Not the hill I would choose to die on. Frankly, I agree with your son. The risk of getting covid which is beyond trivial at his age and after two shots, doesn't pencil out to me with the myocarditis data as well as the poor performance of this vaccine anyway.

My 14 yo wanted to get the booster and I told her no. There's something not right about the current situation and I think its time for a pause while we wait for things to shake out.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:his body, his choice.

then he can move out and support himself. life is a two way street.

Who hurt you as a child? My way or the highway? Someone not give you a voice in your home? My teens are being raised to have thoughtful consideration to everyone in their lives, including the people they somewhat wield power over.

I'm sorry the people in your life didn't do that for you growing up.

His body, his choice. It's a medical decision. We can't pick and choose which medical decisions we leave up to our kids.

This one may/may not have life long consequences. It's good to set the tone for discussion instead of a authoritarian stance.

While it's uncommon to have the extreme side effects, it's not uncommon to feel crappy after getting a booster. Have the chat with your son as to why he doesn't want a booster.

Many, many countries are not requiring teens/children to get boosted. It's not the end of the world. It's a great time to set the stage for much more difficult discussions that may happen in the future.

My children had lots of questions, including my 17 year old. There are grown adults who aren't getting the booster out of vaccine fatigue and a growing feeling like this will be an endless amount of shots. Why not open the discussion with him?

To those who are not giving their teens a choice, good grief. It's something they are putting in their bodies. It's not your body. Do you hold your teenage girls down to give them DepoProvera?

Absolutely. I let all 3 of my teens decide. They all got it because they did not want to have to quarantine for school. I did not care one way or the other.

I don't have a booster and am not getting one. I get a choice. They get a choice.

Didn't ask, just scheduled the boosters. And, they both wanted them

My teens got their boosters willingly, but I would have required it even if they resisted. FWIW, I have an extreme needle phobic kid...and we've definitely had to strong arm this kid into being vaccinated over the years.

Whew, this is really hard OP.

I think I’d first try to understand what his concerns were so that I could try to allay them (and/or counter any conspiracy theories or bad information). There’s so much bad, scary information out there; I’d want him to feel like he could talk about his fears, and I’d hope that I could be sympathetic and help him overcome them.

If that didn’t work, I’d probably go the route of a PP who would put restrictions on what he could do, on the premise that it’s my responsibility as a parent to protect him and ensure he’s not putting anyone else at risk. So, no indoor sports, no indoor socializing, no eating in restaurants.

If that didn’t work…I’m not sure what I would do, honestly.

Our 17 yr old wanted the booster but if she hadn’t I first would have put restrictions on what she could do if she didn’t have it (no indoor parties, games, etc). And then I would have insisted.

Their brains aren’t fully formed and they are still minors. Plus, why wouldn’t a kid want the booster? What they were listening to would be more of a concern.

Anonymous wrote:I'd ask him more questions about this. Why does he not want to get boosted exactly? Show him the drop in protection that happens 6 months later.

I'd also frame it as civic service, which it IS and is one of the biggest flubs in messaging we have right now. It is your duty to your fellow citizens to be as protected as possible and being a good American means getting vaccinated.

I have no idea the right messaging but I actually had the opposite reaction to US messaging particularly the my mask protects you, your mask protects me. (Meaning we are too individualistic of a society for messages on shared protection. I can see it not really hitting with a 17 year old boy).

I'd ask him more questions about this. Why does he not want to get boosted exactly? Show him the drop in protection that happens 6 months later.

I'd also frame it as civic service, which it IS and is one of the biggest flubs in messaging we have right now. It is your duty to your fellow citizens to be as protected as possible and being a good American means getting vaccinated.

Anonymous wrote:his body, his choice.

then he can move out and support himself. life is a two way street.

Yes, both my teens had to get the vaccine. Parent up.

No. And wait for it, we didn't even force my 17 year old to get vaccinated. We allowed them to make the choice and eventually they did choose to get the vaccine. As parents we already had it.

I’d be asking what conspiracy theory he’s hearing and try to get him out of that algorithm. It’s scary out there for boys. YouTube takes them from video game related content to conspiracies super fast.

I make them.