Are they serious? - Page 3

[Juvysen]

How the heck is it their business to do scoliosis screenings... wouldn't it be something that'd be obvious if it was bad enough to cause a problem? What happens if you have it? Do they FORCE you to go have surgery to correct it? I don't understand why they're bothering at all. what am i missing?

[forthebest]

There are no scoliosis screenings in school here in uk. Sounds like some kinda archaic give the school nurse something to do sorta thing, and as for girls 'having' to strip down to their bras in the canteen, erm. My dd's would point blank refuse off their own backs, pun intended. When I went to school girls were legally made to wear skirts, nice to see some things have changed.

[Belleweather]

When I was in Middle School they did scoliosis screenings in the spring (when people weren't wearing 8400 layers because it's cold up here in the midwest) and we stood in a line and pulled our shirts tight across our backs and bent down and touched our toes as the nurse walked by. That was it -- and it was enough to my sister's very, very slight curvature. Even then, they just sent a note home to my mom, suggesting that she should notify our family doctor so it could be monitored and treated as necessary. It turns out that 75% of the women in our family have some curvature, which was interesting to discover.

Then again, our district mighta been freaky... we didn't have mandatory showers after Gym class either (no time! We only had a 5 minute changing/passing period.) so I only got nekkid at school when I wanted to.

[annettemarie]

Yeah, they did them at my Catholic school, but they just felt our backs through our uniform blouses.

[KurumiSophia]

I only wish they could have done it at my HS w/our shirts on. I remember standing in line in the locker room with my top off along w/the rest of my class waiting to them to look at our backs and give us the ok to get on out of there.

[wifeandmom]

I'm in Texas, so I Googled 'scoliosis screening public schools texas' and found this website:

http://www.mckinneyisd.net/departmen...%20Program.pdf


Here's one quote that is interesting:

• Students must be screened individually in a space offering privacy.

And another:

• Parents may choose to have the screening conducted by a physician instead of the school. In this case, parents are asked to provide signed results of an Adam’s forward-bending test from a physician’s office by the end of the school year the student is scheduled for screening, or by the beginning of the following school year if the exam is obtained during the summer holiday. The Parent Notification and Referral form (Appendix A, page 37) is useful for parents to use for this purpose.

And one more:

Some students find the screening process upsetting. This can happen if the student feels unprepared or does not have appropriate attire. It is strongly recommended these students be allowed to visit with the counselor, school nurse, or other trusted staff person privately, or allowed to call their parent/guardian. Often these students will calm down and be able to participate in screening. If not, add the student’s name to list of those needing to be rescheduled for their screening.

[Kleine Hexe]

Originally Posted by Belleweather

so I only got nekkid at school when I wanted to.

and when was that?



Here's something funny. Even though I had the shirtless screening done at school...many years later I had an x-ray taken of my spine. I was told that I had mild curve which was never caught as a young teen.

[Sharlla]

We got screened in the locker room and that required that we just pull our shirts up in the back. I'm sure that they will have it screen for privacy though.

[Bethla]

Is scoliosis that big of a deal that everyone must be screened? I remember after being "diagnosed" in middle school I cried because I thought I had something horribly wrong with me. I'm actually more distraught about my left breast being bigger than my right.

[MotherWillow]

Update:

My mom sent her on to school. Even though she said my little sister cried the whole way there.

They did the screening in the cafeteria. My grandmother is a substitute teacher and she went up to check on lil sis during it.

They didn't have the screens. Each girl had to go to the front of the line and remove her shirt and bend over for the nurse to check her back.

I think lil sis is okay. I still think it was a serious breech since she didn't want it done and it really upset her. :

[Kleine Hexe]

I'm sorry.

[Down2Earth]

Originally Posted by wildhoneypie

When we had the scoliosis test it was during gym individually in the locker room with a female. And we never had mandatory showers after gym. (We did have to change clothes though.)

Originally Posted by rmzbm

We got to keep our shirts on though. We lined up then hunched over & the nurse lifted the backs of our shirts very discreetly.

This is exactly how it was for me at school. There was actually two girls and two nurses at a time in the locker room. One girl would have her back checked while the other faced the other way and was weighed. I don't remember being embarrassed or traumatized. But in this situation I would be at that school making sure they didn't make my daughter strip in a cafeteria in front of a bunch of people. That is horrible. And the principal, nurse and whoever else in charge would rue the day they made my child cry.

[mommy68]

Originally Posted by wifeandmom

Schools around here also make it seem like you 'have' to have vaccines too, but that's not true. You won't find THEM telling people that though. The forms say 'Four doses of XYZ vaccine are required.', so if you didn't know better, you'd think it was just that...required.

This was something I thought about. The vax debate has a lot more importance than having your spine checked for scoliosis. Surely they wouldn't require it to be done if the child doesn't want to do it at school. They accept children in to schools even if they haven't been vax'd if they have letters.

[MillingNome]

sad update!

[DaughterOfKali]

When I was a kid, we got checked in the girls locker room. They didn't have us take our shirts off, they just pulled the shirt up from behind. We were completely covered in the front.

[Peppermint Leaf]

very sad update

I was never tested for this in school but we did have mandatory "group showers" which made me almost throw up every gymn day because I didn't want to do it.

also in my neck of the woods all immunization is done at the school -- always has been -- even in the 60's and 70's when I was in school and still is at my DS school.

[Peppermint Leaf]

double post

[Flor]

Originally Posted by Juvysen

How the heck is it their business to do scoliosis screenings... wouldn't it be something that'd be obvious if it was bad enough to cause a problem? What happens if you have it? Do they FORCE you to go have surgery to correct it? I don't understand why they're bothering at all. what am i missing?

In my state there is a law that mandates that schools do this. Not sure why. . .

[Mom4tot]

That is so sad

[SpaceAngel401]

The most common form of scoliosis develops about the time of puberty. Prior to then, there may have been no signs.

That said, doing the screening in public, with everyone prestent...not cool. I think when I had it done, the nurse (or PE Teacher , or both, I don't remmver) just checked us before gym, while we were in uniform. The shirts were thin enough that any problem could be seen.