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News & Views - Sept,
2000 Issue (page 1).
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Page 1 of 3 - Next
BOOT CAMP VIOLENCE
(1999) Sunspot, an online news service based in Maryland, printed
a series of articles entitled “Boot Camp Violence.” The articles dated December 5 through December 8, 1999, and an additional reference
to a May 6, 2000 article entitled “6 More Fired for Abuse at Boot Camps,” can be found at Sunspot's
Archives. Reporters followed 14 participants’ experiences at the state boot camp facility. In a followed up report they learned
only one was conforming to probation agreements and 11 have been locked up and are likely to find their way to the state prison system.
NEW DAY FOR THE ACCUSED?
(March 24, 2000) In an editorial, the Wall Street Journal speculated that the country might be experiencing a change
of heart regarding school sexual accusations. They referred to a situation in Maryland where a popular long time teacher was accused
of sexual misconduct by six girls and one boy. What the WSJ noted as a change, however, was that police decided to continue the investigation
with some “skepticism and logic,” instead of what has happened all too often in the past: accept the allegations and prosecute. Eventually,
the students’ stories fell apart when they confessed having concocted the stories out of revenge for the teacher’s minor disciplinary
action. The students faced consequences and the teacher was allowed to attempt to reconstruct his reputation and life, which had been
shattered by the accusations. The WSJ speculated that perhaps the “child sex abuse charge may now be losing some of its sacrosanct
status…. If this is the case, this society and its justice system may be at last on the route to recovery from one of the most terrifying
spasms of irrationality to have afflicted us in a long while.”
SENATORS APPROVE SCHOOL CHOICE
(June 26, 2000) A survey by the Heritage Foundation, found in the Washington Times weekly edition, June 26-July 2,
2000, reported “Nearly half of U.S. senators and almost as large a proportion of House members have sent or are sending their children
to private schools, a privilege still out of reach for most Americans…. In fact, the survey by the Heritage Foundation found that
those members of Congress who serve on committees responsible for education are the most likely to send their children to private
schools.”
COMPASSION & TRUST TRAINING
(July 1, 2000) Science News, Vol. 158, p. 8, reported that Barry S. Hewlett, an anthropologist at Washington State
University in Vancouver, Washington, is studying differences in child rearing in various African tribes. He suggests forager groups
might raise their children in ways that enhance compassion and trust in the members of the tribe.
CORE CONFERENCE IN OCTOBER
(July 5, 2000) Heidi Goldsmith, Ex. Dir. Of the Coalition for Residential
Education (CORE), Washington D.C. icrehg@aol.com, announced the First National Conference
on Residential Education for Disadvantaged Children and Youth will be held October 15-17, 2000 at Girard College in Philadelphia.
About 20 schools are identified by CORE as having a mission of being “Boarding schools for children from abusive/neglectful homes
and poor, violent neighborhoods….” These schools are trying to provide: safety, stability, quality and relevant education, a supportive
community, self-esteem building, and structure, for poor and disadvantaged students.
Copyright © 2000, Woodbury Reports, Inc. (This article may be reproduced without prior
approval if the copyright notice and proper publication and author attribution accompanies the copy.)
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