Parents can get their children vaccinated now before the back-to-school rush hits in August.
📅 What’s Happening: Cobb County health workers give required school shots and health screenings at four locations around the county. Parents must make appointments by calling or going online.
📍 Where To Go: The four locations are Marietta, Acworth-Kennesaw, Douglasville and Smyrna. Call 770-514-2300 with questions. Different online forms let parents book shots only, health screenings only, or both together.
🕐 The Details: Most locations stay open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Marietta offers extra evening hours on Tuesdays until 7 p.m. for busy families. Douglasville opens earliest at 7:30 a.m.
💉 Why It Matters: Vaccines protect your child and classmates from serious diseases like measles and whooping cough, which before the advent of vaccines were deadly to children.
Vaccination works against these diseases because of something called “herd immunity,” meaning most people in a community are vaccinated, making it hard for a disease to spread and protecting everyone, even those who can’t get the vaccine. However, if too many people choose not to vaccinate, the disease can spread more easily, and herd immunity breaks down, putting everyone at risk — especially babies, older people, and those with weak immune systems.
🎓 The Big Picture: Georgia requires children to have certain vaccines before starting school to prevent disease outbreaks. These same diseases once killed thousands of children each year before vaccines became common. Getting shots early helps families avoid the August rush when everyone scrambles to meet back to school deadlines.
How to Read and Understand the News
Truth doesn’t bend because we dislike it.
Facts don’t vanish when they make us uncomfortable.
Events happen whether we accept them or not.
Good reporting challenges us. The press isn’t choosing sides — it’s relaying what official, verified sources say. Blaming reporters for bad news is like blaming a thermometer for a fever.
Americans have a history of misunderstanding simple things. In the 1980s, A&W rolled out a 1/3-pound burger to compete with McDonald’s Quarter Pounder. It failed because too many people thought 1/3 was smaller than 1/4. If we can botch basic math, we can certainly misread the news.
Before dismissing a story, ask yourself:
- What evidence backs this?
- Am I reacting to facts or feelings?
- What would change my mind?
- Am I just shooting the messenger?
And one more: Am I assuming bias just because I don’t like the story?
Smart news consumers seek truth, not comfort.
B.T. Clark
B.T. Clark is an award-winning journalist and the Publisher of The Georgia Sun. He has 25 years of experience in journalism and served as Managing Editor of Neighbor Newspapers in metro Atlanta for 15 years and Digital Director at Times-Journal Inc. for 8 years. His work has appeared in several newspapers throughout the state including Neighbor Newspapers, The Cherokee Tribune and The Marietta Daily Journal. He is a Georgia native and a fifth-generation Georgian.
