School Survival

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 […]

The Preamble of the UN Convention beautifully, almost poetically, outlines that the UN affirms "their faith in fundamental human rights and in the dignity and worth of the human person".. and that "everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth therein, without distinction of any kind...", which would include children. The Preamble […]

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 […]

But, ironically, not to party. Young people have clubbed together to tackle youth discrimination in shops and town centres, spearheaded by 16-year-old Jessica Robinson through a very modern medium, Facebook. The group which currently stands at 1232 members is continually growing. I interviewed her about how the group started and how she is instigating change […]

Homeschoolers have reason to hope that a years-long effort by some state legislators to impose unnecessary, intrusive regulations has at last been thwarted. This hint of victory comes at the end of a tumultuous 2009, during which homeschool advocates broke records for the largest crowds ever to assemble at the state Capitol in Concord. On […]

Police shot 18-year-old Dashawn Vasconcellos on Saturday, November 21 after cops say he pulled a gun on them. The fatal incident began when four plainclothes officers in an unmarked vehicle observed three males exiting Bays Water Park after-hours. As the officers exited their vehicle to question the three as to why they were in the […]

Juergen and Rosemary Dudek of Archfeldt, Germany, were sentenced to 90 days in prison in July 2008 because they homeschool their children. Their sentence was overturned by an appeals court because of a legal error, and a new trial was ordered. Their new trial began November 16. German news reports indicate the judge appears disposed […]

As Thanksgiving preparations shifted into high gear, media outlets large and small have been opining on the importance of gratitude, but, more specifically, they've often targeted their sights on the most ungrateful creature of all: the adolescent. Pointing to the research of Hofstra professor Jeffrey Froh, a number of these reports have suggested that it […]

Video games frequently flaunt international human rights and criminal law without portraying the consequences, a study by Swiss human rights organisation TRIAL and youth rights advocate Pro Juventute Switzerland has unsurprisingly discovered. Lawyers trained in international humanitarian, criminal and human rights law cast their legal eyes over twenty shooters including Call of Duty 4: Modern […]

Two former county judges accused of taking millions of dollars in kickbacks to send juveniles to private detention facilities are partially immune from civil lawsuits, a federal judge in Pennsylvania ruled Friday. The decision by U.S. District Judge A. Richard Caputo could make it harder for the people suing former Luzerne County judges Michael T. […]