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June NEWS & VIEWS

[Items relating to the situation of contemporary young people]

SCHOOL VIOLENCE COVER UP
(April 2005) An Associated Press story, posted on The Daily Dispatch, reported school administrators at Mifflin High School in Columbus, OH, tried to cover up a violent sexual assault on a developmentally disabled teenage girl. Against state law, principals at the school did not notify police for fear of media attention and discouraged the victim's father from calling 911. The district said they plan to fire Principal Regina Crenshaw and have suspended three assistant principals. Authorities also are considering whether to file charges against the school administrators who balked at notifying police of the assault. www.hendersondispatch.com/articles/2005/04/17/news/opinion/opin01.txt

SOCIAL WORKER BLAMES ADOPTIVE PARENTS FOR TEEN'S THREATS
(April 2005) A story by the Appalachian News-Express, posted on WKYT 27 News First, reported a state social worker has accused the adoptive parents of a troubled teenage boy of child neglect because they refused to allow him to live in their home. The 15-year-old has lived in a juvenile center since March, after he allegedly assaulted his adoptive father and allegedly threatened to kill a classmate. The couple adopted the teen six years ago and said they knew at the time that he had behavioral problems, but they hoped they could help him overcome them. www.wkyt.com/Global/story.asp?S=3279867

PLAGIARISM INCREASING IN UK
(April 14, 2005) BBC News UK Edition reported that a BBC investigation suggested more and more students are plagiarizing material and buying essays online. A provider of one service that trades in "off-the-peg" and custom-written academic work told BBC she sells between 500 and 1,000 essays a week, mainly to overseas students studying in the UK. Most academic institutions are reporting growing problems with plagiarism. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4445357.stm

HELICOPTER PARENTS SUFFER LOSS OF SELF-WORTH
(April 18, 2005) The Journal Gazette reported a study of 408 parents by the Society for Research in Child Development in Atlanta, found "helicopter parents" (they hover), who base their own self-worth on their children's accomplishments, have worse mental health than those who base their self-worth on other factors. Over involved moms and dads reported more sadness, crying and negative beliefs about themselves, and less joy, contentment and life satisfaction. www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/living/11423870.htm

PROBE OF DEATH AT GEORGIA PROGRAM
(April 28, 2005) White County News Telegraph reported a 13-year-old boy died at the Appalachian Wilderness Camp of the Georgia Outdoor Therapeutic Program (OTP Camp) operated by the Georgia Department of Human Resources. According to the report, counselors restrained the boy; he started having problems breathing, so they called 911. When he quit breathing before medical units arrived, the staff started CPR. White County Coroner Ricky Barrett pronounced the boy brain-dead at the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is investigating the circumstances surrounding the boy's death.
www.whitecountynewstelegraph.com/articles/2005/04/28/news/news02.txt
www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/0405/29boydeath.html

SPECIAL ED GETS NEW KEYS TO SUCCESS
(April 28, 2005) The Arizona Republic reported changes to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act will force parents and schools to work more closely together throughout the year. The key focus is to open up communication with parents and schools regarding children's progress, and to help understand how each child learns. "Teachers should know what steps the students need to complete when trying to reach long-term goals," said Rae Ann Rumery, who teaches special education at Holiday Park School in Phoenix.
www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0428edspecialneeds28.html

ANNUAL GATHERING OF THE GUIDES
(April 29, 2005) Still Mountain Wilderness Center, Teasdale, UT, 435-425-3645, info@stillmountainwilderness.com, www.stillmountainwilderness.com, announced the first annual Gathering of the Guides, in Loa, UT, from June 2-5. The gathering will offer workshops, councils, community feasts, and ceremonies as well as networking opportunities. Workshop presenters include John Dupuy, Cristin Martin, MA, Annie Bloom, Gregory Martin, MA and David Holiday. To register, visit www.stillmountainwilderness.com/guides.html.

DISCIPLINE CAN BE HARMFUL AND INEFFECTIVE
(April 30, 2005) The Boston Herald reported that experts claim the use of force to stop an outburst from special needs children may not only be ineffective but also potentially risky to the child's overall development. New federal and state education laws set a clear protocol that educators must follow in disciplining children with special needs. http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=80947

WORLD WIDE PUSH FOR 16-YEAR-OLDS TO VOTE
(May 2005) The Child Development Newswire reported low voter turnout is increasing the debate over giving the right to vote to 16-year-olds. Currently there are strong age-sixteen suffrage movements headed by the Liberal Democrats in the United Kingdom, the League of Women Voters in the United States, and the Social Democrats in Canada. They assert youth would become more involved in politics if given the right to vote at a younger age.

WILDERNESS THERAPY SYMPOSIUM
(May 2005) Naropa University in Boulder, CO announced they are hosting the 3rd Annual Wilderness Therapy Symposium on September 23-25. For more information, contact the Center for Wilderness Therapy Training at Naropa University's Extended Studies at 303-245-4800.

PRESSLEY RIDGE STUDENT CLAIMS ARMS BROKEN
(May 3, 2005) The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported a 14-year-old boy sued the Pressley Ridge Foundation, claiming that counselors at the group's Ohiopyle camp threw him to the ground and broke both of his arms while restraining him. www.post-gazette.com/pg/05123/498116.stm

PLAYGROUND BULLIES COMMON
(May 3, 2005) KSDK New Channel 5 investigated and reported on what is being done to keep children safe from playground bullies. The news channel watched several schoolyards from an off-campus location and found aggressive behavior at almost all. They observed children being punched, kicked, slapped and thrown around. Most school districts declined interviews regarding what the news channel recorded. A survey from Survey USA found that 77 percent of parents think schools are not doing enough to prevent bullying. www.ksdk.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=78938

DO PARENTS MATTER?
(May 3, 2005) USA Today reported culture cramming may be a foundational belief of modern parenting but, according to the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, which tracks the progress of more than 20,000 American schoolchildren from kindergarten through the fifth grade, it doesn't improve early childhood test scores. The most interesting conclusion here is that parenting techniques are highly overrated. When it comes to early test scores it's not so much what you do as a parent, it's who you are.
www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20050504/oplede04.art.htm

STUDENT SUSPENDED FOR CALL TO MOM IN IRAQ
(May 6, 2005) Boston.com News reported a high school student received a 10-day suspension for refusing to end a mobile phone call with his mother, a soldier serving in Iraq. The high school's assistant principal, Alfred Parham, issued the suspension because the student was "defiant and disorderly." The suspension was Parham's alternative to arresting the youth.
www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2005/05/06/student_suspended_for_call_to_mom_in_iraq/

AUTISM MARKERS INDICATED IN BLOOD
(May 6, 2005) The Sacramento Bee reported researchers at the Sacramento-based MIND Institute have detected distinctive characteristics in the blood chemistry of autistic children, including immune system abnormalities. Significant differences showed up in more than 100 blood proteins in autistic children when compared with non-autistic children. www.sacbee.com/content/news/science/story/12845868p-13695593c.html

WHY SINGLE MOTHERS DO NOT RISK MARRIAGE
(May 8, 2005) The Houston Chronicle reported that although single women say marriage is their ultimate life ambition, they are not about to risk going through life childless while they wait for Mr. Right, which is why many single women are becoming mothers before marriage. The story said these women not only take into consideration their strong moral views about the appropriate reasons for marriage, they also calculate the risks versus rewards of a permanent tie to the men they believe are available to them. They believe marriage should be a partnership of equals, thus they want to have personal financial security before they get married.

BRITISH SCHOOL INCIDENTS
(May 8, 2005) The Independent, a United Kingdom online newspaper, reported a few of the incidents seen in British schools over a one-week period included assault, suicide, gun possession and bullying. http://education.independent.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=636538.

CHARACTER EDUCATION IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
(May 16, 2005) The Indy Star reported schools see the need to teach students positive behavioral traits. Venetia Faulkenberg, principal of Acton Elementary School in Franklin Township, implemented TIGER traits, Trust, Integrity, Generosity, Effort, Respect, in their regular lessons, disciplinary proceedings and special programs. The principal said she hears students correcting each other. "It becomes embedded within them. They monitor one another. They use the TIGER traits at home. Before that, without the common language, we didn't have that."
www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050516/NEWS01/505160406/1006

SUPPLEMENTAL ED SERVICES $2 BILLION INDUSTRY
(May 16, 2005) eSchool News online reported the market for Supplemental Educational Services (SES), a voluntary tutoring program that must be offered to students attending underperforming schools required by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), is an estimated $2 billion per year industry. Hundreds of educational service providers have lined up to cash in on the law's prove-it-or-lose-it philosophy, which threatens dire consequences for any school that cannot boast improved test scores for all subgroups of students.
www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStoryts.cfm?ArticleID=5667

SUICIDE RESEARCH
(May 17, 2005) The Dallas Morning News reported on a study that suggests that asking teenagers about suicide will not make them more likely to contemplate it, as some parents and school official's fear. The study author, Madelyn Gould, a researcher at Columbia University and New York Psychiatric Institute, found that asking troubled students about any suicidal impulses appears to ease their distress and might make some of them less likely to try suicide.
www.dallasnews.com/s/health/stories/040505cccahealthteensuicide.1ac28e2da.html

Copyright © 2005, Woodbury Reports, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
(This article may not be reproduced without written approval of the publisher.)

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