# Calgary Catholic School Board refuses to offer HPV Vaccine to students **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 27, 2008, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calgary-catholic-school-board-refuses-to-offer-hpv-vaccine-to-students/465421 "2008-09-27T00:44:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calgary-catholic-school-board-refuses-to-offer-hpv-vaccine-to-students/465421/1 "2008-09-27T00:44:01Z")
[Assholes.](http://calgary.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20080925/CGY_HPV_vaccine_080924/20080926/?hub=CalgaryHome)Thanks a lot for making a decision as backwards and wrong-headed as anything coming out of the fundamental American south, that we’re so happy to pretend we’re better than. Yes, offering girls the chance to live a life without genital warts, worrying about pap smear results, infertility and ultimately death from cervical cancer is far less important than your misguided stance on sex education and the tenuous idea that getting an STD vaccination will make all the good Catholic girls run out and rut like bunnies with anything moving. I would like to wish harm on the people who made this lousy decision, but that’s not good for the state of my soul, so I’ll just say that I hope any girls affected by this find a way to get the vaccination anyway, and are as fully protected as modern medicine can make them, in spite of the jerks who pretend they are looking out for them (that won’t happen, but I’ll hope anyway). As one of the comments in that linked article alluded to, the protection of female health should not be a moral issue. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calgary-catholic-school-board-refuses-to-offer-hpv-vaccine-to-students/465421/2 "2008-09-27T00:51:52Z")
No kidding. I saw this on the news and was over come with white hot rage. I hope the stupid bitch spokes-whore they had on the news gets a big, fat, genital wart right on her face. There’s a vaccine that _prevents CANCER_ and these douche pickels don’t want to give it because it might mean girls _have sex!?!?!_ Guess what you stupid twats - many of the young girls you’re not giving this to will grow up and get married one day. Married women pumping out babies for Jesus can get cervical cancer too, and this vaccine would prevent it. Stupid, short sighted idiocy. ---
**Author:** ![Myrrajh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/87869e/32.png) [@Myrrajh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myrrajh)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calgary-catholic-school-board-refuses-to-offer-hpv-vaccine-to-students/465421/3 "2008-09-27T00:52:13Z")
I’ve agreed with Bishop Henry on most things he’s waded into, but not this one. This move seems to be discrediting all the parents of the girls attending these schools. Doesn’t he think they have taught, or will teach their kids about sex? All you can do is teach them what you think is right and wrong, then there’s nothing more you can do about it. They’re going to make their own decisions. I really can’t believe that he’s so paranoid that he’d deny these girls the chance to get this vaccination so conveniently. I’m not sure if the church or the province was going to foot the bill for this, but I remember hearing something on the news last night that each of the three shots is about $100. If I was a Catholic mom I’d be stewing right about now. (I’m in Calgary, too.) ---
**Author:** ![Purgatory\_Creek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/74df32/32.png) [@Purgatory\_Creek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purgatory_Creek)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calgary-catholic-school-board-refuses-to-offer-hpv-vaccine-to-students/465421/4 "2008-09-27T00:55:05Z")
What I find Pitworthy about this (in addition to your complaint, with which I agree) is that these vaccinations are being offered through the _school system_. Don’t these children (5th graders?!?) have primary care physicians\*–or parents? \*I recognize that this is the Canadian health system and most likely different from American. ---
**Author:** ![Myrrajh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/87869e/32.png) [@Myrrajh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myrrajh)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calgary-catholic-school-board-refuses-to-offer-hpv-vaccine-to-students/465421/5 "2008-09-27T00:59:51Z")
> [@Purgatory\_Creek](#): > > What I find Pitworthy about this (in addition to your complaint, with which I agree) is that these vaccinations are being offered through the _school system_. Don’t these children (5th graders?!?) have primary care physicians\*–or parents? > \*I recognize that this is the Canadian health system and most likely different from American. There’s an issue of convenience as well. Send a few nurses to the school and give all the shots that morning or afternoon. If not, then the parents have to make appointments, maybe take time off work and school to get there. Just a pain in the butt when it could just be done where the girls are going to be in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calgary-catholic-school-board-refuses-to-offer-hpv-vaccine-to-students/465421/6 "2008-09-27T01:09:27Z")
> [@Purgatory\_Creek](#): > > What I find Pitworthy about this (in addition to your complaint, with which I agree) is that these vaccinations are being offered through the _school system_. Don’t these children (5th graders?!?) have primary care physicians\*–or parents? > \*I recognize that this is the Canadian health system and most likely different from American. Students receive many vaccines at school - MMR, diptheria, polio, smallpox, tetnus, etc. I believe the public school board is just going to work this into the routine. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calgary-catholic-school-board-refuses-to-offer-hpv-vaccine-to-students/465421/7 "2008-09-27T01:09:36Z")
How odd that a school would issue any vaccines to its students. Here in the good US of A, the school cannot even administer Tylenol without written consent from the parent AND his/her doctor. (A position which I believe is over-reaching and the unintended consequence of zero tolerance laws, but I digress.) I can’t even imagine the uproar if the school started doling out HPV Vaccines. My daughters are 16 and 14. During their most recent physicals both of their physicians broached the subject of HPV Vaccines with me. We agreed that the pros outweighed the cons and that they’d be given the 3 part vaccine in the upcoming months. That is how medical decisions involving minors should be made – as a joint decision by the parents, the physican and the child (if she’s mature enough). The school has no standing and should stay out of it altogether. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calgary-catholic-school-board-refuses-to-offer-hpv-vaccine-to-students/465421/8 "2008-09-27T01:10:44Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > The school has no standing and should stay out of it altogether. Public health officials here in pinko-commie Canada take a different view. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calgary-catholic-school-board-refuses-to-offer-hpv-vaccine-to-students/465421/9 "2008-09-27T01:15:53Z")
Religion should play no role in medical decisions. As an atheist I’m told I have no soul (I do, but as Dr. Dennett says, it’s made of thousands of tiny robots), so consider harm wished. ---
**Author:** ![ArizonaTeach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/45deac/32.png) [@ArizonaTeach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArizonaTeach)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calgary-catholic-school-board-refuses-to-offer-hpv-vaccine-to-students/465421/10 "2008-09-27T01:17:32Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > How odd that a school would issue any vaccines to its students. Here in the good US of A, the school cannot even administer Tylenol without written consent from the parent AND his/her doctor. (A position which I believe is over-reaching and the unintended consequence of zero tolerance laws, but I digress.) I can’t even imagine the uproar if the school started doling out HPV Vaccines. Yeah, that’s what hit me at first. Actually, you’ve got your cause and effect wrong - The administering of Tylenol is partly what led to zero tolerance (all it takes is one lawsuit - I think I’ve mentioned this before here, but starting last year, teachers at our school are no longer allowed to hand out cough drops or throat lozenges - which prior to that had been given to each teacher by the school nurse - because one student at one of the schools in our district choked on a lozenge. Rather than face a possible multimillion dollar lawsuit, the solution was no more cough drops from teachers, ever). I’d be floored - **floored** - if this vaccine was ever offered at a school in the US without some serious changes in How Things Are Done. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calgary-catholic-school-board-refuses-to-offer-hpv-vaccine-to-students/465421/11 "2008-09-27T01:26:15Z")
Well, we have another difference between the US and Canada then, because I fully expect the school system to regularly vaccinate children (as I was vaccinated, 35 or so years ago), and I consider this school board decision to be complete and utter bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![TVeblen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@TVeblen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVeblen)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calgary-catholic-school-board-refuses-to-offer-hpv-vaccine-to-students/465421/12 "2008-09-27T01:28:02Z")
[QUOTE=PunditLisa] How odd that a school would issue any vaccines to its students. Here in the good US of A, the school cannot even administer Tylenol without written consent from the parent AND his/her doctor. (A position which I believe is over-reaching and the unintended consequence of zero tolerance laws, but I digress.) I can’t even imagine the uproar if the school started doling out HPV Vaccines. [/QUOTE] Times have changed, **PunditLisa**. When I went through elementary school, in Cincinnati (ages ago, though), we were given polio vaccinations and were tested for tuberculosis as well. Parents had to sign permission slips, though, because I remember hoping against hope my mother–a teacher, btw–would somehow forget to sign mine and I’d escape the dreaded needle. Long lines of little kids, some snivelling, some trying to act brave, all inching toward The Needle. The TB test, with stuff injected by a fine needle under the skin on your arm, was particularly scary. I stared obsessively at the little liquid bump for two days, willing it go down. I was _not_ committed to public health in grade school. Anyway, offering medical stuff through public schools wasn’t always so verboten. It was long enough ago that the school had a full-time nurse. And she wore a white uniform with a starched white cap. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calgary-catholic-school-board-refuses-to-offer-hpv-vaccine-to-students/465421/13 "2008-09-27T01:47:14Z")
IIRC, I received all my immunizations at school (in England)- influenza, polio, tetanus, MMR, and so on. All my classmates got their BCGs around 11-12ish too, although I got to skip it since I had one as an infant. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calgary-catholic-school-board-refuses-to-offer-hpv-vaccine-to-students/465421/14 "2008-09-27T01:51:53Z")
> [@TVeblen](#): > > Times have changed, **PunditLisa**. When I went through elementary school, in Cincinnati (ages ago, though), we were given polio vaccinations and were tested for tuberculosis as well. Parents had to sign permission slips, though, because I remember hoping against hope my mother–a teacher, btw–would somehow forget to sign mine and I’d escape the dreaded needle. Long lines of little kids, some snivelling, some trying to act brave, all inching toward The Needle. The TB test, with stuff injected by a fine needle under the skin on your arm, was particularly scary. I stared obsessively at the little liquid bump for two days, willing it go down. > > I was _not_ committed to public health in grade school. > > Anyway, offering medical stuff through public schools wasn’t always so verboten. > > It was long enough ago that the school had a full-time nurse. And she wore a white uniform with a starched white cap. Ditto. I got some shots and also screening tests for hearing and vision in Catholic grade school 40-ish years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calgary-catholic-school-board-refuses-to-offer-hpv-vaccine-to-students/465421/15 "2008-09-27T01:56:29Z")
Do public schools in the US still do scoliosis testing? I remember we had that in public school in Wisconsin back in the 1970s/1980s. I can’t recall off the top of my head what other health-related testing might have been done. Thinking of that, I guess I can see the sense in why schools might have given vaccinations - especially if those were requirements for attendance. ---
**Author:** ![TVeblen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@TVeblen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVeblen)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calgary-catholic-school-board-refuses-to-offer-hpv-vaccine-to-students/465421/16 "2008-09-27T02:09:27Z")
[QUOTE=Boyo Jim] Ditto. I got some shots and also screening tests for hearing and vision in Catholic grade school 40-ish years ago. [/QUOTE] Dang, how could I have forgotten about the hearing and vision tests, about the same era. In fact that’s how it was discovered that I, at the mature age of 6, was already badly near-sighted. I felt stupid wearing glasses because no others kids I knew did but man, the world suddenly looked so miraculously clear and crisp. FWIW, all the testing was done in public schools. Now that I mull it over, our feet were also tested. They were inked then we stood on sheets of white paper. Looking for, what? fallen arches? No idea. All the testing, etc. seemed completely routine in the sense that I don’t remember anyone being at all suprised or upset over it. ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calgary-catholic-school-board-refuses-to-offer-hpv-vaccine-to-students/465421/17 "2008-09-27T02:11:54Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > Yes, offering girls the chance to live a life without genital warts, worrying about pap smear results, infertility and ultimately death from cervical cancer is far less important than your misguided stance on sex education and the tenuous idea that getting an STD vaccination will make all the good Catholic girls run out and rut like bunnies with anything moving. Well c’mon, abstinence due to unwavering and complete faith is obviously not going to work, so making kids scared of sex is the obvious choice! It’s what Jesus would do. I’d have written them a nasty letter, but I used up my supply of “cockbiter” and “douchebaggery” in my letter to PETA last month. **Purgatory Creek/etc** Vaccinations at school just makes sense though; all kids have to go to school so you get great coverage, bulk discount rates for material and labour, your friends are in line too so it’s not so bad… it’s not like they get a box shipped and the PhysEd prof picks up a hypo or anything. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calgary-catholic-school-board-refuses-to-offer-hpv-vaccine-to-students/465421/18 "2008-09-27T02:15:48Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > Well, we have another difference between the US and Canada then, because I fully expect the school system to regularly vaccinate children (as I was vaccinated, 35 or so years ago), and I consider this school board decision to be complete and utter bullshit. I got all of my school-age vaccinations at school as well and regard school vaccination as routine. This was in Manitoba and I know it’s routinely done in Quebec as well as I’ve translated the permission slips for the health ministry. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calgary-catholic-school-board-refuses-to-offer-hpv-vaccine-to-students/465421/19 "2008-09-27T02:16:54Z")
> [@Nanoda](#): > > it’s not like they get a box shipped and the PhysEd prof picks up a hypo or anything. 😉 Really? You must have gone to one of those posh schools… ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2008, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calgary-catholic-school-board-refuses-to-offer-hpv-vaccine-to-students/465421/20 "2008-09-27T02:33:38Z")
When I was a kid they handed the needles to the shop teacher and we just lined up at the drill press. Childhood was not a happy time. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calgary-catholic-school-board-refuses-to-offer-hpv-vaccine-to-students/465421.md?page=2)