According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, 80% of people in America are infected with the Human Papillomavirus, also known as HPV, at some point in their lives. That would be like 25 out of 30 students in this class have or have had this sexually transmitted disease. Only a group of desks of this class would be safe from its harmful effects. This is an incredibly common and potentially deadly virus, which is why we should force the HPV vaccine, Gardasil, on all adolescent girls starting middle school. For example, one of the biggest concerns about mandatory Gardasil vaccination for girls is whether or not the risks outweigh the benefits. However, if you look at the statistics regarding HPV and cervical cancer, the answer is usually very clear. According to ABC News, of the 25 million doses of Gardasil administered in 2009, only 0.05 percent of those doses were shown to have any type of side effect. And take into account that only 4.26% of the already low 0.05% proved to be serious in any way. The rest of these side effects were symptoms such as dizziness, nausea, or redness on the side of the injection. While the alleged risk of this vaccine is questionable, the risk of the virus is not questionable. 3 out of 4 cases of cervical cancer are all the result of HPV and according to the National Cancer Institute, each year in the United States approximately 11,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and approximately 3,700 of those women will die from it. Why not take this opportunity to prevent and stop these unnecessary deaths? The HPV vaccine prevents the development of 70% of cervical cancer vaccines and is considered 100% effective in protecting against these forms of cervical... half of the paper... 0% that are not. We need to make sure that this vaccine goes one step further than it already is. It is clear that ensuring access to this vaccine is not enough. HPV is the most common sexually transmitted disease, its vaccine should be the most commonly administered vaccine. The federal government, not just state governments, must make this vaccine mandatory for all girls entering middle school, otherwise we are just playing with fear. The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. We need not fear this vaccine. We must not each be one less, but millions less! We fear what would happen if we allowed adolescent girls to receive this vaccine. Will they get sick, become promiscuous? We don't have a definitive answer to this question. We have an answer as to what will happen if they don't get this vaccine. It's better to be safe than sorry. Be confident. Be protected. Be vaccinated.