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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.

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.
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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.
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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