School Survival

by Maureen Costello Some things that happen in school are just not right. It’s not right for a six-year old boy to be handcuffed and shackled to a chair by an armed security officer because he “acted up” in school. But that’s exactly what happened at the Sarah T. Reed Elementary School, in New Orleans, […]

A proposed change to federal regulations designed to help parents control the information websites collect from their children is stirring a national debate about how much free speech and privacy American teenagers should have on the Internet. For 10 years, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) has required websites aimed at children under 13 […]

Teachers are to get tougher powers - and clearer guidance on using physical force - to deal with unruly pupils, the Government will announce. Courts will be told to heed new guidlines on force being used to remove youngsters from classrooms or restrain troublemakers. Search powers are to be beefed up too, allowing kids to […]

For many gay rights activists, 2010 will be the year remembered for ups and downs in the name of advocacy. While the community won many deserved victories in the name of equality, including the beginning steps to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” there were a number of reminders that we have a long way to […]

Sections of the media made it out to be a place for "child-hating ogres", according to one estate agent. Residents of Firhall, built in the early Noughties on the outskirts of Nairn in the Highlands, must abide by certain rules. The deeds for their properties prohibit the keeping of ducks, rabbits, pigeons and bees. Households […]

Teenagers. They're surly, lazy and moody — and it may not be entirely their fault. It turns out that starting the school day just 30 minutes later in the morning might help teenagers be more productive and decrease the chances of them oversleeping on weekends, according to a group of sleep scientists. "There are real, […]

"[H]e started to whip me on my back with twisted electrical wire," said Kakada, recalling his detention in a so-called "youth rehabilitation center" in Cambodia. "I was in such pain. Sometimes I cry alone, after the beating, because it was so painful. I did not commit any mistake: why did they beat me like this?" […]

The country's school principals are taking legal advice over whether teachers have the right to search and seize drugs and weapons from students. Following massacres at schools overseas, violence has also hit schools here, with teachers stabbed at Avondale College and Te Puke High, but Secondary Principals' Association president Patrick Walsh said some teachers were […]

Police say the four Anderson Township boys were out past curfew and were trying to avoid being caught by cops when they made a critical mistake and were hurt early Wednesday morning. The teens were walking on Paddison Road just after 1 a.m. when they thought they saw a police cruiser. To avoid a curfew […]

It may look like any leafy New England campus, but inside one Massachusetts school for special needs children, the method of teaching at work is anything but ordinary. The Boston-area's Judge Rotenberg Center educates and treats enrollees ages 3 to adult, all of whom are struggling with severe emotional, behavior, and psychiatric problems, including autism-like […]