Article by Dr. Robert Epstein

It's called Let's abolish high school, and it's in the articles section. Go check it out. Also, all site updates will be posted on the blog from now on. :) Robert Epstein is a former editor in chief of Psychology Today, a contributing editor for Scientific American Mind, a visiting scholar at the University of California, San Diego, and the author of The Case Against Adolescence: Rediscovering the Adult in Every Teen.

Parents keep child's gender a secret

(June 29) - A Swedish couple's decision to keep their toddler's gender a secret is stirring debate, especially now that the parents are expecting a second child. "Pop" is 2 ½ years old, but so far only those who change the child's diapers know whether the youngster is a boy or a girl, TheLocal.se, an [...]
Read More: Parents keep child's gender a secret

Why bribery doesn't motivate in school

By: dreamer... In my attempts to motivate myself to do schoolwork, I've been trying to bribe myself-promising that if I get good grades, I can buy certain things for myself. But I've realized it's a faulty idea. Say, for example, I can buy myself a new video game if I get a B in math and [...]
Read More: Why bribery doesn't motivate in school

Aussie girl, 16, to sail around the world alone

BUDERIM, Australia (AP) - Jessica Watson stares out at the expanse of Pacific Ocean from the deck of her family home. The sun glistens off the calm sea and all appears tranquil. In September, Watson's experience of the ocean will likely be much different - she'll be attempting to become the youngest person to sail solo, [...]
Read More: Aussie girl, 16, to sail around the world alone

Teacher Accused of Branding Kid With Cross

The school board of a small central Ohio community voted Friday to fire a teacher accused of preaching his Christian beliefs despite staff complaints and burning the image of a cross on students' arms, according to the Associated Press.
Mount Vernon Middle School veteran science teacher John Freshwater has denies any wrongdoing, his attorney told the [...]
Read More: Teacher Accused of Branding Kid With Cross

Handcuffing and denial of water/food is okay

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga., June 25 (UPI) -- Charges were dropped Thursday against a Georgia woman who kept her teenage son in handcuffs while trying to perform an exorcism on him. Sandra Alfred, 46, of Lilburn came to the attention of local police when she reported her 15-year-old son as an unruly juvenile, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. She [...]
Read More: Handcuffing and denial of water/food is okay

Supreme Court Says Child’s Rights Violated by Strip Search

WASHINGTON — In a ruling of interest to educators, parents and students across the country, the Supreme Court ruled, 8 to 1, on Thursday that the strip search of a 13-year-old Arizona girl by school officials who were looking for prescription-strength drugs violated her constitutional rights. The officials in Safford, Ariz., would have been justified in [...]
Read More: Supreme Court Says Child's Rights Violated by Strip Search

Teacher Accused of Branding Kid With Cross

The school board of a small central Ohio community voted Friday to fire a teacher accused of preaching his Christian beliefs despite staff complaints and burning the image of a cross on students' arms, according to the Associated Press.
Mount Vernon Middle School veteran science teacher John Freshwater has denies any wrongdoing, his attorney told the [...]
Read More: Teacher Accused of Branding Kid With Cross

Teen Group Sues West Palm Beach Over Curfew Law

A national youth rights group has filed a lawsuit against the city of West Palm Beach, claiming a teen curfew law is unconstitutional. Jeffrey Nadel, president and founder of the National Youth Rights Association of Southeast Florida, made the announcement Tuesday at 10:01 p.m., a minute after the curfew took effect. The ordinance bars anyone under the age of 18 from the downtown district without a parent after 10 p.m. on weeknights and 11 p.m. on weekends.Nadel said the curfew unfairly targets young people and violates their First Amendment rights.
Read More: Teen Group Sues West Palm Beach Over Curfew Law

Principal Withholds Diplomas from Graduates After Silent Protest

Students at Liechty Middle School engaged in a silent protest during their graduation ceremony last week and it wound up costing them their diplomas. "The students turned their backs on graduation speaker Monica Garcia, LAUSD Board President, to express their displeasure to teacher layoffs and cutbacks," press materials explain. Principal Jeanette Stevens then decided to withhold the protesting students' diplomas. "The students had completed all their graduation requirements and were within their free speech protected rights."
Read More: Principal Withholds Diplomas from Graduates After Silent Protest

Film (The War on Kids) Probes Public Education in America

The award-winning feature documentary, THE WAR ON KIDS, launches a nationwide grassroots screening tour that will bring the debate about public education to dozens of campuses and communities nationwide. In 95 minutes, THE WAR ON KIDS exposes the many ways the public school system has failed children and our future by robbing students of all freedoms due largely to irrational fears.  Children are subjected to endure prison-like security, arbitrary punishments, and pharmacological abuse through the forced prescription of dangerous drugs.
Read More: Film (The War on Kids) Probes Public Education in America

A Very Costly Kiss: Senior Denied Diploma

On Friday night, when the senior class was waiting to graduate, excitement began to grow. Students bounced a large inflatable rubber duck. The noise level rose. And then came "the kiss." When called, one student walked on stage to receive his diploma and blew a kiss to his family. The school administrator, clearly not the sentimental sort, sent the student back to his seat ... sans diploma.
Read More: A Very Costly Kiss: Senior Denied Diploma
Forum Post: student denied diploma

Parents could spy on kids' mobile phones

Parents may soon be able to read their children's text messages as part of a plan to give them more control over rapidly developing technologies. It is being billed as another tool in parents' armouries, but civil libertarians say if you need to pry into your kids' phones then you are not doing a good job as a parent. The technology could be rolled out in Australia by August but privacy issues loom as the main obstacle.
Read More: Parents could spy on kids' mobile phones
Forum Post: Parents could spy on kids' mobile phones

Teen diagnoses her own disease in science class

For eight years, Jessica Terry suffered from stomach pain so horrible, it brought her to her knees. The pain, along with diarrhea, vomiting and fever, made her so sick, she lost weight and often had to miss school. Her doctors, no matter how hard they tried, couldn't figure out the cause of Jessica's abdominal distress. Then one day in January, Terry, 18, figured it out on her own.
Read More: Teen diagnoses her own disease in science class

Booze, pot, and guns at daycare

A local couple is facing multiple charges after a shocking discovery at their home daycare business. Authorities confiscated a stash of guns, ammo, gallons of alcohol, marijuana, and moonshine early Saturday morning from Johnnie and Judy Wilson's home business. "People have a right to live in their residence and operate a business, but to have these types of items in their residence with children around is very disturbing," ALE agent Kenneth Simma said.
Read More: Booze, pot, and guns at daycare

Students arrested in Portage for food fight

Police arrested five students after a food fight during lunchtime at Portage High School. The teens were led from the school in handcuffs Tuesday after yogurt and taco salad flew across the cafeteria. The mother of one of the teens, Wendy Mitchell, thinks the school overreacted by calling police. So does Lee Ann Vesley, whose son Ryan Hayes was also involved. Vesley says she’s upset they were arrested and now have $172 tickets for disorderly conduct.
Read More: Students arrested in Portage for food fight

Class hanging

A student who fell with a noose around his neck during a mock class hanging that was arranged by teachers has enraged Australian authorities. The high school student fell from a table while fellow students, under the supervision of a teacher, were photographing a staged hanging as part of an English class project.
Read More: Class hanging

Education sector is lucrative as well as recession proof

With thinning demand for real estate and growing cash constraints, many developers are now looking at thriving sectors. They are divesting in non-core businesses such as education with a conviction that it’s a recession-proof sector. Experts believe that the reason behind this shift is a widening demand-supply gap in education sector. It may also be a rational expansion into a different category for developers who have land banks as well as means to raise infrastructure. High rate of return on investment coupled with huge demand-supply gap is attracting realtors to this sector, who will be comfortable setting up the required infrastructure.
Read More: Education sector is lucrative as well as recession proof

ADHD treatment causes young boys to develop breasts

A drug used to treat ADHD children is causing concern in the United States. It is called Risperdal and it is supposed to be used primarily for adults with sever psychological problems. But last year it was prescribed more than 6.5 million times. The side effects include young males developing female sex organs. Nineteen-year-old John was just seven when he began taking Risperdal for ADD. Even though the FDA approved the drug only for adult patients who were psychotic, John's doctor and others widely prescribed it to kids for less severe behaviour problems. Once taking Risperdal, John's mum says he became aggressive, sleepy, and developed bowel problems. But the biggest shock came when he was 14 and started developing women's breasts.
Read More: ADHD treatment causes young boys to develop breasts

"Kill Piper" cartoon threatens Spanaway sixth-grader

A Spanaway mother says she's horrified by a cartoon video -- posted online -- that showed several ways to kill her sixth-grade daughter. The cartoon was made off school grounds by some of her daughter's classmates, girls aged 11 and 12. Titled "Top Six Ways to Kill Piper," it includes depictions of girls shooting her, making her commit suicide, poisoning her and even pushing her off a cliff. Beth Smith tells KING5-TV the cartoon was set to a Hannah Montana song called "True Friend" and posted on YouTube.
Read More: "Kill Piper" cartoon threatens Spanaway sixth-grader

Girl makes own library with books banned in school

Some school banned a bunch of books, so this girl took copies of them and checks them out to other classmates like you would at a real library. - "I go to a private school that is rather strict. Recently, the principal and school teacher council released a (very long) list of books we're not allowed to read. I was absolutely appalled, because a large number of the books were classics and others that are my favorites."
Read More: Girl makes own library with books banned in school
Forum Post: Girl makes own library with books banned in school

Irish Reform Schools: Thousands Beaten, Raped

More than 30,000 children deemed to be petty thieves, truants or from dysfunctional families _ a category that often included unmarried mothers _ were sent to Ireland's austere network of industrial schools, reformatories, orphanages and hostels from the 1930s until the last church-run facilities shut in the 1990s. The report found that molestation and rape were "endemic" in boys' facilities, chiefly run by the Christian Brothers order, and supervisors pursued policies that increased the danger. Girls supervised by orders of nuns, chiefly the Sisters of Mercy, suffered much less sexual abuse but frequent assaults and humiliation designed to make them feel worthless.
Read More: Irish Reform Schools: Thousands Beaten, Raped

Boy, 4, walks home from Pittsburgh school midday

Pittsburgh school officials are trying to figure out how a 4-year-old boy slipped away from his preschool in the middle of the school day and walked to his home about a mile away. The boy's mother, Markeya McCary, says her son told her he left because someone tried to lock him in a closet. School officials are investigating that claim and trying to figure out how the boy was able to slip away from school.
Read More: Boy, 4, walks home from Pittsburgh school midday

Insight and Critical Thinking

New Article: Insight and Critical Thinking
Knowledge should be based on individual findings. Memorization doesn't help students understand the material. I've grown up to the teaching of "get a good grade, go to good college, get a great job, be happy" speech. Repeated over and over again, it's almost impossible to talk about the reason for getting good grades without even touching upon it. Every time I score badly on a test, the vision of unhappiness suddenly pops into mind. Why is that? Why is it that we don't allow our selves to fail (at the very least, why is it that I don't allow myself to fail)? People fail all the time, people make mistakes all the time, if we don't make mistakes, then shouldn't humans be classified as "computers"? [...]

Ohio Christian school tells student to skip prom

A student at a fundamentalist Baptist school that forbids dancing, rock music, hand-holding and kissing will be suspended if he takes his girlfriend to her public high school prom, his principal said. Despite the warning, 17-year-old Tyler Frost, who has never been to a dance before, said he plans to attend Findlay High School's prom Saturday. Frost, a senior at Heritage Christian School in northwest Ohio, agreed to the school's rules when he signed a statement of cooperation at the beginning of the year, principal Tim England said. The teen, who is scheduled to receive his diploma May 24, would be suspended from classes and receive an "incomplete" on remaining assignments, England said.
Read More: Ohio Christian school tells student to skip prom

In defense of school and teachers (forum posts)

Enough is Enough
Teachers are victims too
Why do people defend school so strongly?

How to fix school (forum posts)

Ways to fix schools/teaching
What hates school, loves learning, and isn't doomed?
What about school do most students complain about?
One simple and easy change schools can make.

Nazi mum banned from taking son, 6, to rallies

THE Family Court has banned a pro-Nazi mother from taking her six-year-old child to political rallies or encouraging the child to share her ultra right-wing views. In a case known as Hoover and Hoover, Deputy Chief Justice John Faulks ordered the woman be banned from viewing Nazi websites when the child is in her care and that she be restrained from inciting racial hatred.
Read More: Nazi mum banned from taking son, 6, to rallies

Schoolgirl 'left in sun to die'

New Delhi - An 11-year-old Indian schoolgirl died after a teacher allegedly made her stand in the baking sun as punishment for not doing her homework, reports said on Friday. Shanno Khan started bleeding from the nose and fainted after hours in the searing New Delhi heat on Wednesday, and slipped into a coma after being taken to hospital. She died on Friday, the NDTV news channel reported.
Read More: Schoolgirl 'left in sun to die'

Norway tests laptop exam scheme

About 6,000 students in Norway are doing exams on their laptops in a trial that could soon be rolled out across the country. Every 16-19 year-old in Nord-Trondelag county in Norway has been trying out the laptop-based system. The secondary students are given a laptop by the government when they turn 16 to help them with schoolwork. During exams the specially-tailored software springs into life to block and record any attempt at cheating.
Read More: Norway tests laptop exam scheme

Two-year-old becomes Mensa member

A two-year-old girl who can name 35 capital cities has become the youngest member to join high IQ society, Mensa. Elise Tan Roberts, from Edmonton, north London, has an IQ of 156 and can recite the English alphabet, count to 10 in Spanish and name types of triangle. Elise took the standard Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale test which showed she was in the top 0.2% in her age group in the UK. Mensa has described the girl as an "exceptional child".
Read More: Two-year-old becomes Mensa member

Pennsylvania's kids deserve justice

It’s a phenomenon known as the school-to-prison pipeline: Students today are more likely to be arrested at school than students of previous generations, even though there is no proof that school violence has increased. And it’s policies like Senate Bill 56, currently before the Pennsylvania Senate, that send our children from the school yard to the prison yard. SB 56 would mandate school administrators to call their local police in certain situations. It doesn’t have to be this way. Take action now to oppose Senate Bill 56.
Read More: Pennsylvania's kids deserve justice
Forum Post: A letter from PA ACLU.

Spread the word, strip-searches, dropping out and brainwashing (forum posts)

(my essay) Spread the Word
Whole class gets strip-searched.
The more people that drop out the better?
Definitive proof that school is a brainwashing process?

Are 'No-Fail' Grading Systems Hurting or Helping Students?

What's a kid gotta do to get an "F" these days? At a growing number of middle schools and high schools across the country, students no longer receive failing marks when they fail. Instead, they get an "H" — for "held" — on their report cards, and they're given a chance to rectify their poor performance without tanking the entire semester. Educators in schools from Costa Mesa, Calif., to Maynard, Mass., are also employing a policy known in school hallways as ZAP — or "Zeros Aren't Permitted" — which gives students an opportunity to finish the homework they neglected to do on time.
Read More: Are 'No-Fail' Grading Systems Hurting or Helping Students?

Stop Your Representative From Sponsoring Federal Bill to Mislabel Video Games

As you read this, your Congressperson may be considering co-sponsoring the newest regulatory assault on video games - Rep. Joe Baca's (D-CA) bill H.R. 231 "The Video Game Health Labeling Act." Baca's bill mandates that video games rated Teen or higher receive the following warning label: "WARNING: Excessive exposure to violent video games and other violent media has been linked to aggressive behavior." Baca's bill is misguided, unnecessary, and simply unconstitutional. In a letter seeking co-sponsors of this bill, Rep. Baca points to research claiming a causal link between video games and aggressive behavior, even though this very same research was rejected as faulty by a majority of federal and state courts.
Read More: Stop Your Representative From Sponsoring Federal Bill to Mislabel Video Games
Forum Post: We have to do something about this

Pupils at truant school to get Savile Row suits by Prince Charles's tailor to boost morale

A school with one of the country's worst truancy records is issuing its pupils with Savile Row suits. Tom Mahon - tailor to Prince Charles - has designed suits to replace the replace polo shirts and sweaters worn by the 750 children at the Manchester school. The Savile Row touch is being applied as part of a rebranding exercise that will see Parklands High School in Wythenshawe transformed into the Manchester Enterprise Academy in September.
Read More: Pupils at truant school to get Savile Row suits by Prince Charles's tailor to boost morale

Celebrity culture is fuelling violence and sex among children, says schools tsar

Unruly pupils are copying the worst behaviour they see from footballers and celebrities on television, the Government's discipline tsar said today. Sir Alan Steer, a retired head who has conducted a four-year investigation into school discipline, claimed that abusive football stars fuelled violence in the playground while celebrity sex scandals encouraged teenage promiscuity. Sir Alan called for parents to spend more time and less money on their children, and must be prepared to say "No" more often to their demands. He suggested a ban on televisions in children's bedrooms to minimise the influence of popular culture on the young.
Read More: Celebrity culture is fuelling violence and sex among children, says schools tsar

Girl sues sperm bank for father's 'defective' sperm

An American teenager, who was born with a genetic disorder called X syndrome causing mental impairment, has filed a suit against the sperm bank that her mother used to conceive her. Thirteen-year-old Brittany Donovan from Pennsylvania is suing the sperm bank, Idant Laboratories in New York, after a judge gave her the go ahead to pursue the case under product liability laws applicable to manufacturing defects. Donovan does not have to show that Idant was negligent, only that the sperm it provided was unsafe and caused injury, according to NewScientist.
Read More: Girl sues sperm bank for father's 'defective' sperm

All Under 19's in UK to do Community Service

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has pledged to ensure every young person has done 50 hours of voluntary work by the time they are 19 years old. Mr Brown said a promise to bring in compulsory community service would be a part of his next election manifesto. Under the scheme, the work may include helping charities and is likely to become part of the school curriculum. The scheme would be woven into plans to make everyone stay in education or training until the age of 18 by 2011.
Read More: All Under 19's in UK to do Community Service

Naked men line-up at Bristol school to help with sex education

A Bristol secondary school has tried out a new style of sex education by letting teenage pupils examine a line-up of naked men. The pupils at Hanham High School, aged 14 to 16, watched a screen in the main hall showing a live feed of different men who were being filmed in the school's gym. The youngsters were told to ask which areas of which man's body they wanted to look at, with the idea of showing them that every person's body is different.
Read More: Naked men line-up at Bristol school to help with sex education

Student suspended for passing gas on bus

An eighth-grader was suspended from riding the school bus for three days after being accused of passing gas. The bus driver wrote on a misbehavior form that a 15-year-old teen passing gas on the bus on March 16 to make the other children laugh, creating a stench so bad that it was difficult to breathe. The bus driver handed the teen the suspension form the next day.
Read More: Student suspended for passing gas on bus
Forum Post: There are no words to describe this besides rage

Longer schooling 'cuts dementia'

The raising of the school leaving age to 15 over 50 years ago could go some way to reducing dementia rates in the elderly, a study has suggested. A Cambridge University team compared the mental abilities of elderly people, and found those born after the change fared better. They say that further changes to the school leaving age could improve mental abilities and curb dementia rates more. (Hint: Using your brain to think keeps the braincells alive longer. As soon as most people leave school, they're overjoyed at the prospect of never having to think ever again. You can see where this is going, right?)
Read More: Longer schooling 'cuts dementia'

Texas: From saved to doomed in just 6 hours!

Texas Board of Education creationist Barbara Cargill today proposed an amendment to the science standards saying that teachers have to tell their students there are different estimates for the age of the Universe. So Ms. Cargill is right, if she means that "different estimates" range from 13.58 to 13.82 (given one standard deviation) billion years old. But she doesn’t mean that at all, does she? If you read her website, you’ll see she’s an out-and-out creationist. She has a large number of, um, factual errors on her site that are clearly right out of the Creationist Obscurational Handbook.
Read More: Texas: From saved to doomed in just 6 hours!

Strip-Search of Girl Tests Limit of School Policy

Savana Redding still remembers the clothes she had on the day school officials here forced her to strip six years ago. She was 13 and in eighth grade. An assistant principal, enforcing the school’s antidrug policies, suspected her of having brought prescription-strength ibuprofen pills to school. One of the pills is as strong as two Advils. The search by two female school employees was methodical and humiliating, Ms. Redding said. Ms. Redding, an honors student, had no pills. But she had a furious mother and a lawyer, and now her case has reached the Supreme Court, which will hear arguments on April 21.
Read More: Strip-Search of Girl Tests Limit of School Policy
Forum Post: U.S. Supreme Court Case Regarding Strip-searching of Student

Texas could allow creationists to grant Masters of Science degrees

If a private college doesn't receive funds from any governmental organization, should they have to be held to any standards or requirements when they award degrees? No, one Texan lawmaker is insisting. Texas State Representative Leo Berman has proposed House Bill 2800, which would exempt any private non-profit institution that requires students to complete “substantive course work” from having to acquire a certificate of authority from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board(THECB). “If you don’t take any federal funds, if you don’t take any state funds, you can do a lot more than some business that does take state funding or federal funding,” Berman says. “Why should you be regulated if you don’t take any state or federal funding?” Because creationism isn't science, critics argue.
Read more: Texas could allow creationists to grant Masters of Science degrees

Parents of Dead Girl receive Truancy letter

The parents of a girl who died suddenly have received a school letter demanding she improve her attendance. Megan Gillan, 15, was found dead in the bedroom of her home in Macclesfield, Cheshire, two months ago. Her parents say they were "floored" by a Macclesfield High School letter, which threatened to ban Megan from the end of year prom.
Read more: Parents of Dead Girl receive Truancy letter

Five-year-old hosts cooking show

Five-year-old Julian Kreusser is the product of unschooling , a style of home-schooling in which kids direct their own learning toward their particular interests. Julian's interests have included cooking since he was 3 years old , and a mere two years later he's the host of his own cooking show.
Read full article (or comment)  |  Original article source

An unschooler goes to school for the first time...

Education From the Free Eye, by Kevin Snavley
Snippet: "I always wondered in the back of my head what it was like to be there, in a school building all day. How horrible it was to sit there for hours on end being lectured by crazy teachers and doing hours of homework. For a while, around age 12, I always wanted to be on-track with the kids at school. It was probably because I felt stupid or less intelligent than them, which really wasn't the case. They just knew more meaningless facts than I did. It took me until last year to finally realize that, and to truly understand the reasons and joys of unschooling. Why it really is so much better than public school."
Forum Post: An unschooler goes to school for the first time...

Dangerous beliefs, Gods, Silent Generation (forum posts)

Dangerous Beliefs Planted by School That Needs Abolishing? - I am writing an article with the idea of "Things Teenagers Should Know" and I'm addressing to every stupid belief school has planted to our minds.
This is an interesting quote. - What if we, at one point, had gods that have now left us?
The New Silent Generation  - Is this what we have become? The silent generation? The people who will not stand up, and take control of their lives?

Dallas school accused of staging fights

The Dallas school system was rocked by allegations Thursday that staff members at an inner-city high school made students settle their differences by fighting bare-knuckle brawls inside a steel cage. The principal and other employees at South Oak Cliff High knew about the cage fights and allowed the practice to continue, according to a 2008 report by school system investigators. The report, first obtained by The Dallas Morning News, describes two instances of fighting in an equipment cage in a boys' locker room between 2003 and 2005. It was not clear from the report whether there were other fights.
Read full article (or comment)  |  Original article source

Mom forces daughters abortion, throws baby in trash

A Miramar woman is accused of forcing her 16-year-old daughter to have an abortion and then throwing the baby out with the trash, according to court documents obtained by The Miami Herald. Miramar police say that on March 5, Rainey forced her daughter, whom The Miami Herald is not naming, to swallow pills that caused her to give birth to a 24-week-old fetus. Rainey then allegedly gathered the fetus and placenta into a garbage bag and put it out with the rest of the household's waste for curbside pickup.
Read full article (or comment)  |  Original article source

The Anarchist Professor: Interview with Denis Rancourt

How does a tenured, full professor lose his job? First, he throws out the grading system by deciding that every student gets an A+. Next, he tells students to rebel by showing how they, collectively, have more power and authority than any of the administration. Then, he gets arrested and taken away in handcuffs by the police just for showing up for a film club on campus.
Forum Post: The Anarchist Professor: Interview with Denis Rancourt
Read full article (or comment)  |  Original article source

IPhone Could Soon Help Parents Track Kids' Health From Afar

Parents could soon be using their iPhones to monitor a child's blood glucose levels throughout the day, whether that child is at school or at the beach. Of course, there are already dozens of iPhone apps available for tracking exercise, diet, and blood pressure—things where you type in the information yourself. But this new tool, unveiled yesterday by LifeScan Inc. of Milpitas, Calif., would be the first to monitor health information remotely, then share it with family members or doctors.
Read full article (or comment)  |  Original article source

Purpose, student manifesto, and the treatment of youth (forum posts)

A problem with today's society
Forgetting about the stupididy of the treatment of youth
Creationsim and Evolution... In ONE!
Manifesto of a Student

Obama on education

Snippets from Obama's recent speech on education reform: "Good teachers will be rewarded with more money for improved student achievement, and asked to accept more responsibilities for lifting up their schools." "If a teacher is given a chance or two chances or three chances but still does not improve, there's no excuse for that person to continue teaching. I reject a system that rewards failure and protects a person from its consequences." "One of the places where much of that innovation occurs is in our most effective charter schools. And these are public schools founded by parents, teachers, and civic or community organizations with broad leeway to innovate" "dropping out is quitting on yourself, it's quitting on your country, and it's not an option -- not anymore."
Forum Post:  Obama on Education
Read full article (or comment)  |  Original article source

Terminally ill boy given truancy warning

A SHEPSHED school has apologised for sending a letter about truancy to the mother of a boy suffering from leukaemia after she asked to take him out of classes to meet the Pope. Louise Yates, of Cumbrian Way, wants to take her six-year-old son Travis on a two-day trip to the Vatican in June for a blessing with the Pope. But when she asked for permission from St Botolph’s School she was sent a letter about truancy and a copy of his attendance record.
Read full article (or comment)  |  Original article source

'Scared Straight' program scares truants back into class

(Old news, but still important) To Joel, the choice was simple: Go to school and be ridiculed because he had a hard time reading or stay home and smoke pot with his friends. So the 16-year-old Santa Ana boy skipped hundreds of days in his first two years of high school, until ditching caught up with him and an Orange County judge gave him another simple choice -- school or jail. "I didn't want to get locked up," Joel said after a recent court appearance to check on his progress. "Being scared about that made me get over being embarrassed about how I couldn't keep up in school."
Forum Post: Fuck the 'Scared Straight' program!
Read full article (or comment)  |  Original article source

German school gunman 'kills 15'

Fifteen people have been killed after a teenage gunman went on a rampage in south-west Germany, officials say. Most of the dead are thought to have been pupils at the Albertville secondary school in Winnenden, north of Stuttgart. The gunman, a 17-year-old former pupil, is also dead, police say. The teenager, who was said to have been wearing black combat gear, was chased by police after fleeing the school into the centre of town. It is unclear whether the gunman was shot by police or killed himself. Earlier reports said he had been arrested.
Read full article (or comment)  |  Original article source

Parents face court action for removing children from gay history lessons

Parents face possible court action for withdrawing their children from lessons on gay and lesbian history. More than 30 pupils were pulled out of a week of teaching at a primary school which included books about homosexual partnerships. The controversial content was worked into the curriculum at George Tomlinson School in Waltham Forest, East London.The council has declared that children who missed the lessons will be viewed as truants.
Read full article (or comment)  |  Original article source

Court Issues Arrest Warrant for Sudan's Leader

Judges at the International Criminal Court ordered the arrest Wednesday of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan for atrocities committed in Darfur, but Sudanese officials swiftly retaliated, ordering Western aid groups that provide for millions of people to shut down their operations and leave. Demonstrations in support of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir began in Khartoum, Sudan, after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest.
Read full article (or comment)  |  Original article source

Love, youth rights and utopia (forum posts)

PLUR
What is love?
Single greatest rant ever
there is no such thing as a utopia

5th Graders Against Homework

Benjamin Berrafato, a fifth grade student from Seldon, New York, is fed up with homework and he's not going to take it anymore. In an open letter to his peers, Berrafato urges his fellow fifth graders to "unite against homework" and makes a case for why it should be abolished. Berrafato argues that homework is "cruel, inhumane, stressful, unhealthy," and ultimately, illegal: "Homework is assigned to students like me, without our permission. Teachers expect us to do homework, even though we'd rather not. It can be hard sometimes. We get punished if we don't do it. If we do it, we get no reward; we just don't get punished. Simply put, if we don't, we get punished, and if we do, our reward is ... nothing.
Read full article (or comment)  |  Original article source

Weapons of Mass Instruction: John Taylor Gatto's New Book

A Schoolteacher's Journey Through the Dark World of Compulsory Schooling: John Taylor Gatto's Weapons of Mass Instruction focuses on mechanisms of familiar schooling that cripple imagination, discourage critical thinking, and create a false view of learning as a by-product of rote-memorization drills. Gatto's earlier book, Dumbing Us Down, put that now-famous expression of the title into common use worldwide. Weapons of Mass Instruction promises to add another chilling metaphor to the brief against schooling.
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Why kids hate school: sociologists explore issue in new book

University of Texas at Arlington Sociology Professors Ben Agger and Beth Anne Shelton, say the problem of ineffective education cannot be remedied by more math courses and rounds of educational testing. Agger and Shelton, co-authors of a book titled, “I Hate School: Why American Kids are Turned Off Learning,” contend that by the time American students are in junior high and high school, they hate school and cannot wait to finish an acceptable terminal level of education and establish careers and families, mimicking the suburban lifestyles of their parents.
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How to convince your parents to let you drop out of school

New article (by Oni-Chiisu): How to convince your parents to allow you to drop out of school, and/or to get a GED. Dropping out to get your GED is a tedious process because a lot of parents remain blissfully ignorant of what exactly dropping out means for the drop out and what you can accomplish with a GED. I’m going to cover that subject. (Read full article)

17-yr-old catches typo in standardized test

"...while taking his state writing test last week, the East High junior saw something that didn't make sense: The word "emission" -- as in "the emission of greenhouse gases" -- was spelled "omission." "I thought, 'Surely they're not talking about leaving out carbon dioxide altogether.' It just didn't make sense," said Stanford, 17. "It had to be a mistake." It was. Stanford, a linebacker and International Baccalaureate student, alerted English teacher Jennifer Fry, who alerted the district test coordinator, who alerted state education officials, who were, as you might imagine, embarrassed.
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Boy becomes father at 13

Baby-faced Alfie, who is 13 but looks more like eight, became a father four days ago when his girlfriend Chantelle Steadman gave birth to 7lb 3oz Maisie Roxanne. He told how he and Chantelle, 15, decided against an abortion after discovering she was pregnant. The shy lad, whose voice has not yet broken, said: “I thought it would be good to have a baby. “I didn’t think about how we would afford it. I don’t really get pocket money. My dad sometimes gives me £10.”
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North Carolina boy shot on a school bus

A middle school student who was showing off a handgun brought from home shot a friend in the leg aboard a school bus Wednesday, and the wounded boy is recovering, authorities said. Lawrence Lavon Muzzon, the father of the boy who was suspected of bringing the gun on the bus, was arrested and charged in warrants with failing to store a firearm to protect a minor, authorities said.
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Judges accused of jailing kids for cash

For years, the juvenile court system in Wilkes-Barre operated like a conveyor belt: Youngsters were brought before judges without a lawyer, given hearings that lasted only a minute or two, and then sent off to juvenile prison for months for minor offenses. The explanation, prosecutors say, was corruption on the bench. In one of the most shocking cases of courtroom graft on record, two Pennsylvania judges have been charged with taking millions of dollars in kickbacks to send teenagers to two privately run youth detention centers.
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Nine-Year-Old Creates iPhone Applications

He's only nine years old, and he's already done something most of us could never do: create an iPhone application. Lim Ding Wen, a Singapore native, created a new app for the iPhone called Doodle Kids, according to Fox News. The program lets users draw pictures with their fingers right onto the iPhone's touchscreen. To clear the screen, you just shake the phone.
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10 year old hangs himself at school

A 10-year-old boy found hanging in an Evanston school restroom had threatened to take his life, sources said today, underscoring experts' warnings to take cries for help seriously even from the very young. Scolded by a teacher, Aquan Lewis responded with a threat to kill himself the same day his body was discovered, said sources familiar with the investigation. The 5th grader hanged himself Tuesday afternoon by his shirt collar on a hook in an Oakton Elementary School restroom stall where a footprint was found on a toilet, a source said.
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Woman rapes man in Colorado

A 53-year-old Longmont woman was arrested Wednesday on suspicion that she drugged a male friend during a backyard barbecue and then raped him, police said. Janice Lynette McCarl was booked into the Boulder County Jail at 7:40 p.m. Wednesday on suspicion of sexual assault, a class-three felony. “She allegedly took unwanted advantage of this friend in a manner he did not want or approve of,” Lewis said. The man told detectives the incident happened on Nov. 9 at his Longmont house and involved “unwanted penetration.”
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Tranquility Bay Closed

Widely hated torture camp Tranquility Bay has closed down. Jamaican government officials have confirmed that the last inmate left the country on 5 January, 2009. All equipment from Tranquility Bay is being sold. It is believed that the closure is due to new passport requirements and illegal loans.
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Learning outside classes, civilization and animal souls (forum posts)

Saving Civilization
Concerning Animal Spirituality
On Men of learning
A suggestion on learning things outside of classes

Free Education Revolution

The Free Education Revolution is a rapidly growing revolution which aims to spread awareness about compulsory schooling and its flaws. Our aim is to make school optional, and we intend to do this by informing and educating people about the flawed school system. FER is owned by no one and is controlled by no one, it is a free and open revolution.

Propaganda, success, arguing and suicide (forum posts)

Success
Suicide Selfish?
Arguing anti-school positions
Pro-School is happy
Is propaganda exercising freedom of speech?

Device allows parents to track their children to within 10ft

A satellite tracking device that will allow parents to plot their child's location to within 10ft will go on sale in the UK in March, its manufacturer said. Concerned parents will be able to receive text or email updates of their child's location. Nu.M8, thought to be the world's first GPS locator device specifically designed to be worn by children, is concealed within a digital watch. It can be securely fastened to a child's wrist and will trigger an alert if forcibly removed.
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Teen killed mother in Halo 3 row

A US teenager killed his mother and wounded his father in revenge after they took away his violent computer game, a judge has ruled. The defence team for Daniel Petric, 17, had argued his addiction to the Halo 3 game, in which players shoot invading aliens, had made him insane. But the judge rejected this, saying he had planned revenge for weeks. Petric, of Ohio, was tried as an adult and faces a maximum possible penalty of life in prison without parole.
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Homework could be illegal in Poland

(Old news, but still interesting) The Schoolchildren’s Rights Spokesman has just launched a battle against setting work to do at home. The spokesman has concluded that homework is not legal, because school has no right to decide on what children do at home; moreover homework is a restriction of freedom and the right to rest, as provided by the Constitution of Childrens’ Rights.
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Police Boss Says No To DARE In Suffolk County

Suffolk County's police department is dropping DARE, the widespread school anti-drug program that has faced questions about its effectiveness, the police commissioner said. Commissioner Richard Dormer said Thursday he aimed to replace DARE with another drug-prevention program, but some local lawmakers objected to the idea. After nearly 20 years in Suffolk County, DARE isn't working, Dormer told local lawmakers Thursday. The program's 26 police officers teach fifth- and seventh-graders about the dangers of drugs, spending an hour a week in a given classroom for 10 weeks.
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Revolution, punishment and the afterlife (forum posts)

Afterlife Knowledge
what punishments do you think would work in school
A Revolution Update
We're not a Minority
Lonely?

Convincing your parents to consider alternative schooling

Something new from the wiki: Convincing your parents or legal guardian to consider alternative schooling (or no schooling at all for that matter) is tricky, but if done efficiently it may be one of the prime factors that decides your fate and whether or not your parents will back you on any decisions you make yourself.
http://wiki.school-survival.net/Convincing_Parents

Online Pedo Threat Grossly Overestimated

The Internet may not be such a dangerous place for children after all. A task force created by 49 state attorneys general to look into the problem of sexual solicitation of children online has concluded that there really is not a significant problem. The findings ran counter to popular perceptions of online dangers as reinforced by depictions in the news media like NBC’s “To Catch a Predator” series.
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Man forces kids to walk 10 miles in below freezing weather

A man in Idaho is charged with second degree murder after forcing his two children ,11 and 12. to walk 10 miles in -4 degrees centigrade (25 degrees Fahrenheit) weather. The single father of two was driving his children to see their mother when they hit a snow drift. Instead of waiting it out in the car he told his children to walk the remaining 10 miles to their mother's house.
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Compassion, factory work and good teachers (forum posts)

(Long time no forum update, sorry 'bout that)
Unconditional Love
The Elements of a Good Teacher
They are even forcing us to work in factories?
Feeling compassion toward your enemies...

Parents upset after teacher asks students to shave his face

Young girls say teacher had them shave his beard, then told them not to tell anyone about it. Mr. McLane had the class participate in a face-shaving activity with an electric razor as a story starter for a writing assignment. He later instructed the students that if they told they would not have a Christmas Party. Dr. Julia Johnson, a licensed educational psychologist in Southern California, said the event could lead to deep anxiety and confusion among the children in the classroom.
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‘Obsessed’ teacher charged with rape of teen

A married South Shore teacher was so "obsessed" with a teen boy she had sex with him on his kitchen floor, in the shower and in the living room and it all began when he was 13 years old, prosecutors said today. The alleged victim, now 16, said they had sex a total of 300 times - "possibly every other day," according to a police report obtained by the Herald.
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6-year-old drives himself to school... almost

The parents of a six-year-old boy in the US have been charged with neglect after the boy drove their car for 10km in an attempt to get to school on time. Police in Virginia said the boy, who was not named, took the keys to the car after he missed the school bus. He drove for six miles (10km) on major roads, weaving through traffic and overtaking slower cars, before losing control and going off the road.
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Traditional fairytales 'not politically correct'

Favourites such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella and Rapunzel are being dropped by some families who fear children are being emotionally damaged. A third of parents refused to read Little Red Riding Hood because she walks through woods alone and finds her grandmother eaten by a wolf. One in 10 said Snow White should be re-named because "the dwarf reference is not PC".
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Four-year-old shoots babysitter who 'stood on his foot'

Police said Nathan Beavers, 18, and several other teenagers were looking after a number of young children at a mobile home in Jackson, Ohio, when the shooting occurred. The child, identified by local media as Ethan Crisp, was apparently angry after Mr Beavers trod on his foot, witnesses said, and stormed off to his bedroom saying he was going to get a gun. Those present assumed he was going to fetch a toy. But the toddler reappeared clasping a shotgun taken from a bedroom cupboard and fired at Mr Beavers.
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The new £4.7m school that won't call itself a 'school'... because it has 'negative connotations'

It has 500 pupils, scores of classrooms, a headmistress, staffroom and playground. But woe betide anyone who refers to Watercliffe Meadow as a school. The word has been banished since it opened in September - because of its 'negative connotations'. Instead it is to be known as 'a place for learning'. Its head hopes the change will help 'de-institutionalise' the school.
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How to make a resume

Ayliana wrote a guide on how to write a good resume or CV, especially if you have no college experience. Also created a new section for it, about Alternative Jobs & Income Sources... so that means there will be more stuff added in there eventually.

Premarital Abstinence Pledges Ineffective, Study Finds

Teenagers who pledge to remain virgins until marriage are just as likely to have premarital sex as those who do not promise abstinence and are significantly less likely to use condoms and other forms of birth control when they do, according to a study released today. The new analysis of data from a large federal survey found that more than half of youths became sexually active before marriage regardless of whether they had taken a "virginity pledge," but that the percentage who took precautions against pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases was 10 points lower for pledgers than for non-pledgers.
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CCTV used to 'spy' on pupils in schools

The surveillance equipment is in use in around 85 primary and secondary schools and colleges across the country. Classwatch, the company behind the system, says it is being used as a way to monitor children who are disrupting lessons. The firm said the equipment, which is sold with evidence bags approved by the Crown Prosecution Service to store material for court cases, can be used to compile "proof" of wrongdoing.
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