Bullying over Weight in DCPS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nicely put.
Also, being fat is not just the business of the fat person. If I had a dollar for every time I couldn't sit on the metro because some fat ass (literally) was taking up one and a half seats, I'd be retired. Also, fat people cost more in medical care but don't pay more for their insurance, meaning healthy people subsidize them. And treating fatness as a valid lifestyle results in the uglification of the population, fewer marriageable persons, a shorter lifespan, etc, etc. Being fat is bad, and there's no shame in thinking or saying so.

I sure hope I'll never cross your ugly face because that will be an incredible imposition on me. The externalities from that will be considerable. Just imagine the extra pills I'll need to get through that day. I'll have to spend extra money to see some nice faces. And how that's going to impact my overall happiness and my lifespan isn't even accounted for. And let's hope you're not otherwise engaging in risky behavior such as smoking, drinking, driving over the speed limit, and most certainly no serious sports, very costly for the rest of us to fix your tennis arm and all. Or I'd really have to call you out.

[Anonymous]

Children have a right to attend school in a safe environment. Children are never allowed to belittle anyone.

The school should take immediate action and work with all children involved. This should be used as a teaching moment.

Finally, to the young man being bullied, I apologize that some people in this world are mean. People get teased for their height, color of skin, nationality, accent, disability, choice in clothes, where they live, what car they drive, etc. Some people, to make themselves feel better, like to hurt others. You have to find the strength to move forward and not pay too much attention to those fools.

[Anonymous]

Beautifully said, PP.

And for the person who thinks they can judge someone's health by sitting next to them on the Metro, please read "The Obesity Paradox," which appeared in the NYT last fall.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/18/health/research/more-data-suggests-fitness-matters-more-than-weight.html?_r=0

Key quote:

In study after study, overweight and moderately obese patients with certain chronic diseases often live longer and fare better than normal-weight patients with the same ailments. The accumulation of evidence is inspiring some experts to re-examine long-held assumptions about the association between body fat and disease.

[Anonymous]

It is strange to hear about bullying and teasing at this point of time. We are all known the the class-clown, class comic and a person who was good with the jokes. I find the most wide-spread of teasing, horseplaying and/or bullying are within the organized team sports/extra-curricular activity kids. They are relentless to each other even in study-hall or tutoring.

The bullying/teasing culture is amongst the worst with the adults at any school. As quiet as it kept, the bullying and teasing within our principals corps is at its all-time high within DCPS because many are jockeying to be the best. So, with that attitude you have to point out the worst in others to let your light shine.

[Anonymous]

I agree with bullying and teasing are BAD. I get that.

But being overweight/fat at this age is a dangerous sign. It will create many more problems down the line; perhaps even more painful than being teased and bullied. If we give the young men/women the help they need, they are all going to be better off. It takes a village. Let's move! Go Michelle!

[Anonymous]

I am glad there is agreement that children should be taught that belittling and bullying is unacceptable.

And now on to the SEPARATE issue of weight issues for children. We have allowed (subsidized by taxpayers) big agriculture to create an extremely toxic food environment and we allowed big auto (subsidized by taxpayers) to suppress public transportation projects a generation ago so people would be forced to be dependent on cars.

So we now have many children and adults who are carrying extra weight. The mother of the son indicated that her family has made and is making lifestyle changes so I bet her son will be just fine. I don't think anyone is this country thinks being overweight or obese is desirable and OK.

And I agree, we need to make sure children understand the importance of food choices and we need to ensure that children are getting plenty of exercise.

[Anonymous]

OP, it is not right of people to tease or comment on weight. It is impolite at the very least. I just have to wonder to what extent the bullying occurs. I only ask this because fat kids have always been teased, my brother included. I also had it rough at that age for being mixed. There was no school in our town to transfer to. My brother ended up with a football scholarship to a fancy private for HS after working hard to get into shape and now volunteers to tutor children as an adult because he feels connected to the struggle of junior high. By high school, my race was not important at all because every guy wanted to days the cute mixed girl (who sadly was not allowed to date - how ironic). I guess what I am saying is that a move to a new school might solve the bullying issue but you have done nothing to equip your son to handle adversity by doing so. I am concerned that by essentially running away without any real closure, he risks being a repeat victim down the line or a perpetrator of bullying at some point in his life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

The DCUM bullies here are treating the weight thing as a straw man. If the OP just said "my kid is being bullied" -- would it matter what the reason was? You sound like you're rationalizing the abhorrant behavior because there's a possible weight issues. Maybe a victim is transgender. Somewhere on the autism scale -- at what point is it not ok to blame the victim or the victim's concerned parent.

Whatever a "healthy weight" for this child may be is none of your business. You seriously need to STFU

With the exception of one person, no one is rationalizing the behavior of the students. People are suggesting that in addition to addressing the bullying, the mom address the child's weight issue, which is a separate issue of health, regardless of whether he is bullied about it. BTW, really nice and classy, telling someone you disagree with to STFU. You are a complete hypocrite and definitely not one to preach to anyone about bullying.

PP here -- your comment was met with the level of disdain it meritted. Your opinion is offensive and I'm comfortable letting you know that. You don't sound concerned about the health of the parent or child. So get off your high horse.

Back atcha. Your comment was similarly met with disdain, and you need to get off your high horse as well. You can't take an offensive tone to tell someone that they're offensive without revealing yourself as a hypocrite.


Btw, I'm an NP to this thread, just reading through and seeing points of merit and/or demerit from both sides on the weight issue. Your effectiveness as a communicator is significantly diminished by your language.