Get Schooled

By Rena P

February 17, 2005 04:43 PM | Link to this

Georgia schools can’t even teach. We rank so far behind the rest of the country, and now they want to have a say about our children’s weight? Why don’t these lawmakers come up with a constructive plan, like get more children good health coverage? Doctors should be playing a role in a child’s life on this kind of issue, not a failing school system.

What do you expect when a 5th grader can go into the cafeteria and order pizza, tator-tots and chocolate milk for lunch? Lets clean up the lunch menus and give the children healthy food (what a novel idea).

I challenge all the lawmakers, teachers, principals and school board members to get on a scale and lets see what their body fat index is. If they pass then I’m open to hear what they have to say. But I’ll bet you they won’t pass.

By fishbabe

February 18, 2005 08:21 AM | Link to this

Daily recess, perhaps even twice a day, along with healthier lunch choices will do much more to combat obesity than a BMI report will. My child’s elemenartu school allows a 15 minute recess twice a week. Lunch choices are high in fat and simple carbohydrates. Let’s address the cause!

By Lisa L

February 18, 2005 08:45 AM | Link to this

Childhood obesity is a very real problem but this bill would only hurt the ones that it intends to help. Put a weight on the report card of an overweight child with good grades and they will never be proud of this accomplishment again. I’m outraged that someone thinks this would be a good idea and could head children with weight problems in the right direction, just the opposite. Schools should concentrate on removing soda machines, serve better lunches and provide more physical activity. Teach children by example not by breaking their spirit.

By Buzz Brockway

February 18, 2005 09:29 AM | Link to this

Instead of teaching kids reading, writing and arithmetic, schools today teach kids sex, self-esteem, and they meddle in their personal habits. What’s wrong with this picture? Buzz Blog

By Bob

February 18, 2005 09:34 AM | Link to this

What next? Zero tolerance for overweight? If a parent allows their child to become obese, then putting a grade on a card is going to mean little or nothing. Little by little it seems government feels they are better equiped at parenting, and maybe some parents do need a little more education on nutrition than the student does. Is common sense considered an absurdity in our society now? I’m beginning to think that common sense is a scary concept to some in our governing bodies. No pun intended.

By Lisa

February 18, 2005 10:01 AM | Link to this

While I agree that the school lunch program needs a major nutritional overhaul, I do NOT agree that the world of education should be in any way involved in a child’s BMI. When are parents going to be held accountable for their children’s welfare?

In some states, arresting parents of excessively truant students has significantly reduced truancy rates. While this may seem extreme, it may take something similarly severe to make parents realize that feeding their children fast food because they’re too tired or lazy to fix healthy food is irresponsible parenting, perhaps even child endangerment or neglect.

By Pat K

February 18, 2005 10:02 AM | Link to this

Just another thing to lower a child’s self-confidence and feed the ever-present low self-esteem problem children have. Just as schools and religion don’t mix, I feel that educators are not responsible for policing the health habits of students. Providing health education and PE is their job.

By Greg

February 18, 2005 10:13 AM | Link to this

It was good news to hear that the sponsors of the so-called student obesity bill decided so quickly to drop this absurd piece of legislation. Sadly, though, I think we’ve seen how out of touch with reality our legislators are. For surely, if a single educator had been consulted beforehand, our representatives would see the absolute hypocrisy of the idea of schools telling parents that their kids are fat, when a) Physical Education has been cut to the bone; b) recess, in many districts, was eliminated years ago; and c) the school cafeterias feed children a diet heavy on fried and fatty foods. It’s not rocket science: Our students are not obese because we haven’t told them so. They are obese because we have made them so.

By Ann Morgan

February 18, 2005 10:34 AM | Link to this

The job of Georgia schools is to TEACH children not to parent them. I AM THE PARENT! I have to spend many hours a week teaching my children what should have been taught in class. I have to make up for physical exercise that my children do not get enough of at school. I have to educate my children about good nutrition so they can make good choices among the TERRIBLY POOR choices offered at school. Why don’t the schools start doing their job— teach , including teaching nutrition and offering good lunches and let me do my job as a parent. The damage this type of GRADE would do to my kids especially my girls is enourmous. Girls already have a problem with false images in magazines and movies , can you imagine the pressure girls will feel once they get their “fat grade “. Can you imagine the torture some girls will have to go through! does this grade take into account different body types ?

By Christy

February 18, 2005 10:40 AM | Link to this

My child is a slight bit overweight but she is also the tallest kid in class. She also has the highest testing scores in the class but she is deemed failing because of her weight while the kid who is eating the paste gets a passing grade because he’s skinny?????

By Julie

February 18, 2005 10:52 AM | Link to this

So now the government wants to legislate our weight. Wake up and watch out people!!

By David

February 18, 2005 10:57 AM | Link to this

One thing you can always count on from government is that they always have a worse solution to address a problem they caused or helped cause in the first place.

Schools are now built without playgrounds. Recess is either non-existent or so infrequent as to make it pointless. To make sure there is no way to have recess, most playgrounds have been covered by classroom trailers. Kids with energy to burn are drugged down with Ritalin and the like to keep them subdued and to cover the need for recess. Kids keep getting fatter and fatter.

School lunches are nothing but empty calories. Worse, kids are given almost no time to eat. One boy I know has to wait so long in line that he has barely 5 minutes to throw down the garbage he is served. That is not teaching healthy habits. Nothing in this scenario is serving his body or his digestion well. The prison only has one way of operating though, and he has no other choice.

Another author already stated the obvious. Government schools can’t even manage to teach. They won’t even own up to their own gross incompetance or inadequacies, but now they want to put another black mark on the report cards of kids they have already failed.

Private schools still have recess. Homeschooled kids can take a break whenever they need to and can play and burn off steam. Parents, you already know the solution, yet you continue to do battle with a system that has no intention nor desire to ever attempt to meet your needs as an education consumer (because you are not the ones they actually have to keep happy).

Please walk away from the government failure and do yourselves and your kids a favor.

By Ann

February 18, 2005 10:59 AM | Link to this

Teachers are expected to be counselors, parents, educators, counselors, and now they want schools to be responsible for kids’ weight? Give me a break! PARENTS…TAKE SOME RESPONSIBILITY!

Oh, and lets not forget the wonderful message that we will be sending to those kids who are already at risk for eating disorders. Sure, let’s publish your weight…that won’t give you a complex.

By Charles

February 18, 2005 11:16 AM | Link to this

My biggest curiosity, as I see Georgia sitting proudly at 49th in education, is what resources were going to be wasted on this effort to point out the fat kids in our schools?

First of all, the report cards would all have to be redesigned, surely costing a bundle for some cronie designer. Then the wasted hours of school health workers who would have to line up the children and parade them to the scale and then have to record the BFI using either an expensive electronic scale, or a cheap, but inaccurate caliper. Then of course there would be the cost of counseling for the children who will be depressed from the jeering and name-calling that will surely take place in the hallway scale lines. Oh and the cost of the literature that most parents who are obviously NOT concerned for their overweight children will likely toss in the round file right away. Where does it end?

Also, since this could become a DFCS issue (after all, it’s about “The Children”), there would be more costs for caseworkers to be sent to homes to scold parents who think Lunchables are a balanced diet. Imagine how that part of the equation will spiral out of control. Imagine parents having to attend classes or pay fines for not enforcing the loss of weight for their growing child. Imagine having children put into foster care because they’re fat!

Every dime of this issue needs to be considered so that it can be diverted from this foolish attempt at control and placed back into the school system to be used for what I assume is the primary purpose of schools; educating our children. As a parent, tax payer, property owner and educational advocate I am continually amazed at the kinds of morons we have making decisions about our schools. It’s as if they have never been in a Georgia school. Or any school for that matter!

By Stan

February 18, 2005 11:32 AM | Link to this

It is amazing that everyone talks about a problem and then when someone attempts something to solve the problem, all anyone wants to do is complain about the solution. First of all, many posts blame the school system when it had nothing to do with this bill. Second, Schools feed kids one meal on average a day for 180 days out of 365 days a year. So it has to be the schools fault for making kids fat, get real. No one forces kids to eat school lunch, fix their “healthy lunch” for them and send it to school. Schools are forced to meet guidelines which force them to have so much fat in them. Not only that, have you ever cooked food for 500-1500 kids in 3-4 hours time. Schools are there to educate every kid. Even the ones who have no desire to be there or just there to cause problems. Schools have to worry about lawsuits, parental backlash, and so many government regulations it is hard to keep up. The reason private schools and home schooling works is it can select its students. I do not support this bill, but putting blame on schools is unfair and wrong. Nobody wants to see kids get hurt, but trying to protect them from everything is crippling them later on. Do we as parents not have any blame in our kids being overweight. As with most problems, people like to point fingers when the real problem is usually staring at us in the mirror.

By Dave M.

February 18, 2005 11:59 AM | Link to this

I would like to thank Rep.Stephanie Benfield for at least showing some leadership in this area.It should really bother most people to see 100lb. first graders,it does me.I believe basic fitness should also be required.
There should be fitness goals for the entire state at each grade level. That’s how you make a better nation by making better people. Or we can continue to make Dr Phil.Jenny Craig,cosmetic surgeons,etc all rich!!

By RS

February 18, 2005 12:31 PM | Link to this

First, let’s get to the root of the problem: School lunches. Remove junk vending machines & replace them with healthy snacks & bottled water. The actual lunches need an extreme makeover. Let’s have more low-carb & vegetarian options too. What ever happened to PE & recess? If these things fail, yes, let the parents know their child is headed for the danger zone but let’ keep the child’s weight confidential; overweight kids don’t need to deal with more ostracization & bullying than they already do!

By Marc M

February 18, 2005 12:33 PM | Link to this

Let me start by stating that I am the proud father of three school-age daughters. (I am still married to their mother as well.) Of course, I will be labeled an insensitive, heartless jerk, but I am all for the weights being posted on report cards.

We have a larger issue at hand. The breakup of families and the resultant sedentary lifestyle (“don’t bother me, go watch TV!”) has led to a serious problem with obesity in children.

Everybody is so worried about “self-esteem”. If the parents would PARENT their children in the areas of education, nutrition and physical activity, this problem wouldn’t be so rampant. However, since dad is usually not present and mom is working, most parents are just too tired at the end of the day to deal with their kids except on the most elementary of levels. Self-esteem is EARNED by the children identifying a problem and actually accomplishing something, not by hiding the fact that there is a problem.

The opponents don’t want to face the fact that not only are their children stupid (thanks to Georgia’s abysmal public school record), but fat and lazy as well. Way to go, mom and dad! (Or mom and mom or dad and dad or mom and boyfriend, etc.)

Have a nice day!

By Leslie

February 18, 2005 01:15 PM | Link to this

Let’s get back to basics, look at what the real problem is, and stop side stepping the real issues.

I have been writing the school board for years now regarding recess. If the schools are so concerned about children’s weight why don’t they put recess back into the schools? When we were children we had recess 2 times a day, time to go outside after lunch, and school was from 8:00 am to 3:13 pm. Now the only exercise the children get is walking to and from lunch, where they are not even allowed to talk. We have taken away not only time for them to run, but to socialize as well. Exercise is not only good for the body, but for the mind as well. If they would put recess back into the schools maybe the use of drugs to calm our children down would not be as highly used. The bottom line is we do not allow our children to be children any longer.

I also think this issue goes hand in hand with the school start date as well. OK, we have fat kids, no recess, and now they want to take away Summer vacation? A time for summer camp and a different kind of learning?!? Let’s face it, Summer Camps will not be able to open for such a short amount of time … they can not afford it, and the help they hire will be in school. Also, do the research, other places have tried it and it made no difference at all. If they keep extending the school year, go to year round school, our children will get even fatter. Parents will not have a place to put the children for 2 weeks here and 2 weeks there. Therefore, many children will be left home alone, told not to answer the door, not to go outside, and call every hour. Parents have to work and pay taxes… you know that thing that pays for the schools, school board, and teachers.

Our children go to school from 7:50 am to 2:15 pm. Then, many of the children go into ASP until the parents get off work to pick them up. Most parents do not even get home until dark, and then it is time to make dinner, do homework, get baths done, maybe get some laundry done, play a quick game with the kids and go to bed. While the schools are blaming parents for overweight children, which my child is not, they need to be looking at themselves. I speak for many people when I say “we are sick of the schools attitudes”. Everything is put off on the parents. Yet, when we go to the School Board Meetings we are not heard, our opinions do not matter, and it is a big waste of time because they are going to do what they think and not listen to the majority, the people that pay their salaries. I for one will not be voting for anyone that is sitting on the Cobb County Board at this time and I know of many other people that are so frustrated that they will not either. They seem to forget, we voted them in, we can vote them out.

The Schools just want us to drug our children so that they will sit all day long and not need to run, play or talk. As an adult I can not sit still for hours on end, not speak, not move around and be expected to be still. OH GOSH, and they wonder why the children are fat? What Georgia needs to do is get back to basics. Extend the school day one hour, like when we were children, and allow the children to be children. Schools are for the kids, not the faculty. It’s time we started doing what is best for the children, listen to the people that pay taxes for the schools, and put the things back into the schools that promoted good health, clear thinking, and kept our children off drugs. It kind of funny when you think about it. Our schools are constantly talking about say not to drugs. Yet they push the use of drugs to make our children lethargic so that they don’t have to deal with normal children. I say let them run, burn off energy, get some exercise, and be able to think more clearly … It’s called recess.

By Sarah

February 18, 2005 01:47 PM | Link to this

So, if I understand this correctly… students are overweight, yet Buckhead residents do not want Pace academy to build a track becuase it is detrimental to the neighborhood. Give me a break!

By Johnson

February 18, 2005 03:28 PM | Link to this

If parents can’t tell their kids are getting fat without a report card, they don’t have any business having kids in the first place. Does the legislature think people in Georgia are that clueless? **Are people in Georgia that clueless?

By Monica

February 18, 2005 03:29 PM | Link to this

Marc M,

My happily married parents were very supportive. My mother stayed home, and my father, who did have long days at work, still managed to spend quality time with me and with my brother and sister. All three of us were honor students and had good lessons in nutrition and physical exercise. Our parents heaped praise on us. And if my weight and BMI had been on my report card, I would have been mortified.

Obviously, you are not familiar with the cruelty of children when they are in school. While is matters what your parents say or how much you know your father loves you, what matters more is the mean boy in sixth grade who calls you fat because you don’t look like the anorexic swimsuit models. Students already target other students for their weight; do you know what would happen if that insignificant number were on a report card?

The BMI chart does not take into consideration the fact that muscle mass weighs more than body fat. While this issue may not matter in elementary school, it makes a huge difference for middle school and high school students. An athletic female who weighs more than the Barbie doll who is lucky to have good genes will be ridiculed because some chart says she is overweight.

By ConcernedMom

February 18, 2005 04:51 PM | Link to this

First, a knowing a child’s weight is part of the responsibility of the parent/home and the child’s physician. Each and every time a child goes to the doctor, that child is weighed. Parents are aware of how much their child weighs, and putting it on a report card won’t change the response of the parent. A child goes to the doctor at least once per year, for his/her yearly checkup. I ask you, do you really think that parents aren’t aware of how much a child weighs?

Second, writing it out, for anyone and everyone who looks at the report card to see, could be (and will be) incredibly humiliating for the overweight child. Humiliation is NOT the way to motivate a child to lose weight. Do you really want to add stress to a child who is most likely teased and made fun of every day? I remember the weigh-ins we had at school. We had to stand in a line and the person weighing us would call our weight out loud for someone else to write down. During part of my childhood, I went through a chubby phase, and the kids laughed and teased me. I wanted to die - right there. It was so humiliating, and I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy. You cannot possibly be in favor of humiliating children, can you? This is particularly humiliating for girls, as girls are under so much societal pressure to be thin. Look at the toys marketed to girls - those horrible Bratz dolls, Barbies, etc. You don’t see any that look like real girls.

Third, placing a child’s weight on a report card WILL lead to discrimination. When the child begins to apply to programs, colleges and for scholarships to/from various organizations, the weight will be right there, for that person to see. Someone who is fat-phobic or sees someone overweight as a “lard bucket,” or one of the other lovely names out there, will automatically make assumptions about that child, that he or she is lazy or eats badly, etc.

Fourth, being overweight comes from a myriad of causes. Sometimes it is inactivity, sometimes it is eating badly, sometimes it is a medical condition, sometimes it is genetics - when the weight is placed on the report card, is the “reason,” going to be listed as well? Again, this will lead to discrimination and humiliation. For example, my cousin was an active child. She was constantly moving. She was involved in dance, in sports, and was a very good student. She was (and is) a high-energy person. Her parents were hyper-vigilant about what she ate. Yet, this child was an overweight child, and could not shed the pounds. She has never been thin, no matter what she has tried. She is a happy, well-adjusted adult and the parent of three healthy, “normal weight,” boys and her husband loves her just as she is. Do we really want to label people as abnormal, which is exactly what will happen?

Please understand, weight is not a simple issue. The people who are in favor of this bill, by and large, are people who fall into two categories, 1) people who have NEVER had a weight problem and don’t understand it, and 2) people who have been overweight at some point in their lives and have lost the weight, which automatically makes them think, “If I did it, anyone can.” That’s a myth, and should be exposed as one. As much as the medical community is pushing weight loss right now, if you’ll press the doctors, they will admit that why one person is more likely to gain weight than another is still a medical mystery. For example, my sister-in-law is what my husband likes to call, “a Hoover.” In other words, she “sucks up,” any food she comes across. She eats and eats and eats, and does not gain weight. She does not exercise, she is not a high-energy person, she just does not gain weight. I can look at a chocolate chip cookie, and gain a pound. Why? Who knows? Why should she be considered a “better,” person by society because she is thin of no doing of her own, and I should be considered faulty because I gain weight?

I understand that keeping children healthy is a priority. I am careful about what my child eats and I keep her in activities to keep her moving. She is built like her father, tall and thin. My sister has two boys, who eat the same and are involved in movement activities; one of them is a thin child and one is an overweight child. They are DIFFERENT, and the overweight one should not have his weight plastered on his report card. He should not be considered defective, which is what this bill will cause. The pain that would have caused me during my chubby time as a child is astronomical. I refuse to submit any child to that, and will fight this bill with all my strength.

Our society has swallowed the theory of zero tolerance in so many areas and we are seeing every day that these no-personal-judgment-allowed policies are NOT working. This will not work, and will cause more harm than help.

By Trisha

March 1, 2005 12:31 PM | Link to this

I dont think you should do that. I am a student at Pebble Brook. Students are so rude these days. I’m nowhere over weight. this text will be bolded I weigh 120. I dont think that we should do that. Kids, especially the girls, are very sensitive about their weight. That is just rude. Its not right when kids ask an older lady how much they weigh or how old they are. So why should it be right to tell how much thistext will be italic we way? I dont think it is right in any way! That is none of other people’s bisness, and I think the parents already know about how much there kids way! I know from experience, kids show other kids their good & even brag about their bad grades. So how will it be when they show their Peers there grades and they see how much they way….THEY WILL MAKE FUN OF THEM! That is how most kids are these days! I am 15 and I know how mean and stupid kids can be. But I really think its wrong for this do be done, and I think the bord of education should ask THE KIDS about things, its really what effects us so why should they get to make ALL the decisions? They need to really think about things like this. ~Gata

By Mousey

March 1, 2005 12:31 PM | Link to this

hey whats up well its me mousey or travieza how eva yall people know me but yeah i dont think yall should do that cuz you know how some people are not comfortable with their weight and if other people see it cuz you know how students show each other their report cards then they might look at their weight and start making fun of them besides what the hell is the point of puting the weight on that damn report cards that has nothing to do with your education and how you are doing in it well i am a student at Da Brook and i really dont care if people see my weight i am very comfortable with it i am a 15 year old hispanica who goes out with papi chulo and weights 115 pounds. and pues one more thing east point goes all that way and so do the queens and kings!!! if you are a hispanics you know what s** means.