Gwendolyn Williams is a pencil-thin, bubbly 9-year-old who is a perfectly healthy third-grader.
But according to city bureaucrats, she’s practically obese.
“I was like, ‘Oh, my God! Why did I get this?’” the Staten Island kid recalled Thursday after getting a Department of Education-issued “Fitnessgram” that described her Body Mass Index as “overweight.”
“I’m 4-foot-1, and 66 pounds, and I’m like, what?!” Gwendolyn exclaimed of the school handout, which the city is sending home in the bookbags of 870,000 public school students, grades K through 12.
The kids, who were weighed and measured back in November, are told not to look.
But the Fitnessgrams are sealed with only a small, easily replaced round sticker — and peeking is rampant, parents complain, with devastating effects on kids’ self-esteem.
Gwendolyn’s mom, Laura Bruij Williams of Port Richmond, says she found out about her daughter’s Fitnessgram Wednesday night, as she was tucking the girl in for the night.
“She said, ‘Hey, Mom. The school told me I’m overweight.’ And then she started jiggling her thighs, and saying, ‘Is this what they mean?’”
“That was heartbreaking,” said the stay-at-home mom of two.
The next morning, Williams sought out Gwendolyn’s principal at PS 29.
“She was sympathetic, but said the kids weren’t supposed to open it. My response is, they’re kids. How can you believe they’re not going to open it?” Williams said.
“It’s a very positive thing for some kids who are overweight, but we shouldn’t be putting these assessments in the children’s hands,” the mom added.
“Fat-shaming,” experts called the practice on Thursday, criticizing both the fallibility of BMI calculations and the mental-health effects of kids being graded on their size...”
A DOE spokeswoman defended the Fitnessgrams Thursday as “just one indicator … which helps students develop personal goals for lifelong health.”
But for Gwendolyn, the Fitnessgrams are just dumb.
“I know that I’m not overweight, so why should I believe the New York Department of Education?” she said.
For the record, here is the double chin head of the New York Department of Education:
Here's the DOE chief of staff, Ursulina Ramirez, with the "I always look a little pregnant" look:
Here's the "Pass me a cheeseburger" DOE general counsel, Courtenaye Jackson-Chase:
If these characters actually think children who attend compulsory government schools should be harassed based on their weight, shouldn't these BMI shattering fat asses all resign until they get into shape?
I'd love to see this go viral. Parents: If you love your children, take your children out of the government-run schools now. You'll be glad you did.
ReplyDeleteAt their fittest, athletes like Usain Bolt and Lance Armstong are one Gatorade from being declared "fat" by the state.
ReplyDelete"...shouldn't these BMI-shattering fat-asses all resign until they get into shape?" Yes, they should, but first they should be publicly humiliated and shamed.
ReplyDeleteBMI's are rife with errors on top of all this nonsense, especially if you are an athlete or muscular, the seven site skinfold is a far better indicator.
ReplyDeletePink Floyd said it best, "Teachers leave them kids alone."
Perfect.
DeleteVerbal abuse will continue until morale improves.
ReplyDeleteWithout the state how will we destroy children's self-esteem?
ReplyDeleteAccording to the BMI, 4'1 and 66 pounds is healthy. Closer to underweight than overweight actually. While BMI has its issues, the problem here is that someone miscalculated.
ReplyDeleteThe kid's problem is not that she is fat. It is that she is incapable of speaking the English language, like, you know? If the parents had any sense, they would worry more about the crap she is being taught in school and the crap she is consuming via popular culture. Speaking comprehensible English seems to by a dying art with the inmates in charge of the education asylum...
ReplyDelete"worry more about the crap she is being taught in school"
DeleteI think the word you're looking for is "indoctrination".
It's interesting that these are Democrats pushing these mandatory healthy lifestyle programs like this one or Michelle's school lunch program. I'm not sure how they get away with it when the party is so chalk full of "real women have curves" feminists who boycott and protest Barbie for pushing this idea of the perfect female form on little girls. I mean, it's so utterly hypocritical.
ReplyDelete“I know that I’m not overweight, so why should I believe the New York Department of Education?” she said.
ReplyDeleteApplause. Looks like the DoE just created another future skeptic. 9 years old and already questioning the integrity of the state.
I wonder if government education officials spoke to this 9 yr olds parents about her BMI?
ReplyDeletehttp://factreal.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/obamaspainvacation2010.jpg
Bravo!
ReplyDeleteTypical government maggots. HYPOCRITES in the extreme.
ReplyDeleteBMI doesn't work for children nor for fit, healthy adults. Most would show up as overweight. Besides, the BMI standards of fat are appalling. For example, they consider adult males to be healthy at 11-22 percent of body fat. If I were 22% body fat. I wouldn't be able to see my "organ" because my belly would be sticking out so much. Even at 18% body I'd be way too fat. So, both the BMI method and it's standards are poor. The only sane way to determine if one is "overfat" is to determine the muscle to far ratio of one's body. This can be done with calipers, or with body fat scales, or under water weighing or other means. Try this free version to get a decent ballpark of your body fat to mucle ratio: http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/library/blbodyfatcalculator.htm
ReplyDeletehttp://www.builtlean.com/2010/07/13/5-ways-to-measure-body-fat-percentage/