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

Expect the best, but prepare for the worst.


I don't want my children to waste time looking for the ideal job.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Tue, 02-08-2005 - 4:10pm
Someday, her children will meet other children who are just as smart, creative and nonconformist as they are.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 01-05-2005
Tue, 02-08-2005 - 4:12pm

The top third of that report card lists specifically the things your child needs to do acceptably well with, in order to benefit from whatever strenghts and abilities he may have, and in order to minimize the negative impact of any weaknesses. In school, on a team, in a band, in a research lab, on the plant floor, as an entrepreneur, in the corporate world, on the world stage. Anywhere. It has nothing to do with being a kiss up to others, and everything to do with realizing that society is not going to be kissing up to your child. Its how ones actions can end up being actually useful to society. Unless your goal is to actually, on purpose, raise a self sufficient hermit who will go out and live in a cabin in the wild somewhere...or to raise someone who can't function in a self sufficient way in society and will be in effect a burden...then that top third is pretty darn important. Because it isn't even now, and isn't going to get anymore so, all about your kid as the years go on.

I have particularily non-compliant kids, as things go. Yet they do very well on that top third. I think you are just making excuses for your son...

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Tue, 02-08-2005 - 4:14pm
Who says it does? Many people are drawn to contrarians.
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-04-1997
Tue, 02-08-2005 - 4:14pm

Actually, my kids aren't intellectual giants. They tend to score in the 70th to 80th percentile in standardized tests. But the older one is wildly creative, a problem solver like no other, artistic, has good fine motor skills, is extremely tenacious, makes friends easily, has great verbal skills, a gift for micmicking and for picking up languages and accents, memorizes things easily, has a wicked sense of humor, is incredibly adaptable and curious about the world around him. The younger one is also extremely tenacious, very good with mechanical things, quick on the uptake with spacial and mathematical relationships, also very curious about the world around him but in a different way -- the older one likes social relationships among people, the younger is more likely to be trying to figure out what holds the universe together. Younger one is very sensitive to suffering in the world around him, empathetic with animals, loves nature, and has a fierce loyalty to friends and loved ones. Both are voracious readers and information hounds. Younger one, somewhat surprisingly, is more likely to be a leader among his peers than older brother, who tends to blend into a crowd.

Their schooling has helped identify and develop their talents, for sure. I have chosen schools for them that maximize their native gifts and help them develop in areas they are weaker.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-28-2003
Tue, 02-08-2005 - 4:15pm
A small but devout fan club?
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Tue, 02-08-2005 - 4:16pm
I'm sure they'll like that very much. (Maybe they'll marry one of them.) But so?
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Tue, 02-08-2005 - 4:18pm
So contrarians = people pleasers after all?

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Tue, 02-08-2005 - 4:19pm

Precisely what I mean. An optimist expects the best, and prepares for the best.

"But a lot of life involves sucking it up, n'est pas?" Not so far. And I don't think sucking up really prepares one for sucking it up anyhow.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Tue, 02-08-2005 - 4:21pm

You don't ever suck up to your DH?

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