Posts Tagged ‘life’

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Eight-Year Old’s Gift To Teacher is a Gun!

June 4, 2011

I appreciate the kindness of parents and students when they write me a short note or give me a gift at the end of the year.  It makes me feel appreciated.  However, if any parent or student is thinking about giving me a loaded gun as a gift, I would beg them to please abstain.  Such gifts I don’t need.

An elementary school teacher in Florida was shocked when she received a loaded gun as an end of the school year present, which turns out was unknowingly packed with the real gift.

A memo from the school principal at Allamanda Elementary explained that a teacher opened a gift at home she found a small handgun at the bottom of the box.

“Where’s the parents at? Where’s the parents of this child? I mean, how did he obtain this gun?” asked parent Jarrett Goddard.

School officials dispersed the news quickly.

A spokesperson for the Palm Beach County School District said in a statement that school police are investigating a report that a student at the school may have given a teacher a gift in a box that also contained a small handgun.

It also said that no one was injured and the investigation is continuing, and no further information is available at this time.

Officials said the student’s grandmother packed the present but didn’t know there was a gun inside the box.

It’s unclear how the gun got there, but it was never in the student’s hands.

What happened to the good old apple?  It’s nutritious and you can’t shoot anything with it.

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Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Kids Adapt to Technology While Adults Watch in Amazement

June 2, 2011

At a time when parents are often criticised for being over-protective and not exposing their kids to taking on challenges, it is amazing to see how quickly young children adapt to new technologies.  The apprehension and indecision that adults have is non-existent.   These kids often make the remarkable transition from inhibited and anxious to confident risk takers as soon as the i-Pad comes out.

Take this revealing clip as a two-and-a-half  year old is presented with an i-Pad for the very first time.  Watch how confidently she navigates the product and how quickly she learns to use its programs and features.

This shows us what kids are capable of, not only when it comes to technology, but in other spheres at all.  When engaged and stimulated, when they enjoy what they are doing, their behaviour becomes more positive and more inclined to take responsible risks.

The challenge of educators is to spend less time protecting students from making mistakes and disappointment, and more time investigating ways to educate through fun and engaging activities.  Confidence does not come about from someone protecting you or holding your hand through a challenge.

Confidence comes about when the challenge is enticing and the outcome is genuinely fulfilling.

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Posted in Child Development, Technology in the Classroom | 1 Comment »

It’s Time For Schools To Shape Up

May 31, 2011

Some schools just don’t get it!  Their job goes beyond education.  They are looking after people’s kids!  Schools are duty bound to actually look after the safety of their students (as opposed to just saying they do in a catchy but meaningless slogan).  They must understand that parents don’t give the responsibility of having others look after their kids lightly.  It’s not like giving over the keys to your car to the valet.  It’s a huge deal.

That’s why schools must do their utmost to earn the confidence and respect of their parents.  They must be actively protecting the students whilst also communicating regularly with parents.  To have a school issue a dictate that all students wear baggy clothes to ward off probable paedophiles is a disgrace!  How is a parent supposed to take that advice?

Furious parents yesterday criticised a school after they were asked to buy their children baggy clothes to deter paedophiles.

King’s Park Secondary School, in Glasgow, asked parents to ensure modesty in their children’s uniform in a bizarre letter which claims sex offenders may be taking pictures of schoolboys in tight trousers.

The letter, dubbed ‘paranoid in the extreme’ by one parent, was sent home even though police say there have been no incidents of schoolchildren in the area being targeted.

And children whose parents fail to conform to the approved dress code could be forced to miss out on fun school trips.

The letter says: ‘We believe an appropriate school uniform protects children from being targeted by sexual predators.

‘There is recent evidence in south Glasgow of adults photographing schoolgirls in short skirts and schoolgirls/boys in tight trousers, then grooming them through the internet.

‘We must do all we can to keep our children safe. A modest school uniform is more appropriate than fashion skirts, trousers or tops.’

The crackdown on pupil attire has been slammed by shocked parents whose children don’t want to obey the strict rules.

One blasted: ‘There is no way an ugly uniform is going to deter a predator and determined sex offender.

‘This is just paranoid in the extreme. There are better ways to safeguard children than spreading needless panic.’

Another added: ‘It is laughable to think the uniform can act as some sort of paedophile-repellent.’

The tough new policy forces cash-strapped parents to shop from an approved list of items available only at high street store Marks and Spencer.

Girls can wear only knee-length pleated skirts or trousers and boys loose-fitting trousers.

This is an awful thing to do to parents.  To play on their fears and insight paranoia is just unacceptable.  I am glad Australian schools aren’t so stupid and downright insensitive!

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Posted in Education Policy, School Rules | 1 Comment »

Doctors Prescribing Anti-Depressants to 6-Year olds!

May 31, 2011

It is high time we put pressure on the medical fraternity to explain their actions.  I am no expert, but the increase in prescriptions of anti-depressants to kids as young as 6 seems highly irresponsible.  What on earth do these kids suffer from that warrants prescribing such medication?  How can we sit idly while Governments pretend to investigate the boom in child anti-depressant prescriptions, whilst quietly doing absolutely nothing to deal with the problem?

THE number of children aged six and under being prescribed anti-depressants has soared since the Federal Government pledged to investigate the matter in 2008, new figures show.

The Herald Sun can also reveal that in the past two years, the deaths of five people aged 10-19 have been linked to anti-depressants. Federal Health Department data reveal prescribing rates of the controversial drugs in children aged two to six has risen from 852 in 2007-08 to 1264 in 2009-10.

In Victoria, the number has increased from 156 to 229, and, in the past two years, in the 7-11 age group, from 825 to 1085.

The Government has refused to release details on children under two since 2007-08, claiming the figures are unreliable.

But despite Health Minister Nicola Roxon’s ordering of an investigation three years ago, a Freedom of Information request shows just two meetings were held. 

The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists said it was alarming that anti-depressants were being prescribed for children and demanded answers from government.

“I would be very very alarmed if these figures were true,” said Dr Phillip Brock, chairman of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry faculty.

Australian Medical Association vice-president Dr Steve Hambleton said he had given anti-depressant scripts for two six-year-olds, and they had benefited.

A Health Department spokesman said the management of a child’s medical condition, including prescribing anti-depressants, was a doctor’s clinical decision.

The figures show Zoloft and Prozac were among the most prescribed of the drugs in the youngest age group.

Black Dog Institute director Professor Gordon Parker said while not all anti-depressants were used for depressive disorders in children, an investigation was needed to explore why they were being prescribed.

Are the Drug Companies giving substantial donations to the Government?  Is the medical fraternity happy with the reputation they are getting of treating children with prescription drugs before they reach the age of being able to read or write?  What’s next?  Are babies going to be prescribed anti-depressants?

Emeritus Professor John Werry, a child psychiatrist, expressed another opinion – as far as he knows giving SSRI antidepressants to babies would be of no harm to them. However, he acknowledged the medications influence basic bio-cyclic processes.

Does anyone else find this as disturbing as I do?

 

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Posted in Children and Medication | 4 Comments »

Police Want Parents to Spy on Their Kids Online

May 29, 2011

So bad is the problem of stalking paedophiles preying on children, that Police are advising parents to spy on their kids’ online activities.  In a perfect world parents should resist spying on their kids, as their trust is essential for a close relationship.  However, there are exceptions to this rule.  The rise of evil paedophiles who prey on naive and impressionable children, may present parents with little choice.

Parents should keep a regular and close eye on what their children do online, say Scottish police, especially on who they are chatting to.

The Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA) is concerned about the growing threat of grooming and the dangers of paedophilia. The Scotsman reports that since Operation Embark was set up to tackle the problem two years ago, 18 people have been convicted of online grooming and sentenced to a combined 24 years in prison, 23 years of probation, and 840 hours of community service.

Detective Inspector Eamonn Keane, who heads the SCDEA’s e-crime unit, said: “There’s various software to assist parents in helping them keep their children safe on the internet, which can help identify their computer history.

“You can set your governance tools to search for key words, so if there’s been sexually explicit behaviour from a 13 or 14-year-old it would pick up on that. You can apply parental controls on the internet in the same way as you can on digital TV channels, blocking unsuitable websites.”

Police say parents should be informal friends on Facebook and other social networks, so that they are in the loop of conversations that their kids are having.

Parents should also educate themselves about the social networks their kids are using – how they work, what functionality they offer and how often they are being used.

Social networks do not only mean Facebook – children can correspond with strangers on Bebo, YouTube, gaming networks, Twitter, MySpace and forums, as well as chat services like MSN Messenger, Skype, AOL Chat and Google Talk.

Parents: Please share this video with your children.  I have posted it before, but the clip’s importance and its powerful message will see me post it on occasion.

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Posted in Cyber Safety | Leave a Comment »

The Result of Sleep Deprivation for Kids

May 29, 2011

A new study suggests that there is a clear correlation between kids with limited sleep time and weight gain:

Preschoolers who do not get enough sleep are at higher risk of becoming overweight, researchers in New Zealand have concluded.

Getting less sleep seems to be related to increased body weight in children but doctors aren’t sure how.

Prof. Rachael Taylor of the human nutrition department at the University of Otago in Dunedin and her colleagues followed 244 children between the ages of three and seven. Young children who don’t get enough sleep risk becoming overweight. 

The children had their weight, height, body mass index and body composition measured every six months. Parents filled in questionnaires about the sleep and diet habits of their sons and daughters at three, four and five years of age. At those ages, the children also wore accelerometers to monitor their movements.

The boys and girls averaged 11 hours of sleep per day at all three ages.


Each extra hour of sleep per night at age three to five was associated with a reduction in BMI of 0.49 times and a 0.61 times reduction in the risk of being overweight or obese at age seven, the team found.

The researchers said the differences in BMI were from fat mass, which points to how poor sleep harms body composition in children.

The link remained after taking factors such as gender and physical activity into account.

As for why, the researchers proposed that having more time to eat and changes in hormones in the brain could affect appetite.

“The study is a valuable contribution to the understanding of the causal pathway whereby reduced sleep duration may directly contribute to overweight and obesity in children,” Professor Francesco Cappuccio and Associate Professor Michelle Miller from the University of Warwick said in a journal editorial accompanying the study.

Strengths of the study included use of accelerometers and sleep diaries, which offered reliable, direct and repeated measurements of time in bed and time asleep, the editorial said.

“It would do no harm to advise people that a sustained curtailment of sleeping time might contribute to long-term ill-health in adults and children,” the pair concluded.

What the article didn’t say is how many hours of sleep is ideal for a child?  Does it depend on the child? Surely, some children can make do with fewer hours than others?

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Posted in Child Welfare | Leave a Comment »

Facebook is a Haven for Bullies

May 27, 2011

When you put the responsibility of having a Facebook page in the hands of young children, you will find that most will use it in the right way.  Unfortunately, it’s those that don’t who spoil it for the rest of them.

MELBOURNE schools and police are battling to remove a Facebook page that allows teenagers to post vile gossip about their peers.

Teachers feel powerless to stop the site, which has resurfaced in various forms over the past month and left students at schools in Ivanhoe and Heidelberg needing counselling.

Parents have been shocked by postings on the page, which include allegations of sex between teachers and students, girls who trade sex for drugs and boys who have been caught wearing their mothers’ clothing.

Most parents were unaware their children had been vilified until notified by their school.

The ”Ivanhoe Goss” page is filled with comments sent by members to the group’s creator, who reposts them anonymously. One page seen by The Age had more than 2300 members.

Schools including Ivanhoe Grammar School, Ivanhoe Girls Grammar School and Marcellin College are implicated in the gossip, but it is believed students from other parts of Melbourne are also members.

And similar Facebook pages have been set up for students in Essendon, Dandenong, Glenferrie and Caulfield.

Ivanhoe Grammar principal Rod Fraser said public and private schools in the region had banded together when the site was discovered on April 13 to raise the alarm with parents and students. The site is believed to have been created as a public page on April 10, but was re-created as a private page about a week later after schools warned students about being involved in cyber-bullying.

Mr Fraser said police and Facebook had been contacted about the page and were investigating those responsible. Three students and their families had been given support after gossip was posted about them on the page, and the school had developed a website to provide information on cyber safety.

”This great thing that we have, technology, can also be insidious,” he said.

Ivanhoe Girls Grammar School principal Heather Schnagl said ”less than five” students had been disciplined for being involved on the site. But no student had been suspended or expelled.

Two students had been counselled after being bullied.

”We deeply regret the poor judgment shown by any student who visits or posts a comment on a site like that one,” Dr Schnagl said.

”One of the biggest challenges … is many parents don’t understand the digital landscape today and … they trust their children rather than maintaining the role of the parent.

”We want to empower our parents to work with us to help students … They are shocked when they are shown what their daughter has posted.”

And some want to alter the age requirement  and allow kids less than 13 to get a Facebook page?

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Posted in Cyber Bullying, Social Media | Leave a Comment »

Talk About an Overreaction!

May 27, 2011

A school teacher expects her students to clean after themselves if they urinate on the toilet seat and is forced to take administrative leave!  It turns out that the child was allergic to bleach.  This story should have stayed in-house.  It is certainly not front page news, and even if you were of the belief that the teacher acted negligently, you would have to wonder how this story caused a media sensation and triggered emergency PTO meetings.

An elementary school teacher has been suspended and is being investigated by authorities after allegedly forcing children to scrub the school toilets with bleach.

For two years, Catherine Saur, from Hartford, Connecticut, would make any student who used the bathroom thoroughly clean the room after they were done, parents claim.

Some mothers and fathers said their children would wet themselves during the day to avoid the chore, while one eighth-grader had his hands seriously burned after suffering an allergic reaction to the bleach.

Last night’s emergency school meeting was called after principal Peter Dart sent a letter to parents to inform them the art teacher had been reported to authorities.

Principal Dart said he did not endorse or know about the practice until it came to his attention last week.

He said: ‘It is imperative that we pause, that we take stock in what we are doing. That we learn from this and that we move forward.’

Newsflash: Teacher’s make mistakes.  Some may consider this one to be a bigger one than I do, but for goodness sake, how unfair is it to this poor teacher to have her reputation muddied over what is fairly honest intentions.  Teacher’s should get their students to take an active and responsible approach to cleaning up after themselves from a young age.  Perhaps this teacher took the message a little too far, but she did not deserve the media frenzy she got.  Emergency PTO meetings?  Are you serious?  Seriously burnt?  That’s not what the mother says in the video?  Kids wetting themselves to avoid cleaning after themselves? C’mon media! Get your act together!

And Principal Dart, why don’t you come to the defence of your teacher?  By trying to minimise the negative PR of your school, you seem to be leaving your art teacher out in the cold.  I should be reading about how dedicated this teacher is and how she has a great rapport with her students and a genuine passion for teaching.  I should be reading about how she regrets her actions, has learnt from them and looks forward to resuming the job she loves so much.

Surely a statement like that will have raised the confidence of the public and helped to kill the story in the process.

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Posted in Child Welfare, Parenting | Leave a Comment »

Mark Zuckerberg Against Facebook Age Restrictions

May 23, 2011

Should we be surprised that Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, thinks kids under 13 should be able to have their own Facebook pages?  I’m sure the founder of cigarette companies are only too happy to lower age restrictions on their products too.

You might think that my comparison is quite gratuitous, and I suppose it is, but one cannot properly articulate the damage inflicted on  cyber bullied children.

Zuckerberg thinks he can protect these kids:

“My philosophy is that for education, you need to start at a really young age”, said Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, speaking at the New Schools Summit in California, about why he thinks children under the age of 13 should be allowed to be Facebook members. Currently the age restriction requires that one be thirteen years or older to get a Facebook log on ID, but of course it is not difficult to avoid this and create an account anyway. Consumer Reports recently reported that there are about 7.5 million children under the age of 13 on Facebook.

Zuckerberg explained that, in his view, software and technology will help students learn a lot from one another, and that if COPPA were lifted, “we’d start to learn what works. We’d take a lot of precautions to make sure that they [younger children] are safe. “ COPPA, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, makes it illegal for web sites to collect information on children under the age of 13.

However, amidst growing concern about online privacy in general, lifting COPPA may be optimistic. Senator John Rockefeller on Thursday question Facebook Chief Technology Officer on Capital Hill saying: “I want you to defend your company here because I don’t know how you can.”

Zuckerberg’s assurances are not in the least bit reassuring.  There is no way they can properly ensure the safety of children.  And why would they need to, if they only let kids be kids?  So they wait until 13 to use Facebook?  I’ve said it before.  Why would a 12-year old need a Facebook page anyway?

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Posted in Cyber Bullying, Social Media | 3 Comments »

Another Sickening Case of Bullying

May 20, 2011

No school should ever congratulate itself on any achievement until they have adequately tackled bullying.  I am sick of reading about horrific cases of bullying.  I hope those involved in the alleged incident below get a fair hearing.  But if they are found guilty of bullying, I advise the school to make an example out of them:

DALLAS – A 12-year-old special needs student in Dallas says he doesn’t want to finish the school year after he was allegedly wrapped in tape and beaten by a group of students.

The district is investigating the incident that apparently happened Monday at Bowde-Storey Middle School during Martin Mitchell’s science class. A substitute teacher was in the classroom.

“I went in the science room and people were in there acting crazy and stuff and throwing paper around and listening to stuff on the computer that they weren’t supposed to be listening to,” Mitchell said. “And the teacher, he was just sitting there watching them.”

With his mother and grandmother present, he described how he said four boys taped him up and beat him.

“They put me in a headlock and they had wrapped tape around my body and stuff where I couldn’t breathe at all,” he said. “They had hit me then I fell to the other side and they start kicking me and stuff. That’s when I start crying and one little girl she helped me get out of the tape.”

District officials said the students were allegedy involved in the incident will be disciplined according to the student code of conduct. The substitute teacher has been placed on the “do not call” list.

Police were at the school on Thursday interviewing students.

“I just didn’t realize what my child was going through at school everyday,” said Keneshia Robinson.

She said her son had complained about students taunting him because he has special learning needs.

“He was already getting beat up at school and I wish I had of listened and I wish them teachers had of listened,” Robinson said.

The boy said doesn’t want to go back to school.

“’Cause that school be out of control and stuff,” he said.

A video of the story is available by clicking on this link.

I hope the substitute teacher never teaches in the classroom again.  Additionally, I hope that girl who stripped away the tape and came to the boy’s aid gets commended for her actions.  I would love it if the media could giver her 15 minutes of fame.  She sounds like the perfect role model for young impressionable kids.


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Posted in Bullying | Leave a Comment »

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