TEDxMidAtlantic
Ethan Lindenberger: Why we need to fight misinformation about vaccines
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Ethan Lindenberger never got vaccinated as a kid. So one day, he went on Reddit and asked a simple question: "Where do I go to get vaccinated?" The post went viral, landing Lindenberger in the middle of a heated debate about vaccination and, ultimately, in front of a US Senate committee. Less than a year later, the high school senior reports back on his unexpected time in the spotlight and a new movement he's leading to fight misinformation and advocate for scientific truth.
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
To start, I want to share with you guys
something about my hometown
something about my hometown
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of Norwalk, Ohio.
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Now, as this video stated,
I am from Norwalk,
I am from Norwalk,
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which is an extremely small town,
about 15,000 people.
about 15,000 people.
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And really, in Norwalk,
if you want to do something fun,
if you want to do something fun,
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you go to Walmart or drive half an hour
to something more interesting.
to something more interesting.
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And for Norwalk, I've lived there
for my entire life,
for my entire life,
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I'm a senior at the local
public high school,
public high school,
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and you know, it's something
to where I really enjoy my small town.
to where I really enjoy my small town.
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And I'm just a normal kid, you know,
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I lead debate clubs,
I volunteer at my church.
I volunteer at my church.
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And back in November of 2018,
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I made a small Reddit post
asking for advice
asking for advice
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on an issue that I was encountering
that I needed some clarification on.
that I needed some clarification on.
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And this issue, as was stated
in the introduction,
in the introduction,
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was something towards vaccinations
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and how I was not immunized
against various diseases,
against various diseases,
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including polio and measles,
as well as influenza, HPV, hepatitis --
as well as influenza, HPV, hepatitis --
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the standard vaccine
someone my age would receive.
someone my age would receive.
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Now, this question I asked
was simple and pretty strange,
was simple and pretty strange,
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because, you know,
I wanted to get vaccinated.
I wanted to get vaccinated.
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That's kind of weird, but it happened,
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and then this turned into a public story,
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because I wanted to get vaccinated.
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So that was kind of strange,
and then it blew up more,
and then it blew up more,
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and I was doing interviews
and talking to more people,
and talking to more people,
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and again, I'm a normal kid,
I'm not a scientist,
I'm not a scientist,
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I don't lead a non-profit,
I am a pretty casual person,
I am a pretty casual person,
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I'm wearing a hoodie.
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(Laughter)
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Because of this question and this story,
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because I wanted to get vaccinated
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and this interesting situation I was in,
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I saw that I quickly was
in this public setting
in this public setting
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of an extremely important controversy
and discussion taking place.
and discussion taking place.
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Now, I saw that the stories and headlines
were pretty accurate for most part,
were pretty accurate for most part,
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you know, "After defying anti-vax mom,
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Ohio teen expresses
why he got vaccinated."
why he got vaccinated."
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Pretty accurate, pretty true.
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And, as stated, I testified
in front of a Senate committee,
in front of a Senate committee,
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so there, they said,
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"This teen who self-vaccinated
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just ripped his mom's anti-vaxer beliefs
in front of Congress."
in front of Congress."
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OK, I didn't really do that,
but that's fine.
but that's fine.
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And certain news outlets
took it a little further.
took it a little further.
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"'God knows how I'm still alive':
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Teenager, 18, finally gets vaccinated
and attacks his anti-vax parents."
and attacks his anti-vax parents."
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So I did not attack my parents,
that's not accurate at all.
that's not accurate at all.
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And you know, really,
my story was more about controversy.
my story was more about controversy.
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It was about how my mom
was bad and I was good,
was bad and I was good,
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and I was ripping her a new one.
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Not true.
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Not what was happening.
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I never was rude towards my mother,
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and even in public settings
where I expressed
where I expressed
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how her beliefs were misinformed,
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I said that she was a loving mother,
and that's important to understand.
and that's important to understand.
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Because a lot of people, I think,
in the scientific community
in the scientific community
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that understand
why vaccines are so important,
why vaccines are so important,
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can really be confused
by someone who would not vaccinate.
by someone who would not vaccinate.
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Really, we can compare it to someone
not taking their child to the ER.
not taking their child to the ER.
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That's a very dangerous situation to be in
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and it shows some lack of empathy
towards your children in some regards.
towards your children in some regards.
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And really, I can understand that, I can.
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But my mom, she was misinformed
and misled by sources that convinced her
and misled by sources that convinced her
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that if she was a loving parent,
she wouldn't vaccinate.
she wouldn't vaccinate.
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Now, when I encountered this
and I talked to my mom,
and I talked to my mom,
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it didn't obviously go well at first,
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because I was wanting to do something
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that she thought would either cause autism
or maim me for the rest of my life,
or maim me for the rest of my life,
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and I said I wanted to do this --
didn't really fly,
didn't really fly,
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didn't really go well.
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But the thing that I found interesting
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was that when I had started
to get into this circumstance,
to get into this circumstance,
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do these interviews,
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there was one question I proposed.
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Wasn't a positive one:
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What in the world
have I gotten myself into?
have I gotten myself into?
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That's what I asked constantly,
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because, again, I am not an expert,
I am a normal kid,
I am a normal kid,
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and now I'm talking to CNN and Fox News
about a scientific discussion
about a scientific discussion
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that really, should I be facilitating,
should I be commenting on?
should I be commenting on?
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And a lot of people questioned that,
and for good reason.
and for good reason.
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But I never claimed things
I didn't understand,
I didn't understand,
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I talked about my personal experiences.
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And even at the Senate hearing,
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I just talked about
how misinformation is dangerous.
how misinformation is dangerous.
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My mom got a lot of her beliefs
from social media, from Facebook
from social media, from Facebook
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and from organizations that were allowing
their platforms to push lies
their platforms to push lies
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that were very dangerous.
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Now, I also saw that
as I was doing this --
as I was doing this --
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and I was doing this
as respectfully as I could,
as respectfully as I could,
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as accurately as I could --
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I was getting a lot of criticism,
a lot of very angry people.
a lot of very angry people.
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When I was in DC
for that testimony I gave,
for that testimony I gave,
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I was looking around the office building
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and three ladies
got in an elevator with me
got in an elevator with me
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and said I'm the reason their children
are being maimed and murdered
are being maimed and murdered
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and I'm basically Hitler.
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So that was fun.
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(Laughter)
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So really, for most circumstances,
for most teenagers and most people,
for most teenagers and most people,
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when they get criticized,
it leads to doubt.
it leads to doubt.
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And that doubt leads to questioning,
and that questioning leads to quitting.
and that questioning leads to quitting.
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Because, when you have a topic
that you're interested in,
that you're interested in,
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or a movement that you want
to be a part of,
to be a part of,
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and you're taking a stance
and saying what's true,
and saying what's true,
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good idea is don't avoid criticism.
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And for especially young people,
they have a hard time dealing with that,
they have a hard time dealing with that,
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and these important discussions
that need young people to take a part in,
that need young people to take a part in,
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it takes a lot of commitment.
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I'm not saying that I'm amazing,
but here's what's important:
but here's what's important:
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through me joining this movement
and this important scientific discussion,
and this important scientific discussion,
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here's what happened.
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Facebook changed their platform.
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They were going to change
how they approach anti-vax content.
how they approach anti-vax content.
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Amazon even removed misinformed
books about autism and vaccines.
books about autism and vaccines.
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And recently, GoFundMe took down
anti-vax campaigns.
anti-vax campaigns.
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We're talking about how movements
like this are causing actual change,
like this are causing actual change,
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actually impacting the way
this game is played
this game is played
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and the misinformation
that's lying to people
that's lying to people
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and convincing them
of very dangerous ideas.
of very dangerous ideas.
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Now, before I leave, because I only have
a short amount of time,
a short amount of time,
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I want to give you one
important thing to keep in mind.
important thing to keep in mind.
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One important takeaway from this all.
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What you can do and what I did.
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I didn't do amazing research and studies
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and take information
and present it to people;
and present it to people;
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I didn't have deep, intellectual,
scientific debates with people.
scientific debates with people.
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All I did was share my story.
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And that's enough for most people:
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to understand the anecdotal experiences,
the real people behind the data.
the real people behind the data.
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Because data doesn't resonate with people.
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People resonate with people.
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And you have to keep that in mind,
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because when you are talking
about a topic,
about a topic,
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and you're sharing your story,
and sharing what is important,
and sharing what is important,
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you stay authentic.
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Stay authentic to the data,
to the information,
to the information,
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to the importance of this topic.
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If I was talking to an individual
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and they said,
"Why are vaccines important?"
"Why are vaccines important?"
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I would say nothing alongside
any other answer,
any other answer,
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I would not in any way fathomably
give them answer outside of:
give them answer outside of:
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people are dying, and that's important.
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And that children are dying,
and that's important.
and that's important.
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And that we're having disease outbreaks
that should not be here.
that should not be here.
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And I believe, as John Boyle put it,
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these diseases should be in history books
and not in our communities.
and not in our communities.
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So because of that, you need to make
a personal decision to stand up for truth.
a personal decision to stand up for truth.
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You need to make
a personal decision for yourself
a personal decision for yourself
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to say, "This is accurate,
this is what's real,
this is what's real,
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and these lies are not OK."
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Because it started with me
doing that on a personal level.
doing that on a personal level.
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I wasn't going from small town
to Senate in a day.
to Senate in a day.
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It wasn't like, I go to bed, I wake up
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and there's Senator Isakson,
asking me questions about vaccines.
asking me questions about vaccines.
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It was a slow progression
and it started with me saying,
and it started with me saying,
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"This is true,
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my mom doesn't believe it, but that's OK."
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Because that doesn't change the truth,
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doesn't change what's accurate
and what's important.
and what's important.
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And honestly, the biggest thing,
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this whole idea of unbreakable:
remain unbroken.
remain unbroken.
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When you stand up for what's true
and you have that criticism,
and you have that criticism,
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and you're trying to cause
a movement, don't sway.
a movement, don't sway.
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Thank you.
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07:16
(Applause)
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Ethan Lindenberger - Science advocateEthan Lindenberger advocates for science.
Why you should listen
Ethan Lindenberger is an 18-year-old High school student at Norwalk High School in Norwalk Ohio. He is by all accounts a normal teenager: he serves at his local church, has a part-time job, works an internship and takes part in extracurricular activities. In early February of 2019, Lindenberger began to find media attention after pursuing vaccines against the approval of his mother. This became a national story and led him to testify to the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee about his experiences. Since then, Lindenberger has continued to take part in advocating for science. He believes that everyone has a role to play in ending misinformation, and he has spoken to the importance of scientific truth while maintaining respect for those that have fallen victim to misinformation.
Ethan Lindenberger | Speaker | TED.com