I had to suffer the wrath of David Bunting’s armpit in my face almost every day for an entire semester while he was resting his arm on my head. Sometimes people take advantage of you when you’re short like me. Situations like that don’t make me angry though; I’m used to them as well as the “you’re so little” and “do you need a kid’s menu?” comments. What offends me is when people assume that people of short stature are inferior to taller people. Whether it’s from regular people, scientists, or the media, there is an obvious and for the most part ignored stereotype against short people. My goal is to undermine the common misconceptions about height-challenged people.
Many doctors and parents are giving Artificial Growth Hormones to children of short stature in hope that they will reach a “normal” adult height. Personally, I think this is due to the harsh connotations associated with short adults. Of course I knew you could change almost anything on your body these days, but why would someone give growth hormones to otherwise healthy children? What message does this send to kids about accepting themselves for who they are? I would like to think this is an uncommon situation, but it really isn’t. I come from a short family. My mother is just shy of five feet, and I stand exactly at 5’0”. It’s genetic. Regardless of this, from the time I was born until I was about 6, doctors were concerned that I “wasn’t growing at a normal rate” and may “require some reinforcements”. Luckily, my mother didn’t agree with letting me take growth hormones because she believes being short is completely natural, as do I.
The problem with growth hormones isn’t that they’re unnatural; it’s that they’re harmful. One of the side effects of taking growth hormones is actually stunted growth. Imagine that. They feed their kids medicine to make them grow; and they do the opposite. There are many other side effects including increased risk of diabetes and colon cancer. It seems to me like taking the growth hormones are not within the interest of the child; but within the interests of the parents and doctors.
The true question, however, is not about growth hormones. It’s about whether there is really anything wrong with being significantly below the height average. The answer is no. Although there are a number of studies on the correlation between intelligence and height and strength, they are proven to be untrue. Naturally, smaller people have less body strength; but their body mass is similar to that of tall people.
Since some people are short because of mental delays, there is a relation between height and intelligence but short people who have none of the associated mental conditions perform just as well on IQ tests as anyone else.
