If the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s most recent report had been an international comparison of test scores, the media would have gone berserk. Negativity certainly erupts when ODEC releases the results of their Programme for International Student Assessment test, since it generally shows U.S. students performing poorly compared with their peers in other […]
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Good luck trying to succeed as a kid in America
Official Hopes Prison Crisis May Spur Change
After a state task force delivered a withering indictment of New York’s juvenile prisons, the head of the agency responsible for the prisons reacted by going on a publicity blitz — not to challenge the findings, but to promote them. Gladys Carrión has the support of child-welfare advocates but draws criticism from unions representing workers […]
Homeschooling Socialization not a Problem
One of the most persistent criticisms of homeschooling is the accusation that homeschoolers will not be able to fully participate in society because they lack “socialization.” It’s a challenge that reaches right to the heart of homeschooling, because if a child isn’t properly socialized, how will that child be able to contribute to society? Since […]
Charities Criticize Online Fund-Raising Contest by Chase
JPMorgan Chase & Company is coming under fire for the way it conducted an online contest to award millions of dollars to 100 charities. At least three nonprofit groups — Students for Sensible Drug Policy, the Marijuana Policy Project and an anti-abortion group, Justice for All— say they believe that Chase disqualified them over concerns […]
The Number of Disheartened Teachers is on the Rise
An article featured in Education Week reports the findings of a study showing that 2 out of every 5 teachers are “disheartened” by their jobs. This was a nationwide study of teachers called “Teaching for a Living: How Teachers See the Profession Today.” The study of the Teacher Community is taking a closer look at […]
For students, a right to be mean online?
One morning in May 2008, an eighth-grader walked into Janice Hart's office at a Beverly Hills school crying. She was upset and humiliated and couldn't possibly go to class, the girl told the counselor. The night before, a classmate had posted a video on YouTube with a group of other eighth-graders bad-mouthing her, calling her […]
New resource for homeschoolers in Portsmouth
Necessity may be the mother of invention and in this case, it's a joint product of mom and dad. Home schooling is an option that combines family togetherness and learning, a choice that is increasing in popularity, but finding resources and like-minded people to support that choice can be difficult. Enter Carrie Whalen-Morrin and her […]
Poor Children Likelier to Get Antipsychotics
New federally financed drug research reveals a stark disparity: children covered by Medicaid are given powerful antipsychotic medicines at a rate four times higher than children whose parents have private insurance. And the Medicaid children are more likely to receive the drugs for less severe conditions than their middle-class counterparts, the data shows. Those findings, […]
The UN gave children rights - it's time we consulted them
Today is the 20th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. But according to a hard-hitting report by the Children's Rights Alliance, young people's rights to privacy and family life are being breached by local authorities who do not consult them appropriately about the decision to take them into care. Children's […]
Authorities arrest mom for medical neglect of 555-pound teen
South Carolina authorities have located a 555-pound teenager and his mother, who faces a charge of violating a custody order, police said Thursday. Alexander Deundray Draper, 14, of Travelers Rest, South Carolina, and his mother, Jerri Althea Gray, were located at about 4:30 p.m. near a laundromat in Baltimore, Maryland, by the Baltimore County Sheriff's […]
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