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.
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"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.
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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."
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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".
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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.