Body Image Message For Kids with ‘Best Intentions’ Gone Wrong
The mother of a 13-year-old is speaking out after her daughter came home from Southaven Middle School with a pamphlet titled “Why Do Girls Suffer from Body Image?” and included ways to improve body image with shapewear.
(Provided by Ashley Wells Heun via Facebook)
DeKalb, IL — A Mississippi middle school is under fire for providing students with shapewear to improve their body image.
The mother of a 13-year-old is speaking out after her daughter came home from Southaven Middle School with a pamphlet titled “Why Do Girls Suffer from Body Image?” and included ways to improve body image with shapewear.
Ashley Heun posted to Facebook on Jan. 11 after she said she was “blown away” by the memo her daughter received from counselors at school.
The memo provided to the students reads “we can take steps to help our girls develop a healthier body image, we, the counselors of Southaven Middle School, would like to have an opportunity to offer some healthy literature to your daughter on maintaining a positive body image. We are also providing girls with shapewear, bras, and other health products if applicable.”
“I just kept thinking I have to be reading something incorrectly. This cannot be saying what I think it’s saying,” Heun said, according to The Lily.
The principal told Heun that the program had been canceled but that the counselors had the “best intentions” — and that the items, including bras, shapewear and shoes, had been donated.
DeSoto County School District told CNN that the district was aware of the memo and understands “how this type of information causes serious concern from parents.”
“What should be put under a microscope is this message that we can so easily send to our girls and boys, without even realizing it, that your body is not good enough. You need to alter your body, you’re not the ideal,” Heun said, according to The Lily.