Vaccination obligation, yes of the children despite the families: the survey

Two out of 3 adolescents in favor of compulsory vaccination against Covid. But for 4 out of 10 boys, immunization was the cause of family conflicts, so much so that some of them were banned. This is the photograph of the teenagers between 14 and 18 years old, interviewed for the survey on ‘Scientific Citizenship’ carried out by Ipsos for Save the Children, contained in the XII edition of the Atlas of Childhood at Risk in Italy, out on the 11th. November 2021 in bookstores with Ponte alle Grazie publisher. They, the guys who in the hardest months of the pandemic were often pointed out as responsible for the infection, today are the ones who strongly affirm their faith in science, they think it will save us from the pandemic (73%), believe in the importance of vaccines and are ready to face conflicts in the family, in order to be immunized. They learned more about scientific issues in these months of the pandemic (67%), but despite this, they often felt confused by the information transmitted by the media (62%). Yet they have clear ideas: although more than half of respondents (59%) say that it is understandable that people are scared of the vaccine, almost two out of three teenagers (64%) are in favor of introducing compulsory vaccination. A choice – that of the vaccine – on which they are also consistent in their personal choices: only one in 10 says they have no intention of getting vaccinated, the others either have already done so (60%) or declare they want to do it (30%) at the time of the survey, in August of this year. “Teenagers have paid the highest price of the pandemic: not only the freedom to move in the spaces has been taken away from them, but the freedom to think about the future with certainties. They found themselves cut off from school, from socializing and from all those points of reference in which they had grown up. But they have once again shown that they have strength and are capable of resilience, ”explains Daniela Fatarella, director general of Save the Children. “Their faith in science is a sign of great importance, which demonstrates their desire to look to the future by building it on solid certainties. And to that trust, equally concrete answers must be given because at this point there is no more time: the choices that the country will make today will irremediably shape its future. A future that for our children is already here “. The Atlas of Childhood at Risk, edited also this year by Vichi De Marchi, aims to deepen the theme of scientific citizenship in the context of a broader analysis of the territories of childhood and adolescence. A journey through maps and data that try to redesign the geography of a country where children and adolescents have seen inequalities widen every day, with the help of experts and listening to the voices from the territories. Is it possible to imagine the future? This is what this Atlas attempts to do to discover that tomorrow can only be told starting from the desires, needs, fears and hopes of children and adolescents. They are the ones who tell us how they imagine their life, what school they would like, what planet they hope to live on. “Measuring inequalities today is important not only to record how the pandemic has further accentuated the gaps, but because the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, combined with other European instruments, including the Child Guarantee, and national funds, can represent a turning point ”, explains Raffaela Milano, director of Save the Children’s Italy – Europe Programs. “These data from Ipsos research confirm the awareness and strong sense of responsibility of young people, we cannot continue not to listen to them. Let’s stop making them invisible in the choices that concern them, let’s open spaces for participation in municipalities, schools and associations to plan the NRRR in the area with the boys and girls and let them show us the way to what will be first of all theirs. future”. VACCINE AND CONTRASTS IN THE FAMILY FOR 4 OUT OF 10 CHILDREN The family, much more than school or friends, is the place where vaccines and scientific research have been discussed in the last year. Disagreements over the usefulness of vaccines have erupted in 4 out of 10 families, ‘at least sometimes’. This is what was expressed by the young people, aged between 14 and 18, interviewed for the survey on ‘Scientific citizenship’. Among those who declare it, as many as 6 out of 10 young people argue that the main reason for the conflict was their being in favor of vaccines. However, only in a few cases has the contrast turned into a ban on the vaccine. Young people who wanted to get vaccinated were free to do so in most cases (7 out of 10) even if not everything went smoothly. In fact, three out of 10 are minors who have had conflicts in the family because they wanted to get vaccinated and have had to insist on doing so or have found themselves in a situation of effective impediment. ONLY 17% TALKED ABOUT VACCINES IN SCHOOL Only 17% of the sample said they talked about vaccines and scientific research mainly at school with teachers. Young people are divided when asked who should make the decisions on the rules to fight the pandemic, but they have clear ideas about the need to consider science when making decisions for the country: 3 out of 10 respondents say that to make the decisions must be exclusively the scientists, always 3 out of 10 that must be the politicians, after listening to the scientists and a further 3 out of 10 say that it would be better to be the politicians after listening to the scientists and citizens. Science therefore plays a central role in both direction and decision.