MISSION CREEP
When are educrats going to concentrate on educating kids and forget about all this other crap?
Virginia education and health officials are considering several measures aimed at helping children be trim and fit, including issuing fitness report cards for students and setting nutritional standards for food available at schools, including in vending machines.
The draft recommendations, released this week by a joint committee of the state’s Board of Education and Board of Health, represent the latest attempt to keep closer tabs not only on what students eat but also on how they exercise and how often. That scrutiny might not thrill children, but health experts say there is too much at stake not to act.
Oh, wait. Since they’ve proven they can’t perform their primary function, this is the only way to justify their paychecks. Never mind.
7 Responses to “MISSION CREEP”
Comment by traci June 26th, 2004 at 2:23 pm |
Daryl: |
Comment by Chris June 26th, 2004 at 3:11 pm |
I’m not sure I really believe that there is an epidemic of childhood obesity. It seems more like a coordinated effort to fund even more government programs “for the children.” If there is a problem, maybe, just maybe, keeping the kids locked up in school all day is a big part of the problem. Anyway know if HS’ers are obese (by govt standards) any more or less than the general population of kids? My kids certainly get more “running around” time than their PS peers. |
Comment by Daryl Cobranchi June 26th, 2004 at 4:33 pm |
That’s a stat I’ve never seen. That said, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a homeschooler I would consider obese. |
Comment by DeeJay June 26th, 2004 at 5:38 pm |
It wasn’t too long ago; health was part of the public school curriculum. What was eaten or not eaten was not part of health. Schools are supposed to be in the business of giving an education, not to keep tabs on what children eat. If the school does adopt the report card policy, then the parents should be allowed to do the same with the school staff. I wonder how school personnel would feel if their endurance, strength, flexibility and body mass index was known to parents and students. I will agree that they should give longer recesses and more P.E. The schools have cut those down to a bare minimum. On the local news, it was shown that our district is trying a new lunch menu. They are serving buffalo meat and more fruits and veggies. The thing that I noticed were overweight school staff in the background. They also refuse to get rid of the pop and candy machines. Hypocrites! They have to have that money the machines bring in. Here’s an interesting article on kids drinking pop. |
Comment by Anonymous June 27th, 2004 at 11:34 am |
I saw a book review in USA Today in which the authors were calling for K-12 food education! They thought it was horrible that so many schoolchildren didn’t know the food pyramid. Agh! My niece and nephew in Arkansas were weighed and given their body index at the end of the school year this spring. The state will keep up with their weight each fall and spring. Unbelievable. |
Comment by Anonymous June 27th, 2004 at 11:01 pm |
On the Fox link-they can’t have it both ways. You can’t state “only 20% of the students drink one can a week”, but somehow they bring “revenue and jobs”. Of course, only the non-diet colas count as evil concessions here. |
Comment by J Aron July 1st, 2004 at 10:36 am |
Considering that the g-schools do ALOT to foster childhood obesity why shouldn’t they help do something about it. I mean they keep kids pretty inactive all day – some schools around here don’t even do much in the way of recess anymore.. and they serve crap for food in the lunchrooms.. |