A recent study by Harvard's School of Public Health suggests a link between the obesity rates of students and the proximity of fast-food restaurants to the campuses. I've been asked a lot in recent years about the schools' decisions to remove unhealthy food from their menus, the eating habits of the students, etc. . . . My response seems to shock people.
I care less about the food the kids eat and care more about the fact that these kids aren't getting enough exercise. I'm not talking about the PE program, either (they're doing fine); I have students that are driven to school from as little as SIX BLOCKS AWAY, and that is, in my opinion, just wrong. Every time the nutrition debate comes back up, we hear the same word over and over again: "balance." Isn't a 45 (or even 60) minute walk, twice a day--to and from school--a small thing to ask in exchange for a donut? When I was a kid, my elementary school was a little over a mile from my house, my junior high was about five miles away; there were five of us who walked that all the time.
Helpful hints, position essays, and useless blather from the Assistant Principal of a high school in Southern California. Posts here do not necessarily reflect the positions or views of the school or district with which he is employed.
So there.
So there.
