Child welfare authorities are often accused of not adequately addressing the cases they should deal with and which require careful social work, and of unjustifiably harassing families that do not need any "care" from the state. Unfortunately, I have to say that this accusation is not unfounded. This is exactly the case from Brno-Králova Pole.

It all started by being young parents from Brno decided not to vaccinate their daughter born in 2011 due to the genetic burden in the family (excluding tuberculosis). Although otherwise the family took proper care of the child and went with him for regular check-ups, pediatrician MUDr. Věra Zelená announced their decision not to vaccinate to the social department, where her parents were invited. The father stated in the minutes that consider the pros and cons of vaccination with their wife and that they believe that, given their autoimmune disease, vaccination is risky in their case and could increase the risk of developing the disease in their daughter.. This announcement had previously been sent by the father to the sanitary station. The parents wanted to treat the doctor and the authorities fairly and openly take responsibility for non-vaccination nand yourself.

In the middle of 2012, the parents moved with their child to Prague and found a new pediatrician there, which they announced to the original pediatrician. In October 2012, his father received an email from social worker Kristýna Štětinová from the social department of Brno-Královo Pole, who requested the announcement of the current address and the name of the new pediatrician.

My father objected to this. On the one hand, he considered reporting by a doctor to be illegal, as she should only report cases of child abuse and neglect, which was obviously not the case for them. He also pointed out that non-vaccinating a child is their free decision based on family history and ethical beliefswhich is protected by the Constitution. He referred to the decision of the Constitutional Court, which allows exceptions due to the convictions of parents. He told the social worker that this closed the matter for him and recommended that she give her precious time to children who were in real danger and needed her help.

But that did not end. The head of the Social Department, Marcela Zvonařová, spoke to the father of the child and asked again for a statement of the place of residence and the name of the pediatrician. She also responded to her father's earlier announcement that her parents were at risk of being vaccinated by the fact that the doctor's announcement was "completely legitimate" and that the work of the Social Department was aimed at all children requiring some help or support and not just socially inappropriate families children do not care how the father "mistakenly believes". Surprisingly, however she did not tell what specific "help or support" the child of this family needs from the office.

So it lifted the already university-educated man, for whom the interest of his child was always in the first place, from the chair. He found it absurd that officials were so deeply interested in his family. As no law requires him to tell them his whereabouts and the name of the pediatrician, he saw their repeated calls as unjustified coercion and invasion of family privacy. In addition, he feared that their decent and helpful pediatrician would be contacted by the social worker, put pressure on him and disrupt their relationship of trust and the problem-free care of the child so far.

The young man therefore sent the lady leader his last answer, to which he asked there has been no response from the Office. The message can be an inspiration for other parents how to communicate with a social worker who is interested in them without a legal reason, especially in relation to vaccination.

And the motivation to solve the matter with the social worker in this energetic way? When I use the young father's own words ...

I do not intend to submit to an arrogant office whose employees do not know the laws and the Institute of the Czech Republic. I refuse to tell them confidential information about my stay and our pediatrician. We live in a democratic state of law, and I do not intend to engage in the illegal behavior of the authorities or anyone who cooperates with these authorities. I am convinced that the current poor state of the law and the rule of law in the Czech Republic is caused by the fact that most people do not have legal awareness and mainly do not resort to their rights, they close their eyes, they do not engage in politics or civil sector.

I am no longer in Bolshevism but in a free rule of law.

Published by Zuzana Candigliota, blog.respekt.cz