weighing teens in school, student takes a stand

An Iowa student takes a stand against weighing teens in school, and as a result the student was sent to the principal because she refused to be weighed by a teacher. The weighing and measuring of students in the United States has become almost commonplace as schools attempt to measure the Body Mass Index of their students, and this practice is very controversial with some students and parents. Many believe that this is something that a parent and physician should take care of, and that schools have no place in this type of medical process or in any determination of abnormal weight. When 13 year old Ireland Hobert Hoch was order to step on the scale she refused, telling a local newspaper that this practice not only made her uncomfortable but was also uncomfortable for other female students as well.

After Ireland decided to speak out and refuse to participate in weighing teens in school she was punished by being sent to the principal’s office. When the student takes a stand school administrators are rarely happy, and that was the case with Ireland Hobert Hoch. Instead of admitting that they may be in the wrong school personnel offered to weigh the 13 year old in another location, like the nurse’s office or the front office, however Hoch refused. “I don’t feel like it’s their business,. I feel like it’s my doctor’s and my mom and my own business…I don’t even know (how much I weigh) right now.” Heather Hobert Hoch, Ireland’s mother, agrees with her daughter that weighing teen sin school is not appropriate. Heather believes that this is something that the family physician should do instead.