School Survival

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 […]

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 […]

Laurence Steinberg, a developmental psychologist at Temple University in Philadelphia, is one of the leading experts in the United States on adolescent behavior and adolescent brain biology. Dr. Steinberg, 57, has won the $1 million Klaus J. Jacobs Research Prize, which will be awarded to him at a ceremony in early December in Switzerland. Here […]

Last night, Cevin Soling appeared on the Colbert Report to promote his documentary entitled, "The War on Kids." Cevin discussed with Stephen issues facing young people in the American School System. He explains how our system of public education went from a Prussian model designed to make good soldiers, to a factory model with bells […]

Last week in New York, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) with the release of a special report on the impact of the treaty. While many used the anniversary to celebrate the CRC, some expressed concern about the growing pressure on the […]

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 […]

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. […]