School Survival

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, […]

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 […]

ARLINGTON - Evidence abounds to indicate the United States is lagging behind other advanced-industrial nations in educational achievement, despite massive infusions of resources in technological, science and math education. Over the past decade, the country has resorted to standardized testing and fact-based education to ensure children learn basic math, reading and writing skills.But University of […]

"...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 […]

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 […]

ZEBULON, N.C.(Vance County) (AP) - 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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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.Tranquility Bay was known for abusive tactics to […]