Educational Media Reviews Online

The debate over the immunization of infants does not seem likely to subside any time soon, including fierce (almost religious) adherents on both sides of the argument. So a reasoned middle-ground approach, such as the one put forth by Dr. Jay Gordon, an eminent pediatrician, in this film of a recent seminar he conducted before an audience of parents seeking answers, should be a welcome addition to the mix. Indeed, Dr. Gordon’s explanation of the public health vs. private concerns vs. the big pharmaceutical industries issues is very helpful, as is his advice to parents to personally weigh the risks vs. the benefits for their individual children in deciding whether to go ahead with the immunization in question or delay it or even decline it altogether.

However, the filmed presentation is overlong and the organization is not ideal. These drawbacks plus the intrinsically tedious nature of a filmed speaker, however humorous and engaging, necessarily detract from an otherwise compelling topic. The audience for this DVD would also seem to be mainly middle-class parents and higher, rather than lower income groups with less education, as Dr. Gordon occasionally addresses some topics that are unavoidably complex. Still, this would be a good addition to parenting collections, particularly if other materials in the collection also address the immunization issue.