Posts Tagged ‘life’
September 28, 2012
One wonders why the teacher couldn’t have just picked out the offending food from the child’s hair:
A North Carolina mother is outraged after she said a teacher at her daughter’s school chopped some of the hair of the seven-year-old girl suffering from Down syndrome without parental consent.
Jesslyn Stirewalp adored her long, brown hair, gazing at her own reflection in the mirror and saying that her locks were ‘pretty.’
‘Most of the time, she’s always brushing her hair, always doing something with her hair,’ the girl’s mother, Jessica Stirewalp, said.
But all that apparently changed following an incident at Millbridge Elementary School last week.
‘She doesn’t even get in front of the mirror anymore,’ Jesslyn’s grandmother, Mary Poole, told the station WSOCTV.
According to the child’s family, the seven-year-old was in class last Friday when one of her teachers took a pair of scissors to her tresses after allegedly noticing that some food got stuck in the girl’s hair.
‘Her assistant teacher calls me and says, “I hope you don’t mind, but I cut your daughter’s hair because she got food in it,”’ Stirewalp said. ‘Of course, I got mad, but I asked her how much, and she said “four inches.”’
However, when the girl returned home from school, Stirewalp said she was in for an even bigger shock.
‘Instead of four inches, it was more (like) eight inches. And when she walked in the house, you could tell that she thought she was in trouble,’ Stirewalp said. ‘I mean, it hurts my feelings, and I know it hurts her feelings.’
Tags:Education, Jessica Stirewalp, Jesslyn Stirewalp hair, Jesslyn Stirewalp haircut, life, Mary Poole, Millbridge Elementary School, Millbridge Elementary School haircut, News, Parenting, seven-year-old girl suffering from Down syndrome haircut, teacher at her daughter's school chopped hair of student, teacher took pair of scissors to her tresses
Posted in Professional Conduct | Leave a Comment »
September 20, 2012
Playing sexualised games is indefensible, yet the parents of these children disagree:
A police investigation has been launched after a series of disturbing photos emerged showing schoolchildren licking whipped cream from the knee of a Polish priest.
The images – which are apparently part of an ‘initiation ceremony’ at Salesians High School in Lubin, southern Poland – show both male and female 13-year old pupils taking part in the bizarre practice.
Father Marcin Kozyra, who is also the school’s principal, has defended his actions by saying such ceremonies for first year pupils have been an annual event for many years.
In the photos the Catholic priest is shown sitting on a battered armchair, wearing shorts and with some form of stick across his knees.
The pupils are shown kneeling around Father Kozyra as they watch each other lick cream from his bare knee.
Other photos show the students crawling up the stairs in a single file on their hands and knees.
‘This is very disturbing,’ said Marek Michalak, the Polish government’s spokesman on child affairs, reported The Telegraph.
While some people have expressed shock over the pictures, which were posted on the school’s website, the parents of some pupils have come out in support of the priest.
In a letter of defence they claimed that the whipped cream was actually shaving foam and nobody was forced to eat it.
Tags:disturbing photos Polish priest, Education, Father Marcin Kozyra, Father Marcin Kozyra initiation, Father Marcin Kozyra knee, Father Marcin Kozyra shaving cream, Father Marcin Kozyra whipped cream, initiation ceremony' at Salesians High School in Lubin, kneeling around Father Kozyra as they watch each other lick cream, life, Marek Michalak, parents of some pupils have come out in support of the priest., police investigation, Polish priest, religion, schoolchildren licking whipped cream from the knee of a Polish priest., shaving foam, whipped cream from the knee of a Polish priest.
Posted in Child Welfare | 1 Comment »
September 5, 2012
What a poignant and beautiful movie this is!
Jeroen Wolf found 100 people, ranging in age from nought to 100, and persuaded them to reveal on camera how old they were.
He then put all the clips together to make a poignant video showing the volunteers counting to 100 – revealing how the ageing process alters how we look as we continue on life’s journey.
Mr Wolf said his job was easiest collecting shots of youths and middle-aged people, but that he had more difficulty accessing the very young and very old, who are more vulnerable and protected.He admitted that his collection was not completely representative of the population of Amsterdam, where the project was filmed, as representatives of some minorities were more reluctant to appear on camera than others.
Tags:100 volunteers from Amsterdam to reveal their age on camera, aging, Children, Education, film that charts aging process, From 0 to 100 in 150 Seconds, how our appearance changes as we grow older, how the ageing process alters how we look, Jeroen Wolf filmmaker, Jeroen Wolf found 100 people, Jeroen Wolf movie, life, Parenting, poignant video showing the volunteers counting to 100, ranging in age from nought to 100, Vimeo, Viral clip aging, Viral movie, YouTube
Posted in Body Image | Leave a Comment »
August 2, 2012
I realise that this ad was aiming for controversy, but I can guarantee that kids will be bullied because of it:
An advertising campaign from a New Zealand company telling customers to swap their “ginger children” for ginger beer has been criticised on social media.
A media release from Hakanoa Handmade Ginger Beer yesterday gave “unfortunate” parents with red-haired children the opportunity to exchange them for ginger beer, starting today and running until the end of August.
“Parents with ginger spawn will be able to bring them into The Little Grocer on Richmond Road, Grey Lynn, where they will be able to swap them for a six-pack of ginger beer.”
However, people on the company’s Facebook page said the campaign was offensive.
Ross Ronald said: “Awful – who’s next? Kids with glasses? You’ve totally missed the point and have maybe created the world’s most un-inclusive ad campaign. Humour is best left to those who have some.”
“This is a disgusting but of bullying – towards children – and I hope you have some human rights complaints coming your way,” said William Robertson.
Click on the link to read Charity Pays for Teen’s Plastic Surgery to Help Stop Bullying
Click on the link to read You Don’t Fight Bullying With More Bullying
Click on the link to read It’s Time to Get New Role Models
Tags:"unfortunate" parents with red-haired children, Advertising, advertising campaign from a New Zealand company, Body Image, Bullying, campaign is offensive, Commercial, Education, Facebook and Twitter, Hakanoa founder Rebekah Hay, Hakanoa Handmade Ginger Beer "ginger children" for ginger beer, Hakanoa Handmade Ginger Beer swap your ginger for six, life, News, Parenting, Parents with ginger spawn, Political Correctness, six-pack of ginger beer, social media, swap their "ginger children" for ginger beer, swap your ginger for six, television, The Little Grocer on Richmond Road, tv
Posted in Body Image, Bullying | Leave a Comment »
July 12, 2012
There is a theory among educational circles that a struggling teacher can’t improve. This is probably true in today’s climate, but it isn’t a reflection on under-performing teachers, but rather a reflection on the total lack of support given to teachers.
A teacher’s journey begins with a pressurised, yet basically completely useless, teacher training course. This course not only fails to provide teachers with the requisite practical skills but is often taught and run by former teachers who are overjoyed at the prospect of finally being out of the classroom.
Then, if that teacher is lucky enough to score a job at a school with resources, a track record of half-decent behaviour and academic standards (because let’s face it – graduate teachers often go to the toughest schools to teach in), they are left on their own. No mentor, no support system. They are put in an environment where every teacher is in charge of their own classroom and teamwork is often non-existent.
That teacher can always break the unwritten rule and ask for help, but that would be a mistake. A graduate teacher’s first contract is usually a 12-month trial run. That teacher cannot afford to advertise their uncertainty and lack of experience. Teachers are overburdened as it is and many resent having to help an amateur when they have an ever-increasing workload to deal with. Therefore, a graduate teacher that asks for help risks not having their contract extended, thereby risking future employment.
So what do these teachers do? They learn on the job. And that’s where mistakes are made and bad habits are formed.
These bad habits sometimes make them look like “poor” teachers. Many of them are just well intentioned teachers who have never been given the support they needed.
The public are probably very supportive of new regulations that makes it harder for teachers branded “incompetent” from finding a new teaching job. I bid them to see beyond the labels and call on the system to support our teachers rather than replacing them for a newer version of the same thing:
For the first time, schools will be given legal powers to find out whether staff applying for new jobs have previously been subjected to official warnings.
Former employers will be required to disclose any disciplinary action taken against teachers over the last two years to give new schools a more comprehensive picture of their ability.
The regulations – being introduced from this September – come amid fears that too many schools allow weak teachers to leave and find new jobs rather than draw attention to their performance.
In the last decade, just 17 staff in England have been officially struck off for incompetence.
But teachers’ leaders insisted that the regulations would treat teachers “worse than criminals” and force some out of the profession altogether.
Click here to read about how I would solve the problem of the unsupported teacher.
Tags:Alison Ryan, Education, Education Secretary, Former employers will be required to disclose any disciplinary action taken against teachers, just 17 staff in England have been officially struck off for incompetence, life, Michael Gove, News, Schools will be able to find out if teachers had been disciplined, Teacher Training, Teachers, Teachers Stress, Teaching, too many schools allow weak teachers to leave and find new jobs
Posted in Teacher Training, Teachers Stress | 5 Comments »
July 8, 2012
It’s a disgrace that so many predators are registered teachers. Every day at least one pedophile teacher is uncovered.
Take this latest allegation for example:
A HIGH school teacher allegedly obtained naked and semi-naked pictures of two 14-year-old girl students at his school after posing as a teenage boy on a fake Facebook profile.
It is understood police will allege the country teacher pretended to be a schoolboy of a similar age from another regional town in a ploy to prey on the girls.
The students are believed to have sent him naked and semi-naked photos of themselves via the social networking site.
The teacher, who has been sacked and cannot be named for legal reasons, faced court this week on two counts of involving a child in child exploitation.
Until now, The Sunday Times has been prevented from publishing any details of the case.
After successfully challenging the terms of the original suppression order on the case, The Sunday Times is now permitted to reveal certain aspects of the allegations, which have prompted a warning from cyber safety experts for parents to educate their children about the importance of safety settings on Facebook for the coming school holidays, which started yesterday.
This is why I am a strong proponent of the no contact rule in schools. Whilst the vast majority of teachers are good citizens, there are still too many sick, evil predators still to be exposed.
Click here to read my post, “Why Can’t Teachers Touch Kids any More? :O’Brien”.
Tags:child exploitation, child predators, Cyber Safety, educate children about the importance of safety settings on Facebook, Education, facebook, high school teacher, life, News, Parenting, professional conduct, social networking sites, suppressing alleged child predators, teacher pretended to be a schoolboy to prey on the girls, teachers that are child predators
Posted in Cyber Safety, Professional Conduct | Leave a Comment »
June 21, 2012
Technology addiction is one of the most prevalent, yet socially acceptable addictions. It envelopes both children and adults and can ruin marriages, cost jobs and effect sleep.
Courtesy of Dr Oz and Dr. Kimberly Young, I have accessed a quiz to determine whether or not one is addicted to the internet:
1. Do you feel preoccupied with the Internet (think about previous online activity or anticipate next online session)?
2. Do you feel the need to use the Internet with increasing amounts of time in order to achieve satisfaction?
3. Have you repeatedly made unsuccessful efforts to control, cut back, or stop Internet use?
4. Do you feel restless, moody, depressed, or irritable when attempting to cut down or stop Internet use?
5. Do you stay online longer than originally intended?
6. Have you jeopardized or risked the loss of significant relationship, job, educational or career opportunity because of the Internet?
7. Have you lied to family members, therapist, or others to conceal the extent of involvement with the Internet?
8. Do you use the Internet as a way of escaping from problems or of relieving a dysphoric mood (e.g., feelings of helplessness, guilt, anxiety, depression)?
Other Symptoms Include:
• Failed attempts to control behavior
• Heightened sense of euphoria while involved in computer and Internet activities
• Neglecting friends and family
• Neglecting sleep to stay online
• Being dishonest with others
• Feeling guilty, ashamed, anxious, or depressed as a result of online behavior
• Physical changes such as weight gain or loss, backaches, headaches, carpal tunnel syndrome
• Withdrawing from other pleasurable activities
Tags:Addiction, American Psychological Association, “Internet Addiction: The Emergence of a New Disorder, Children, Computer Addiction, Dr. Kimberly Young, Dr. Oz, Education, Facebook Addiction, Family, Internet Addiction, Internet Addiction Diagnostic Questionnaire, life, Net Addiction, online activity, Parenting, Sleep, social media, technology, Technology Addiction, The Center for Internet Addiction
Posted in Technology | Leave a Comment »
June 17, 2012
What is the point of filling curriculums with the latest in nonsensical new-age methodology and a raft of programs that are time-consuming but utterly ineffective when our children don’t even know the basics? It seems that we are allowing our kids to become selfish and insular, far more concerned about themselves than the world around them. It is essential that our children become more aware of the world around them.
More than a third of 16 to 23-year-olds (36%) do not know bacon comes from pigs and four in 10 (40%) failed to link milk with an image of a dairy cow, with 7% linking it to wheat, the poll of 2,000 people for charity Leaf (Linking Environment and Farming) found.
Some 41% correctly linked butter to a dairy cow, with 8% linking it to beef cattle, while 67% were able to link eggs to an image of a hen but 11% thought they came from wheat or maize.
A total of 6% of those questioned knew that salad dressing could come from rapeseed oil, compared with the national average among all age groups of 24%.
Although four in 10 young adults (43%) considered themselves knowledgeable about where their food comes from, the results revealed a “shocking” lack of knowledge about how the most basic food is produced, the charity said.
Leaf chief executive Caroline Drummond said: “We often hear reports that our food knowledge may be declining but this new research shows how bad the situation is becoming.
“Despite what they think, young adults are clearly becoming removed from where their food comes from.
“Three in 10 adults born in the 1990s haven’t visited a farm in more than 10 years, if at all, which is a real shame as our farmers not only play an important role in food production but are passionate about engaging and reconnecting consumers too.”
The charity, which is organising an Open Farm Sunday event this weekend, also found almost two-thirds of young adults (64%) did not know that new potatoes would be available from British farms in June, and one in 10 (10%) thought they took less than a month to grow.
OnePoll surveyed 2,000 C adults online between May 11 and 14.
Tags:bacon, Caroline Drummond, Charity, Children, dairy cow, Education, Education Matters, kids, Leaf, life, Linking Environment and Farming, Milk, News, Onepoll, Open Farm Sunday, Survey, UK
Posted in Education Matters | 1 Comment »
June 16, 2012
It’s stories like this that cause me to rethink my idealism. I may believe that teachers sign up for the profession because of a desire to help all children reach their potential. However, when you read stories like this one, you wonder how on earth the teachers involved could have rationalised such a poorly thought out strategy. These are not the actions of proud and passionate teachers:
A Texas teacher will lose her job after ordering more than 20 kindergartners to line up and hit a classmate accused of being a bully, a district spokesman said Friday.
The teacher at a suburban San Antonio school is accused of orchestrating the slugfest after a younger teaching colleague went to her last month seeking suggestions on how to discipline the 6-year-old, according to a police report from the Judson Independent School District.
Both teachers at Salinas Elementary were placed on paid administrative leave, though the one who allegedly arranged the punishment will not work for the district next school year, said district spokesman Steve Linscomb. Prosecutors are reviewing the allegations and will determine whether formal charges will be filed in 30 to 60 days.
The police report alleges the teacher chose to show the child “why bullying is bad” by instructing his peers to “Hit him!” and “Hit him harder!” It also states that the second teacher intervened only after one of the children hit the boy hard on his upper back.
“Twenty-four of those kids hit him and he said that most of them hit him twice,” Amy Neely (pictured above), the mother of 6-year-old Aiden, told KENS-TV. She did not specify what injuries her son may have received.
Neely said her son is not a problem child and that this was the first she’d heard of teachers having issues with him. She said she wants to make sure the teacher who ordered the hitting does not work in a classroom again.
“She doesn’t need to be around any children,” Neely told the television station.
The mother added — and the police report confirmed — that some of Aiden’s classroom friends told him they didn’t want to hit the boy but did so because they were afraid not to.
Tags:Aiden Neely, Amy Neely, Bully, Bullying, Child Welfare, Education, Judson Independent School District, Kindergarten, life, News, Parenting, Salinas Elementary, San Antonio, Steve Linscomb, Teacher, Teachers, Teaching, Texas
Posted in Bullying, Child Welfare | 2 Comments »
June 15, 2012
As a teacher it distresses me greatly that schools are becoming less progressive, less inviting and less humane. Problems are dealt with in nonsensical extreme measures. The political correct police have all but taken over and the fear of lawsuits prevails in place of a desire to accommodate the true needs of its student population.
Introducing a no-contact rule as a means to prevent schoolyard injuries isn’t just reactionary, it’s insane!
Guess what? Children hurt themselves. It’s a fact of life! To ban contact sports, hugging and high fives as a result of incidental knocks and bruises reduces the playground atmosphere to that of a doctor’s waiting room. Is that what we want for our children?
Parents claim they were not told directly of the new rule, which extended a ban on contact sports to a ban on any physical contact at all, such as playing “tiggy”, hugging or giving each other high-fives.
They claim the new rule was explained to pupils over the public address system, and students were left to tell their parents.
One parent, Tracey, said her son was winded on the playground yesterday and, when his friend tried to console him by putting his arm around his shoulder, the friend was told his actions were against the rules.
The friend then had to walk around with the teacher on playground duty for the rest of lunch as punishment, Tracey told radio 3AW.
“I’m just a bit outraged that it has come to this. There must be other ways,” Tracey said.
Another parent, John, said his children were told they could not high-five each other.
“I have a couple of children, and they have been told that if they high-five one another that’s instant detention, and if they do it three times they will be expelled,” John said.
“I mean, what are they actually trying to teach?”
One child was reportedly told that if students wanted to high-five, it would have to be an “air high-five”.
Principal Judy Beckworth said it was “not actually a policy, it’s a practice that we’ve adopted in the short-term as a no-contact games week”.
She said the new practice was introduced yesterday after students suffered a number of injuries on the playground in recent weeks, and the new no-touching rule was only due to last for one week.
However one parent, Nicole, claimed that the school was backpedalling because some parents were told by the school that the new rule would be in place for a minimum of three weeks, which would be extended if the children did not behave themselves.
What’s next? Soon schools will ban chairs because students sometimes lean back dangerously. Staples and scissors will have to go, as will monkeybars, sharp pencils, bunsen burners, glass bottles, electrical sockets, polls, doors and polished floors. Soon the only activity that students will be allowed to engage in is high fiving each other. No, wait! That’s banned too.
Tags:Education, high-fives, Hugging, Judy Beckworth, life, Mornington Peninsula primary school, Mount Martha Primary School, News, No-contact rule, No-touching rule, Parenting, Parents, physical contact, Political Correctness, principal, Protest, School Rules, tiggy
Posted in Political Correctness, School Rules | 4 Comments »
Topical Teaching 