Childhood Obesity Vent

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Childhood Obesity Vent
614
Sat, 02-05-2005 - 2:46pm

I haven't posted in a few months, so I hope you remember me ;) Our computer was down (finally got myself a brand new shiny one last week!) and well . . . . life is busy. Anyway, I hope to post more often again - I was just getting to know some of you when our computer went out. So . . . . . my topic of the day that I am enraged about.

I found out at a PTO meeting last week that the Texas Legislature is trying to pass a new law to go in to effect for the 2006-07 school year which states that teachers MUST include the childs WEIGHT and BMI on their report cards. I am so angry, I could lose my mind over it.

First of all - teachers are not health care professionals. Secondly - by listing a childs weight and BMI on a report card, we are helping childhood obesity how? And can I have that of the teachers while your at it? I was told that the snow-cone machine was no longer in use, because it "doesn't meet the state's nutritional guidelines" - a snowcone!?! And we serve WHAT in our school cafeteria?

Why don't you start some classes to help educate parents, re-vamp the school cafeteria so that kids CAN make better choices, because what they have to choose from can't be all that swell. Do you think that obesity is 100% controlled at home - or will the school take some of that responsibility for it? And in a society that already has enough body-image problems, how will this help.

Am I nuts for getting worked up about this? Has anyone else heard of this in their state? Looking forward to hearing what everyone has to say!

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-28-2003
Tue, 02-08-2005 - 3:53pm
Ahhh, one can only dream, can't she?
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Tue, 02-08-2005 - 3:58pm
You said they'd have the savvy to keep any job they wanted - I presume including a tenured teaching position?

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iVillage Member
Registered: 09-04-1997
Tue, 02-08-2005 - 4:01pm
Most definitely -- they'd figure out what they needed to do, and do it, if it were the right position for them.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-28-2003
Tue, 02-08-2005 - 4:02pm
She's trying to find out if you had to overcome adversity to become a professor. Because the point is that those of us who don't force or encourage our children to "play the game" at school (by focusing on working toward good grades, pleasing the teacher, and so forth) are creating children who will be unable to handle the adversity that they are sure to encounter someday in the world of work.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Tue, 02-08-2005 - 4:03pm

Remember, I'm not trying to maximize those things.

If I gained more boyfriends or employment opportunities by being someone I'm not, I really don't see what that gains me. I don't even see how one could gain a "closer" friendship by being a people-pleaser.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Tue, 02-08-2005 - 4:05pm
What attributes, other than sheer intellect, do you believe they each possess that makes you so confident?

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Tue, 02-08-2005 - 4:05pm
This is the kind of thing you say which makes me think you are a pessimist at heart. The "prepare for the worst" rather than the "prepare for the best" mentality.
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-04-1997
Tue, 02-08-2005 - 4:06pm
Overcome adversity? Would that have been the parents who didn't believe in higher education for girls and so refused to spend a dime toward my college education? I put myself through college and grad school and got out with only 2000 debt that I paid off within six months, if that counts. The tenure requirements are pretty well established, and I met them, Had the first unanimous vote of my department to advance toward tenure in the last seven cases, so I must be doing something right.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Tue, 02-08-2005 - 4:06pm
Are you just naturally contrarian, or do you adopt that stance to deliberately keep people at a distance?

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Tue, 02-08-2005 - 4:08pm

Then what the heck is "nly the average and merely above average need grades! Her kids are too noncomformist to actually need grades or want to go into a competitive school environment or workplace."

He gets grades whether he "needs" the feedback of them or not.

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