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News & Views - Apr, 2002 Issue (page
1)
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NOT ALL FATHERS ARE CHILD MOLESTERS
(August 14, 2001) Wendy McElroy, editor of
iFeminists, at Fox News, disputes the statistics claimed by "radical
feminists" such as Catharine MacKinnon who concluded up to 43 percent of all girls are sexually abused by fathers and
other male family members "before they reach the age of 18." Asserting the figures are inflated, McElroy refers to data
from the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect and The Bureau of Justice Statistics, that show the real
percentages were 2.9 percent, which means 97.1 percent of girls were not sexually abused within the family. She says, "Feminists
should be applauded for shedding bright light on the sexual abuse of children. But they should be deeply ashamed of how they have
used this information...A real problem exists: child abuse. But it must be separated from political agendas and bloated bureaucracy.
It is families that offer children the greatest protection from both."
BUFFALO SOLDIERS PROGRAM OPEN NEW BOOT CAMP
(August 26, 2001) The Arizona Republic reported America's Buffalo Soldiers Re-Enactors Association
is opening a new camp. The parents of a student who died July 1 in another boot camp operated by this group in Arizona, have
filed a wrongful death legal action against them.
GRADUATION RATES MIXED
(August 26, 2001) The Los Angeles Times story, "Diploma
Statistics Indicate U.S. Education Is Passing and Failing" points to a record number of the adult population who "have completed
high school or its equivalent." Yet, among those 18 to 24 years old, only 75% "have finished high school, suggesting a substantial
dropout rate." One detractor, Thomas Mortenson, says that when you take out equivalency degrees from those statistics,
the actual graduation rate is only 60-70 percent.
PACIFIC COAST ACADEMY UNDER FIRE
(August 27, 2001) The Arizona Republic
newspaper reported the story, “Teen Boot Camp in Samoa Under
Fire," by Ashley Bach, who reported criticisms
of the program from ex-students and parents. Lonnie Fuller,
co-owner and director said he “has been unfairly criticized
for helping people. "Steve Cartisano“ marketed
the camp until Fuller fired him last month."
LATER SCHOOL HOURS BENEFITS TEENS
(August 29, 2001) The Washington
Post, reported a study of thousands of Minneapolis high school students that found students “less likely to miss classes
or stop coming to school regularly if they can sleep later on school mornings." Also, when the schools changed “from a 7:15 A.M.
start to an 8:40 a.m. start in 1997…they got more sleep, got slightly better grades and experienced less depression."
AFTER SCHOOL RISKIEST
(September 4, 2001) The Los Angeles Times reported a survey of law enforcement agencies in California
that found: “the most likely hour of the day for a youngster to get in trouble is from 3 to 4 pm…it is in the hours immediately after
school that most teens are involved in sex, drug use and car crashes…[and] the prime time for violent juvenile crime is from 2 to
6 p.m. The surveys also show that more crimes--homicide, rape, robbery and assault--are committed from 3 to 4 p.m. than any other
time."
ARIZONA BOOT CAMP REOPENS
(September 7, 2001) The New York
Times, reported the reopening of a Arizona Boot Camp run by Charles F. Long II of the America's Buffalo
Soldiers Re-Enactors Association, where a boy died two months before.
MILITARY KIDS OUTSCORING CIVILIAN SCHOOLS
(October 9, 2001) USA Today reported a study
by the National Education Goals Panel, “a body of federal and state officials who monitor schools," that concluded, “students
at Department of Defense schools outscore their public school peers on standardized tests, regardless of race, family income
and parents' educational levels."
PUNISHING DRUG USERS DOES MORE HARM
(October 19, 2001) Howard B. Kaplan, sociologist and director of the Laboratory for Social Deviance at Texas
A& M University, in a report distributed by The Lindesmith Center-Drug
Policy Foundation, concluded, “new research suggests that punishing drug users could increase the likelihood that they will
continue using drugs."
TWICE EXCEPTIONAL STUDENTS
(October 24, 2001) An Education
Week story, “Research: Diamonds in the Rough," reviews what is known about the “difficult-for-schools-to-work-with children”
who share a "a combination of uncommon intellectual power and uncommonly formidable mental roadblocks."
CYBER SCHOOLS
(October 24, 2001) Education Week
reviews the progress and controversy of "cyber" charter schools, of which there are nearly 30 in existence.
RECONCEPTUALIZING ADHD
(November, 2001) According to an article in the November issue of Educational
Leadership, “new findings suggest that ADHD is a learning disorder rather than a behavioral disorder. Thus, teaching
strategies that target cognitive weaknesses may be more effective than behavioral management techniques in promoting academic success
for students with ADHD."
PRIVATE SCHOOLS IN DENMARK
(November 14, 2001) The Copenhagen Post,
reports that private school students in Copenhagen have increased in the last 20 years to nearly one in four. As a consequence,
"education authorities are currently planning a campaign in an attempt to persuade more parents to choose local state schools."
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