Stand 4 Kids

Recently I posted about how a well-intentioned but poorly executed program in Georgia has targetted fat kids as part of an ad campaign to bring attention to the "childhood obesity crisis".  While I can appreciate wanting to encourage children and their families to develop healthy habits, I cannot condone doing so in a manner that uses shame as the primary motivator.  We shouldn't work toward a goal because we are shamed into it, we should try to achieve goals because they are something that we aspire to, that we want because they are positive things.  There is nothing positive about telling children that fat kids are fat because they are weak (Direct quote from billboard ad:  "Big bones didn't make me this way.  Big meals did.").  It only encourages other children (and adults) to treat them poorly based on size.

Luckily, I am not alone in my views.  And thus Stand4Kids was born. 

I am proud to say that I have had an image used to create an ad for the campaign:

If you would like to see the other images that have been created so far, check out the Tumblr pages!

It is important that we teach our children how to make healthy choices in their lives, that we give them the tools that will allow them to build the kind of lives that they WANT to live.  It is important that we do so without giving them the message that they are worth less if they don't meet a set of arbitrary societal standards.

Please check out the links I've given.  Our children will shape the world, and we give them the tools to do so.  Let's give them the tools that will help them succeed at whatever they choose to do, and that will allow them to do so with their self-worth, love for themselves, and love for the world around them intact.

Thank you.