A teacher on the New South Wales Central Coast has pleaded not guilty to assault charges, after he allegedly dared a group of students to hold dry ice with their bare hands.
Damien Hilton is facing eight charges, including cause grievous bodily harm by neglect, after a group of Terrigal High School students were injured during his science class earlier this year.
The 49-year-old, who was employed as a casual teacher, is accused of daring 10 children to hold dry ice for as long as they could.
The students were treated for burns, with two taken to hospital.
Hilton faced Gosford Local Court today and pleaded not guilty to the charges.
It’s school holidays and there isn’t one G rated (General Classification) movie at the cinemas. I would understand how that could happen during the school year – but during holidays?
Movies like The Brave and Ice Age 4 have violence and course language warnings and are intended for families rather than children. Unfortunately, some adults are so selfish that they would refuse to go to the movies with their children unless the film proved entertaining for them too. I am all for adult in-jokes and films that entertain both myself and my daughter, but not at the expense of a good, wholesome, non-violent movie experience. I would gladly suffer through a children’s film as long as it was appropriate for my daughter.
Yesterday my daughter and I watched Annie together. Annie, although still a hit stage musical, would never have gotten made today. Neither would have other child friendly films like Mary Poppins. These films don’t have enough crude toilet humour, adult themes and violence.
A CASH-strapped US high school hopes to raise money from a wealthy benefactor by auctioning itself on eBay.
Officials at The Learning Center in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, are seeking bids starting around $US600,000 ($548,000) to offset steep budget cuts.
The eBay listing describes the public alternative school for at-risk teens as “pre-owned” and “slightly used.”
The winner won’t own the school, which is located near Philadelphia. But he or she will get a naming opportunity, a free large pizza and the satisfaction of “delivering an education to a group of kids who could really use it”.
If a bidder is found it will be the first time someone buys a school in return for a free pizza.
When a child is bullied it is rightly considered unlawful, yet when a teacher is bullied it’s considered free speech. The only thing stopping the vulgar website Rate My Teachers from being banned is the fact that it is an American website which is allowed to operate under the guise of free speech.
The teachers’ union wants the Education Department to shut down a website it says allows students to make defamatory and slanderous comments about their teachers.
The State School Teachers Union council resolved recently to write to the department asking it to close the Rate My Teachers website that some students use to abuse teachers personally and professionally.
“The website has allowed anonymous postings for some years, many of which would be found to be defamatory and slanderous of teachers if tested against legislation,” the resolution said.
The US-based website’s rules state posts will be removed if they contain profanity, name-calling or vulgarity, but recent comments about WA schoolteachers include “She is a whore”, “He is a douche bag” and “Sadistic bitch, she is a horrible teacher”.
Other posts say teachers are “bad” or “completely incompetent”. The website emerged in Australia six years ago, but this is the first time the union has made a formal request for help from the department.
Can you imagine if there was a website called ‘Rate My Students’?
Twelve year-olds can’t even make a bed. Why we would trust them behind the wheel beats me:
The Confederation of Australian Motor Sport has developed a pilot program designed to teach children to drive properly before having potentially damaging lessons with a well-meaning parent.
The two-hour course for students aged 12 to 18 includes classroom instruction on road safety, driver attitude and an off-road driving lesson.
CAMS president Andrew Papadopoulos said the course aimed to reduce Australia’s road toll, especially among young adult males.
Mr Papadopoulos wants the pilot rolled out at schools across the state.
“We do sex education from an early age, we don’t expect them to go out and have sex at that early age,” he said.
“It’s a matter of learning.”
Kids already drive at school – they drive their teachers crazy!
It’s important to be aware of what your children do online. To achieve this one must also be aware of the “tricks” they pull in order to hide their activity.
A recent survey entitled, Teen Internet Behavior study released last week by McAfee, the online-security tech company, found that children are really good at covering their tracks.
Trainee teachers are to be coached to use their voices and body language to control disruptive pupils.
The Government’s school behaviour tsar is concerned that troublemakers scent weakness and start playing up when teachers lack an authoritative presence in the classroom.
Charlie Taylor, who advises ministers on tackling indiscipline, says that teachers’ voices often become high-pitched when they are tense and agitated, giving away their nerves.
Many also underestimate the importance of body language and posture and instead hunch their shoulders or fidget.
I can just hear them boast now:
“If it wasn’t for my improved posture I wouldn’t have been able to handle children who throw objects and make threats. Thank you so much for the body language lessons!”
Then again, even if the skill isn’t useful in the classroom, they may improve your poker game.
I am of the opinion that one shouldn’t need to discuss ‘weight’ with issues with your children. I prefer a more positive approach where healthy food and exercise is promoted rather than “negative talk” which is likely to make the child even more self-conscious.
A new report says parents are concerned that talking to their child about their weight will lead to an eating disorder.
This figure rises to 65% of parents who identify their child as being overweight or obese.
More than 1,000 parents with a child aged 5-16 responded to the Let’s talk about weight survey on Netmums and shared how they feel about bringing up the topic of weight with their child.
I do understand that the problem is more complicated than just advocating health over weight loss. I also realise that children are too smart not to realise that healthy lifestyle measures are a result of their weight issues.
What is your opinion? How should parents discuss weight issues with their children?
Here’s a novel suggestion – Instead of arranging tutors for your toddlers, spend more quality time with them. Whilst I am all for starting early when it comes to reading and writing, the most crucial thing for pre-school children (and for all children for that matter), is spending quality time with their parents.
THE age of children seeking the help of tutors is getting younger and younger, with parents now forking out thousands of dollars to have preschooolers privately coached for school entrance assessments.
As part of dozens of school readiness programs across Sydney, children as young as three are learning how to count, sound letters and write their name to prepare for big school.
Parents hope it will give their child an edge in school entry interviews at private and Catholic schools and in the best start kindergarten assessment, which evaluates their skills when they start school.
Begin Bright early learning centre director Tina Tower said more than 600 children were enrolled in school readiness programs across five centres around Sydney.
Children attend weekly one-hour classes at a cost of $26 from age three.
“They learn all the foundations and develop a really good attitude to learning so when they start school they don’t encounter any problems,” Ms Tower said.
It sounds like the school readiness program for toddlers is more comprehensive than the school readiness program for teachers.
Are parents derelict in their duties if they refuse to buy their children the latest gadgets such as smartphones, tablets, game consoles and i-pods?
Absolutely not!
On the contrary, it can be argued that any parent that buys those items when they can’t afford to, is derelict in their duties:
IT was dubbed the “digital divide” – the gap between the haves and the have nots in the computer age.
But far from missing out on the electronic essentials of modern life, new research shows children from poorer families are keeping up with wealthier counterparts.
High-tech ownership is consistent across all income levels, research by insurer GIO reveals, with the average teen owning $1882.06 worth of equipment.
And tech-savvy teens are much more likely to own computer equipment than sports gear or a musical instrument.
About 42 per cent of kids own a laptop, while half own mobile phones and more than three in five own an MP3 music player such as an iPod. But less than a third of kids own sporting equipment or a musical instrument.
Sociology expert Dr Michael Bittman said most of the devices were essential for teens to function socially.
I disagree vehemently with Dr. Bittman. Teens do not need the latest devices, they need to understand that money doesn’t grow on trees. They need to respect the volatile nature of the economy and the hardships their parents face in ensuring that they have the necessities.
Teens would be best advised to worry less about their social standing and more about how they could contribute to their family, rather than run their family budget dry.
Topical Teaching 