Would you take human growth homone if you were a short teenager?

[madison2000]

Poll question: Would you take human growth homone if you were a short teenager?

or allow your child to take it?

[girl gone mad]

1. No.

It's a contraversial treatment because there is no real evidence that it actually does any good.

[madison2000]

2. adolescents treated with it do improve their rate of growth

[girl gone mad]

6. Rate of growth does increase, but there is no..

evidence to show that they end up any taller than they would have without hormone injections.

With that in mind, I think it's better and safer to let nature take its course. Short stature isn't a disease, provided all nutritional needs are being met.

[Chicago Democrat]

3. totally. if doctor recommends

[bigwillq]

4. No. We're born a certain way

we should keep what we get.

BTW, I am only 5 feet, three inches tall and I like the way I am.

[Dookus]

5. it depends....

I think for extremely short people for whom it's proven that they lack adequate growth hormone, sure.

But unfortunately, it's being given to kids who are just on the short side. I saw a tv program a few months ago where a 15 year old boy who was 5'3" or 5'4" was getting the treatment. Even if he maxed out at that height, it's not a handicap.

[Speck Tater]

7. Being a short person...

... I would advise against being short if it can be avoided.

Do you have blue eyes? or Brown eyes? Or red hair? Is there a song calling for your death because of that trait?

Well...

Short People

Randy Newman


Short People got no reason
Short People got no reason
Short People got no reason
To live.

They got little hands
And little eyes
And they walk around
Tellin' great big lies
They got little noses
And tiny little teeth
They wear platform shoes
On their nasty little feet

Well, I don't want no Short People
Don't want no Short People
Don't want no Short People
Round here.

Short People are just the same
As you and I
(A fool such as I)
All men are brothers
Until the day they die
(It's a wonderful world)

Short People got nobody
Short People got nobody
Short People got nobody
To love.

They got little baby legs
And they stand so low
You got to pick 'em up
Just to say hello
They got little cars
That go beep, beep, beep
They got little voices
Goin' peep, peep, peep
They got grubby little fingers
And dirty little minds
They're gonna get you every time

Well, I don't want no Short People
Don't want no Short People
Don't want no Short People
'Round here.

[madison2000]

8. do you consider a silly 70s song to be a social imperative?

have you never heard of irony?

[Speck Tater]

9. Take the lyrics...

...and replace "short people" with "black people" and see if it still sound innocent to you.

[madison2000]

10. the whole song is written about short people- doesn't rewrite

but the real point is that the song is meant to be ironic, not that its "innocent". I had a "short" roommate who was incensed by the song. But its making fun of discrimination, not of short people.

[Speck Tater]

12. And you are NOT short. Right?

It's easy to dismiss derision of some OTHER minority; a minority we are not personally a member of.

What you are saying, in effect, is that the song is OK as long as it mocks short people even though it would be offensive if it mocked black people? It doesn't matter which group it mocks. It's still wrong, and still a good indication of the way short people are generally treated by non-short people. The song angered me because it so accurately reflected the treatement I actually received on a daily basis from others. Don't tell me that I'm supposed to ignore being ridiculed just because that ridicule was meant to be "ironic". It still felt very much like ridicule to me. Personally. And I took it very personally.

Here's ironic: There was only one kid in my high school class shorter than me. One summer he was given growth hormones and came back to school in the spring at normal height, and proceeded to join all the others in ridiculing short people. You'd think he, of all people, would know how it felt. But no. He wasn't short any more, so he could join in the fun and ridicule the squirts and shrimps and shorties. What fun!

[madison2000]

14. No, I honestly don't think the song is mocking short people

Its mocking people who discriminate by showing how ridiculous the reasons are.

Randy Newman is a wonderful creative songwriter. He's fat. Don't tell me he doesn't know how it feels to be discriminated against. I can't believe he meant the song to be taken literally.

The song is not to be taken at face value- it is making fun of people who discriminate on the basis of external characteristics.

That's the subtext, the meaning of this song.

[Taverner]

11. I would

I do not accept "we were born this way" - but then again that's my philosophy. I don't think that answer is for everyone

[NC_Nurse]

13. Acromegaly is a pituitary gland disorder

where the growth hormone is overexcreted.The people don't get taller, just bigger. They look like circus freaks. They end up having surgery through their nose into their brain to the pituitary gland to fix it. Not good. Can't be good for you, sorry.

Yeah, it sucks to be short. just like it sucks to be fat, learning disabled, have acne, etc. We all have our crosses. You are worth more than your appearance, height, weight, IQ, whatever....