I realize that chicken pox isn't as much of a problem as other diseases but, as others have pointed out, it doesn't always follow a benign course. I think on balance the benefits of vaccination far outweigh the risks.
No, and the vaccines don't always follow a benign course, either. The gap between the risk of the vaccine and the risk of the disease as a child for Chicken Pox is fairly slim and the risk of either is lower than the risk of getting hit by lightning. And need I point out that parents make all sorts of choices for their children, from putting them in a car to letting them go outside when it rains, that carry a far greater risk to their children than not vaccinating them does. If that low level of risk justifies government mandates in the name of safety, then the government is justified in controlling our entire lives.
I think on balance the benefits of vaccination far outweigh the risks.
The research done before the vaccine was widely mandated suggested that the cost and risks of the vaccine did not outweigh the medical costs and risk of just letting children get Chicken Pox. The only way you get a cost benefit is if you include the cost of parents staying home with their children and ignore the potential long term risks (e.g., loss of immunity) from the vaccine. And like I said earlier in the thread, if you feel the benefits outweigh the risks, by all means vaccinate your kids. But it's the height of arrogance to tell other people what to do with their children when the risks in question are so very low. I'm not trying to tell you what to do with your children but you are trying to tell other people what to do with their children.