How much information is too much information when filling out those seemingly endless school application forms?
While many might find that need-to-know vs. none-of-your-business line a bit blurry, one mom had no doubt about the issue when faced with a kindergarten application that asked about how — exactly how — her child entered the world.
In a piece for The New York Times, mother Cara Paiuk explained her reaction to a form that asked "Type of birth: Vaginal __ Cesarean __."
"The 'baby' who had resulted from that birth was 5 years old and well over any possible ramifications of it I could imagine," she wrote. "I thought it was obvious that this question was absurdly inappropriate, and said so."
She reached out to a school nurse and a district medical adviser and learned that the reason they asked the question was so that if the child later displayed problems, a teacher or administrator "could pull the file and look for clues in the medical record that might explain the cause."
However, when she countered by asking why there were no inquires about obvious things that could impact a child's health, like diet, she was told, "We don’t like to ask questions about food. Parents are very sensitive to that."
As they now know, that's not all parents are sensitive about.
During a discussion about the issue on TODAY Wednesday, mom of two Natalie Morales said, "I don't have any problem with saying how my children were born. At the same time, I don't feel the need to report it on a form."
TODAY viewers, however, were divided on the issue.
As for Paiuk, in the end, she "decided to boycott the health history form altogether" and left the question unanswered.
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