and
our days of idealism, when standing up for something was critically important.
And what could be more critically important than the health of our children and
our communities?
You
have the ability to make a difference in our fight against infectious diseases. Follow the Invisible Threat Blog Relay and find out how you can be a part
of the movement. Tomorrow's post will be hosted by MOMentumNation. And be sure to like the Invisible Threat Facebook and follow the filmmakers on
Twitter @InvisThreat.
