School District to Tackle Obesity

I just so happened to catch some of the school board meeting tonight. There’s not a whole lot going on, but one thing that stood out to me was the new health initiative the district is looking at implementing. I don’t have specifics or links as this is a real-time deal, but the gist of the presentation (that played like a broken record 3 times…I love it when that multi-million dollar technology they use makes them look like a 3rd world country) was that many kids are obese and the school district is going to tackle the problem through education, limiting bad food choices, and increased exercise. Sounds good right? Not so fast. Some of it made sense, most of it was downright laughable (like placing the responsibility on vendors like Sodexho to teach nutrition).

Here’s the problem, a lot of kids are fat, but honestly it’s not JUST the school that’s making them this way. Forcing teachers to implement and document some 15-20 minutes of extra exercise a day (rubric and all) isn’t going to erase that bag of Doritos and zombification sessions in front of the TV for hours on end once these kids get home. What this will do is put an even higher workload on teachers, who already have more than enough ineffective paperwork to chase and it will take away from academic instruction time.

This is nothing more than a “feel good” program that will not effectively curb adolescent obesity, but it’ll give those folks up top something to pat their own backs about.

Still Wondering Why South Carolina Schools Rank Near the Bottom?

According to this article: Thousands of students miss 1st day of school.

Everyone all together now. W T F?!?!

I’ve said before and I’ll say it again, if parents can’t drive the importance of education into these thickheaded kids, their educational careers are already doomed.

Meanwhile, closer to home, my daughter has completed 3 days of middle school and has yet to receive a single textbook. So essentially she could have skipped the 1^st (and 2^nd and 3^rd) day of school and not missed anything at all. It’s not hard to connect the dots here and the picture doesn’t look good.

Ramifications of Delegalizing Abortion

This is an article EVERYONE should read. I have to thank a good online friend of mine for sharing this bit of info with me, but seeing as she takes her privacy very seriously, I won’t go so far as to identify her, but she knows who she is (thanks again for making all of us use that space between our ears).

Abortion is one of those hotly debated, emotional issues without a real right or wrong, black & white kind of answer. I also think the issue is exploited to distract and polarize anyone and everyone within hearing distance. That being said and knowing I’m probably stirring up a huge pot of controversy by even mentioning abortion the question remains pertinent... what kind of punitive action should be taken against women who have abortions should it finally become illegal?

Some pretty sticky questions need to be answered if this issue is to be fairly considered. Does it constitute premeditated (planned) murder if a woman decides to have an abortion? If that answer is yes, and it almost certainly will be, do we then pursue a death sentence? It seems counterintuitive, but what do I know?

**EDIT** Below is the YouTube video mentioned in the Newsweek/MSNBC article