School Survival

Hope Witsell was just beginning the journey from child to teen. The middle-school student had a tight-knit group of friends, the requisite poster of “Twilight” heartthrob Robert Pattinson and big plans to become a landscaper when she grew up. But one impetuous move robbed Hope of her childhood, and eventually, her life. The 13-year-old Florida […]

Turkey is signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, but that does not stop minors in the country's Kurdish dominated eastern and southeastern regions from ending up with stiff jail sentences. In fact, after amendments were recently made to the country's anti-terror law, it is possible to charges children as […]

A man who worked as a nurse at a boarding school for troubled teens has been charged with having sexual contact with two of the school’s teenage residents. Geary David Oakes, 57, of Cedarview, Duchesne County, is charged in 8th District Court with two counts of forcible sodomy, a first-degree felony, and two counts of […]

West Palm Beach's downtown curfew for minors - 10 p.m. on weekdays and 11 p.m. on weekends - violates the Constitution, a youth rights group says. Led by 17-year-old Jeffrey Nadel, the National Youth Rights Association of Southeast Florida says it's the first youth-led group to sue a city for violating minors' right to peaceably […]

Beware: a Facebook poke could land you behind bars. Just ask Shannon D. Jackson of Hendersonville, Tennessee, who faces that very real possibility. Jackson was arrested and transported to Sumner County Jail on September 25th with a bond set at $1,500 after she violated an order of protection by allegedly poking a woman on Facebook. […]

Colorado sheriff's deputies shocked an "out of control" 10-year-old child with a Taser and arrested him. Pueblo Sheriff's Capt. Jeff Teschner said Wednesday that the boy was not hurt when deputies took action Monday after arriving at his foster home, where he was reportedly destroying property. Teschner says deputies were justified in their use of […]

A Supreme Court of Canada ruling has expanded the definition of Internet luring to include anyone having an inappropriate conversation with a child -- even if the chats aren't sexual in nature and the accused never intended to meet the alleged victim. Justice Morris Fish, writing for the Supreme Court, said physical contact is not […]

Two sophomore girls have sued their school district after they were punished for posting sexually suggestive photos on MySpace during their summer vacation. The American Civil Liberties Union, in a federal lawsuit filed last week on behalf of the girls, argues that Churubusco High School violated the girls' free speech rights when it banned them […]

A mother filmed her daughter's brutal assault of a shy and vulnerable teenager while advising her to "smash", kick and punch the victim. Footage of the assault, posted on her daughter's MySpace page, was played to the County Court in Melbourne on Tuesday. It showed the 16-year-old victim being punched, kicked and hit by the […]

Three of the four Democrats running to succeed the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy declared Monday they support lowering the federal voting age from 18 to 17, saying younger people were being given increasing responsibilities and deserved the privilege. Only one candidate in the race, Rep. Michael Capuano, told Suffolk University students that he opposed […]