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?