Student Refuses To Weigh At School: Says Number On Scale Isn’t School’s Business

A student refused to weigh at school because she thought it was an intrusion of her privacy. When 13-year-old Ireland Hobert-Hoch went to gym class, she was asked to step on the scale to get weighed by the teacher. Other students were present, and no effort was made to maintain their privacy as each of them got on the scale to get weighed.

The Des Moines Register reports that Ireland felt strongly about her school not knowing what her weight is. She’s thin and healthy, so that isn’t the reason Ireland protested the weigh-in. As she points out, only three people need to know her weight.

“I don’t feel like it’s [the school’s] business. I feel like it’s my doctor and my mom and my own business — or maybe not even my own, because I don’t need to know that right now.”

The incident happened around three weeks ago at Ireland’s physical education class at Southeast Polk Junior High in Pleasant Hill, Iowa. Their height was also recorded. When Ireland refused to weigh on the scale, she was sent to the principal’s office.

School principal, Mike Daily spoke with HuffPost, explaining that the student wasn’t sent to his office because she didn’t get weighed, but because of how her refusal was “presented to the teacher.” He defends the BMI evaluations.

“The issue anytime a student is sent to the office refers more to the situation and how it has escalated — not necessarily the event at hand. I know saying, ‘Hey, we’ve always done this’ is not a good explanation. If it gives kids feedback, that helps.”

The weighing and BMI recordings have gone on four years at the school, but with this story making headlines, the principal says the school board will revisit this at future meetings to determine if they should continue weighing students.

Ireland said many other girls revealed they feel the same way about the position she took.

The girl and her mother, Heather Hobert-Hoch, were asked by school administrators if Ireland would be more comfortable being weighed in a private area. Neither one of them relented. Mrs. Hobert-Hoch explains that her daughter “doesn’t want her weight taken anywhere” and that she’s “been very happy ” since they got rid of the scale at home. Besides, Ireland’s mother doesn’t want her daughter obsessing about a number on the scale.

“It’s very common among young girls, and even women, to become obsessed with the number on the scale,” Mrs. Hobert-Hoch says.

The Inquisitr wrote about a girl whose BMI allegedly read higher than it should. The athletic and very thin girl’s story outraged parents and students after her mother received a “fat letter” from the school.

Do you support the student who refused to weigh at school?

[Image via Gadget Crave]