Mum is outraged to learn her nine-year-old daughter and her classmates were WEIGHED at school in front of each other: ‘How is this still allowed to happen?’
- An Australian mother has slammed her daughter’s school for a class project
- The students were asked to weigh themselves in front of each other this week
- The mum, from Perth, felt it was inappropriate for a group of nine-year-old’s
- She has decided to contact the school to share her disdain for the exercise
An Australian mum has savaged her nine-year-old daughter’s school for making students weigh themselves in PE class and then watching on as students compared the numbers.
The young mother, who lives in Perth, shared her outrage on Facebook, querying how a situation like the one her helpless daughter was thrust into even came about.
‘My nine-year-old daughter and her class where all asked to weigh themselves at school today as part of their physical education class,’ she started.
‘While the teacher told them “it doesn’t matter what the number is” to me the activity itself is so insanely problematic.
‘My nine-year-old daughter and her class where all asked to weigh themselves at school today as part of their physical education class,’ she started (stock image)
‘There was comparison, commenting on each other’s numbers, calling out the heaviest as fat by the kids.’
The frustrated mum has a free-flowing dialogue with her daughter about body image but she was worried about the children who would go home and worry about their weight as a result of the exercise.
‘We had a long conversation about our worth as a person having absolutely nothing to do with the number on the scales, never under any circumstances commenting on someone else’s body type and we always have had open communication to promote body positivity in our house and we do discuss girls and puberty but I’m furious that this happened at school,’ she continued.
‘I will be up late researching the stats surrounding eating disorders, mental health and weight issues to shove in the school’s face in an email.
‘What else can I do about this? These kids are nine, they don’t need this.’
Other Australian parents were quick to express their own views on the topic.
‘Contact the school. This is disgraceful. I am a teacher and it would never enter my mind that that is an acceptable thing to do,’ said one woman.
‘I will never forget when I experienced this 20 years ago. It was undoubtedly the beginning of a really long and difficult journey with my self esteem and body. I am really saddened to hear that it is still a common practice,’ said another.
‘I remember vividly doing this in Year 2 at school and being ashamed of weighing 30 kilos while my thinner classmates weighed less. I think it’s horrible, particularly for children,’ a third added.
‘I will be up late researching the stats surrounding eating disorders, mental health and weight issues to shove in the school’s face in an email,’ she said (stock image)
Another said: ‘This is completely WRONG. I didn’t even get weighed when I was pregnant. It’s not only irrelevant but it could be causing eating disorders and actual physical and mental harm with zero benefit. I would be on the phone to the school.’
One nurse said the problem was less about weighing the kids and more about the ‘shame’ attached to the number on the scales.
‘As a health worker it is mandatory for me to measure weight and height for all kids aged two to 18 every three months. This is to normalise the discussion as the crisis of kids’ health is real,’ she said.