I had a really interesting conversation with a patient of mine this past week. She has recently received her master’s in education from an Ivy League school and is back in town to run a summer camp and then look for work in the LAUSD. We talked about how important early education is.
The impetus for this conversation was an article in the LA Times that day about the new state budget proposal of Governor Jerry Brown. His proposal includes eliminating the second year of a science class as a requirement for high school graduation. This could mean a savings of 250 million dollars for the state in money they would not have to pay to the school districts in the state. I am not here to argue the merits of this proposal, it just brought to attention once again how it seems like politicians always campaign that it is about the kids and then when push comes to shove it seems the first place they cut is the schools.
My patient was kind enough to let me go one about how I feel about getting to the kids when they are most impressionable, the very early years of school. Now I admit, I have no real formal education in education, but I still am allowed my observations and opinions. And this is my newest thoughts about our education system.
What if they actually taught kids about health and nutrition in the early stages of life? I got to believe there are ways to break it down to a level where there can be active participation, making games out of it and actually making it fun. What if they actually got parents involved as well?
Ok I get it; there is a cost to all of this. YES there is. But what would be the possible savings down the road if there was an increase of health of the children when they are adults? Don’t any of you get frustrated with the high cost of health care (including dentistry)? Can you imagine what could be if as a country we actually did something to start reversing the epidemic of obesity and all the costs of treating the multitude of illness that is associated with it?
I know, my thoughts here are very simplistic. I know that a large problem in all of this is the food industry and how they are just putting more and more garbage into processed foods. But somehow, some way, wouldn’t it be nice to start seeing some changes in the health and education of the children in this country?
Bonus blog: I feel off of the wagon on my vitamins for about a week or so. Brought them to work and never got to them. Well, I have been back on them for about 6 days now and I can tell you I can physically feel the difference in my energy levels. This should help stop me from falling off of the wagon in the future.