School rules are trickier in cyberspace. As social networking sites attract younger followers, schools across the country are grappling with the fuzzy boundary between harmless online chatter and valid security concerns. The issue hit North Texas this month when two Frisco middle-schoolers were suspended for threatening to kill their teacher on Facebook. Legal experts say […]
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Students' speech rights become murkier on social networking Web sites
South Park Episode and Facebook Group Inspire School Violence
The beating of 12-year-old boy by a group of classmates at a Southern California middle school may be linked to a Facebook posting encouraging kids to target redheads, authorities say. The redheaded boy was beaten up by a group of seventh and eighth graders at A.E. Wright Middle School in Calabasas in two separate incidents […]
Boy, 9, forgotten in school 'closet'
The mother of a special-needs student says a Lockhart Elementary School teacher's aide left her son in the school's timeout room last year for nearly four hours. The aide went home and forgot about the 9-year-old boy, who sat alone in the dark on the floor of a windowless 3-by-5-foot room before a janitor freed […]
Catholic Church Threatens To Stop Feeding Homeless Over Gay Marriage
The Catholic Archdiocese of Washington said Wednesday that it will be unable to continue the social service programs it runs for the District if the city doesn't change a proposed same-sex marriage law, a threat that could affect tens of thousands of people the church helps with adoption, homelessness and health care. Under the bill, […]
Teen Confesses To Molesting Sister, Dad Executes Him
A 15-year-old boy who was killed by his father in an execution style killing spent the last moments of his life pleading, "No, Daddy! No!" Jamar Pinkney Jr. was shot in the head Monday by his 37-year-old father, Jamar Pinkney Sr., who allegedly made the teen strip his clothes off and kneel in a vacant […]
What's wrong with 'meep'? It's all in how you say it
DANVERS — It's no surprise that using bad language in school can get you into hot water. But "meep"? Danvers High parents recently got an automated call from the principal warning them that if students say or display the word "meep" at school, they could face suspension. Meep doesn't mean much, unless you are Beaker […]
Public school teacher dares student to eat dead fly for good grade
Apparently a teacher at Oak Ridge High School in Sacramento has been watching too much Fear Factor on television. Maybe the next time this teacher dares his students to eat dead bugs for an A on a test, he should tell them he was joking before he actually grades the test. Stephen Zeldag, a student […]
All students should be judged on same criteria
Education has been called the great equalizer. No matter what your race, creed or ZIP code, every child is entitled to a quality public education. Yet as Secretary of Education Arne Duncan explained to an audience of aspiring educators at the University of Virginia, as a nation, “we still have not fully achieved the dream […]
It’s a Fork, It’s a Spoon, It’s a ... Weapon?
Finding character witnesses when you are 6 years old is not easy. But there was Zachary Christie last week at a school disciplinary committee hearing with his karate instructor and his mother’s fiancé by his side to vouch for him. Zachary’s offense? Taking a camping utensil that can serve as a knife, fork and spoon […]
Couple hurled Molotov cocktail at teen party
A married couple became so angry at their neighbour's New Years Eve party that they mounted a "bizarre" attack on terrified teenagers. James Howat-Hurst and his wife Sandra stormed the party with an air-rifle and a home-made Molotov cocktail, after complaining to the police about noise from fireworks. Armed police turned up to arrest the […]
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