Going Where Schools Should Not Go

Here is yet another example of schools getting away from their mission -- education -- and taking on more "nanny state" duties, in this case screening children for obesity.

We have seen these kinds of issues in our own local school district, with children being given physical examinations screening for scoliosis without prior parental notification or consent, and where at some middle schools children were being given their BMI and blood pressure numbers directly by teachers, leading in some cases to confusion, teasing, and eating problems among the students.

Preventing scoliosis and childhood obesity are important issues, but I suggest they are not issues for which schools are or should be responsible. Schools, in general, have enough trouble competently fulfilling their educational mission, and, moreover, there can be serious problems in properly executing such health programs, as described in this article and as I became aware of locally.

No matter how "noble" the cause, in the end it is parents -- not the state -- who must be responsible for their children's health.