Be Direct

There’s an article on CNN.com about whether obese children should be called ‘obese’ by the medical community.  It seems that experts feel more politically correct language should be used to describe what is now an epidemic.  I understand that overweight or obese children may be sensitive about their appearance especially in a society that arguably values it above all other things.  However, their sensitivity does not supplant the need to see truth and address it.  Those are, after all, the first steps toward change.

The article got me wondering what happened to directness?  When did we rid ourselves of concise, straight-forwardness and refuse to tell the truth if it’s unkind or unpleasant?  That is not to say that there aren’t inappropriate ways of expressing ourselves, but we’ve become a bit ridiculous in our pursuit of euphemistic speech. 

People need to hear what they do wrong, what they could do better, and how to do it.  That’s parenting.  That’s supervising.  That’s teaching.  That’s friendship.  In every segment of our lives, however, our parents, supervisors, teachers, and friends go out of their way to avoid that responsibility.  Possibly because in the absence of such guidance, its appearance carries that much more of a shock when confronted.  People are caught off-guard by the very idea that they need improvement or have been doing ‘whatever’ wrong.  They do need to hear it, though.

So tell the children that they’re obese.  Do it kindly and follow it up with how to change their habits and the consequences of failing to do so.  Be more direct!