There is no doubt that social workers are unheralded and deserve much credit for the work that they do. But having said that, I can’t hide my displeasure at their willingness to break up families in the name of raising thinner kids.
It bothers me that people think they know what is best for someone elses children. It disturbs me that people can justify taking children from their flawed but loving parents and subject them to foster homes and estrangement from their flesh and blood all in the name of helping them to lose weight.
What about what the children want? Has it ever occurred to them that some children are prepared to deal with the consequences of being severely overweight if it means they can remain with their parents? Since when did physically healthy foster kids have it much better than obese kids enjoying the closeness of their parents and siblings?
And don’t tell me that parents that raise obese kids are ‘cruel’. Yes, they have made poor parental decisions and yes their poor decisions may have all kinds of serious consequences for their kids. But parenting, like weight loss, is not an easy job. It is unfair to taint parents as ‘cruel’ and ‘unfit to parent’ just because they are not succeeding in breaking bad habits. No parents wants to see their child suffer. Some just need a lot more support than others to break bad habits.
Four obese children are on the brink of being permanently removed from their family by social workers after their parents failed to bring their weight under control.
In the first case of its kind, their mother and father now face what they call the ‘unbearable’ likelihood of never seeing them again.
Their three daughters, aged 11, seven and one, and five-year-old son, will either be ‘fostered without contact’ or adopted.
‘They picked on us because of our size to start with and they just haven’t let go, despite the fact we’ve done everything to lose weight and meet their demands. We’re going to fight this to the bitter end. It feels like even prisoners have more human rights than we do.’
The bullying and stand over tactics by the social workers and courts were deplorable. Making them send their kids to dance and sport lessons is not sensible at all. Why wouldn’t the courts give the children a say about whether or not they wanted to go to dance and football? Ask a young girl suffering from obesity whether or not she would take up dancing, she would invariably say, “Over my dead body.” Clocking in and out to satisfy court imposed curfews and having social workers stand in corners taking notes at dinnertime just added to the lunacy.
Tags: Childhood Obesity, Dundee, Education, Family, Fat, Health, kids, life, News, Obesity, Parenting, social services, Social Work, Weight
Topical Teaching 
September 5, 2011 at 12:15 am |
A better solution would be to educate both the parents and the children in healthier ways to eat – and within the family budget. Also some sort of physical activity is important. Many children would quite happily sit in front of the tv or computer – and often do not leave unless encouraged by their parents.
September 5, 2011 at 12:17 am |
I agree completely Colline. That would be a far better solution. Thanks for the comment.
September 5, 2011 at 12:27 am |
I would be very, very wary about taking anything said in the Daily Mail as being the complete case. As one commenter says:
“The court wouldn’t agree for a child to be adopted or fostered with no contact unless there was evidence of severe abuse or neglect. There’s more to this story than the sensationalist headlines. Wake up readers before you get on your high horse and slate Social Services.”
The Daily Mail has a history of misrepresenting and distorting cases, especially if it can present teachers, social workers or other public sector employees in a bad light. It is a paper with a clear agenda.
September 5, 2011 at 12:30 am |
The Sun has a similar article but with fewer facts about the case.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3793670/Parents-face-having-four-kids-adopted-for-failing-to-make-them-lose-weight.html
September 5, 2011 at 12:34 am
Both are populist, right-wing tabloids. Legally it would be extremely difficult (almost impossible) for social services to take children away simply for obesity. There is almost certainly more to this than is being reported.
September 5, 2011 at 12:46 am
We will be able to determine that owhen the left-wing papers cover the story. All papers covered the thoughts of Dr. David Ludwig, an obesity expert at Children’s Hospital Boston, who argued that parents, in some cases, should lose custody of their severely obese children.
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/parents-lose-custody-obesity-children/story?id=14062898