08-26-2011, 11:30 AM
Don't worry addy, I wasn't directing my comments are you specifically, you've presented a topic for discussion and my points were more at the way the media often takes a stand on something they're short of facts on and creates a controversy merely for the sake of covering column inches and bringing in ad revenue.
Anyway, my reservations on discussion sans basic facts aside, "...plot-wise, it involves Maggie, the title character, having low self-esteem and being taunted because of her weight. Once she sheds the weight and joins a football team, presto! She gains many friends and is now popular. You can see why it would be a problematic story to tell a little girl. First of, how much of her unhappiness with herself is due to feeling rejected by her peers..."
Yes I can see the problems, but not in the way you mean.
That some children are heavier than it healthy for them is a fact. That being heavier than is healthy is a bad thing is also a fact. The children bully each other is another fact. [A particularly unfortunate one, which certainly deserves addressing in it's own right. But a fact nevertheless.] That something can be done about weight is also a fact. [Unlike a below average IQ, or a congenital spinal defect, both other targets of bullying which the the victim is completely powerless to change.] That a good diet (I'm assuming the author is not advocating some short term fad) and exercise is a way to reduce weight is another fact. And that active outgoing kids, in team sports, often have more friends is yet another fact.
Is it fair? Perhaps not [though I could argue that societal pressures against unhealthy behaviour is actually a net social good, but that would be off-topic] but it's real. You can either tell overweight children they're wonderful and should ignore bullies (which won't work) or tell bullies to stop picking on overweight children (which also won't work) or you can show overweight children how they can help themselves (on the assumption that if the parents were competent then the children wouldn't be overweight in the first place). Or you can choose to ignore the problem and try to prevent people from discussing it (which won't work and would be a bad thing if it did).
I don't see any harm in a book showing a disadvantaged group a way to overcome the disadvantage they suffer from.
Anyway, my reservations on discussion sans basic facts aside, "...plot-wise, it involves Maggie, the title character, having low self-esteem and being taunted because of her weight. Once she sheds the weight and joins a football team, presto! She gains many friends and is now popular. You can see why it would be a problematic story to tell a little girl. First of, how much of her unhappiness with herself is due to feeling rejected by her peers..."
Yes I can see the problems, but not in the way you mean.
That some children are heavier than it healthy for them is a fact. That being heavier than is healthy is a bad thing is also a fact. The children bully each other is another fact. [A particularly unfortunate one, which certainly deserves addressing in it's own right. But a fact nevertheless.] That something can be done about weight is also a fact. [Unlike a below average IQ, or a congenital spinal defect, both other targets of bullying which the the victim is completely powerless to change.] That a good diet (I'm assuming the author is not advocating some short term fad) and exercise is a way to reduce weight is another fact. And that active outgoing kids, in team sports, often have more friends is yet another fact.
Is it fair? Perhaps not [though I could argue that societal pressures against unhealthy behaviour is actually a net social good, but that would be off-topic] but it's real. You can either tell overweight children they're wonderful and should ignore bullies (which won't work) or tell bullies to stop picking on overweight children (which also won't work) or you can show overweight children how they can help themselves (on the assumption that if the parents were competent then the children wouldn't be overweight in the first place). Or you can choose to ignore the problem and try to prevent people from discussing it (which won't work and would be a bad thing if it did).
I don't see any harm in a book showing a disadvantaged group a way to overcome the disadvantage they suffer from.
"The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool."