Mandatory Vaccinations

Yet is it reasonable to expect your partner to be one of those "smarties"? Perhaps it works for you and your genius daughters (until it decides not to work anymore, but I digress) to place their safety in other people's hands -- guys, no less -- I thought it would be reasonable to expect other skeptics to rely on nobody but themselves.

Also, abstinence is like starving one's self off out of fear for food poisoning. To expect growing teenagers not to make mistakes is both unrealistic and unproductive at best; it could also be detrimental to their later independent lives, depending on your point of view. I don't mean to butt into your parenting business, but instead of telling my children they have to be perfect from now till the moment of their last breath, I'd rather be lurking behind the scene to cushion their fall, and help them learn from that.

I suppose each parent would draw their own line here though. There are holes you should never ever fall into (heroin, for example), and it's up to the parents and their own children to figure out which would be reasonably inevitable and which anyone should absolutely steer clear of.

I already clearly stated that it's probably NOT realistic to think that people/children will choose abstinence. You're also assuming that my children are perfect and I raise them to be perfect. Quite the contrary actually. What I teach my children are my own moral values and beliefs. They are also taught that every choice in life has a consiquence whether it be good, bad or indifferent. However, they are still their choices to make. They are also taught to read and research before coming to their own conclusions. (ie: religion) Educating them, at the very least, helps them along the way. Not too many decades ago, talking sex with your children was considered a taboo subject. I'm proud to say that mine are well educated in that area and they have no problems coming to me asking questions. They've learned that it should never be an embarrassing subject to talk about with us. Children hear things at school from friends and thankfully mine will come home and ask, knowing they will get an honest answer. I fully expect my children to make mistakes and they've made plenty. Assuming otherwise is severely unintelligent.