TONSILS TO BLAME FOR BEHAVIOR
(November 19, 2007) According to an article on Crime Times, researchers reported children with enlarged tonsils and adenoids showed lower test scores and higher percentage of hyperactive, inattentive, sleepy behavior, and were more likely to have a diagnosis of ADHD before they underwent tonsil and adenoidal removal, than children undergoing other surgeries.

OMEGA-3 SUPPLEMENTS MIGHT REDUCE ADHD SYMPTOMS
(November 19, 2007) Crime Times reported children with ADHD may improve markedly when they receive high doses of omega-3 fatty acids according to new research that strongly supports several earlier findings.

HORNBECK FOUNDATION FINDS
(November 19, 2007) Pam and Craig Akers, founders of the Hornbeck Foundation, helped find a girl who had continued to California on an airplane instead of returning to her school in Utah. Hornbeck Foundation was named after the Akers' son Shawn Hornbeck who was returned to them after missing for four years. More...

SUICIDE AFTER CYBER-BULLYING
(November 21, 2007) Telegraph.co.uk, reported a 13-year-old girl in Dardenne Prairie, MO, hanged herself after she fell victim to a cyber-bullying campaign orchestrated by the mother of one of her classmates, who masqueraded online as a "good looking" teenage boy.

UK CHILDHOOD HAPPY, NOT TOXIC
(November 19, 2007) BBC news reported scaremongering by adults has created a false impression of a "toxic childhood" according to England's Children's Schools and Families Secretary, Ed Balls. Balls issued a counterblast to pessimistic views of childhood, saying the "vast majority of children feel happy and safe," rejecting the idea that previous generations had better childhoods.

KIDS MEDICATION TESTING STILL INADEQUATE
(November 23, 2007) The Washington Post reported that a decade after the government began trying to ensure prescription drugs used to treat children work and are safe; doctors still have scant information to guide them when they administer many medications to kids.

ARE WE TOO QUICK TO MEDICATE CHILDREN?
(November 5, 2007) Los Angeles Times reported studies have shown that kids are being diagnosed at younger ages, with a wider range of disorders and with more severe disorders than ever before, and in growing numbers, they are being medicated with drugs whose safety, effectiveness and long-range effects on children have not been demonstrated by extensive research.

INTERNET VIGILANTE JUSTICE?
(November 21, 2007) Wired Magazine analyzed an expanding trend of use of the Internet to punish people who are deemed violators of social norms. An example is the firestorm of Internet outrage over a mother who posed as a 16-year-old boy on the internet, which drove a neighbor girl to suicide.

HOW DOCTORS ARE CONVINCED TO MARKET DRUGS
(November 27, 2007) The New York Times Magazine reports how Dr. Daniel Carlat, an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Tufts University School of Medicine and the publisher of The Carlat Psychiatry Report, recalls his five years as a drug-company representative.

ZERO-TOLERANCE CREATING SCHOOL TO PRISON PIPELINE
(November 22, 2007) The Houston-Chronicle reported the public interest law group, Texas Appleseed, argues schools that suspend and expel students to Disciplinary Alternative Education Programs for minor misbehavior not covered by the zero-tolerance mandates, unwittingly funnel kids into the massive adult prison system in Texas.

ECONOMIC GROWTH GOES WITH FAMILY FRIENDLY AREAS
(November 27, 2007) The Wall Street Journal reported most communities that are flourishing economically are family-friendly cities, rather than those oriented toward single professionals. It is lifestyle, not lattés, that parents look for. They also tend to be our most productive workers.

STUDY SUGGESTS TEA CAN HELP ADD
(September 27, 2007) US News described research by John Foxe, a professor of neuroscience who found the amino acid theanine found in green, black and oolong teas, causes a decrease in the brain's "alpha rhythms" when people perform complex attention tasks, causing them to pay closer attention.

KINDERCRAMMING IS CONTROVERSIAL
(November 28, 2007) TIME Magazine reported one of the fastest-growing markets for after-school tutors is preschoolers and kindergartners, whose parents hope that if their kids learn to read before first grade, it will ultimately help them get into college and get good jobs. Others, however, claim that problems can occur when young children are pushed too fast.

WISDOM OF THE HORSE 2008 TOUR
(November 30, 2007) Brad Myers, President and CEO of Lone Eagle Ranch, Conifer, CO, 303-332-9230, announced a worldwide initiative "to introduce The Wisdom of the Horse™" and The Wisdom of the Horse ™ Tour: "Five simple, yet incredibly powerful agreements demonstrated through the very nature of man's most prolific partner, the horse, provide this authentic experience of discovery."

FORMER SWAN VALLEY HEAD CONTROVERSIAL IN MD
(December 1, 2007) According to articles in several newspapers, the new head of a troubled juvenile center in Maryland's Frederick County, Chris Perkins, once led a Montana youth academy that closed amid allegations of mistreatment, according to state officials. Flathead Beacon Baltimore Sun Great Falls Tribune

WHEN A FOREIGN ADOPTION GOES WRONG
(December 17, 2007) Newsweek reported that most Americans who adopt children from other countries find joy. However, others are not prepared for the risks and may find themselves overwhelmed.

SCHOOLS ARE DROP-OUT FACTORIES
(December 9, 2007) A columnist for the Providence Journal reported researchers at Johns Hopkins University found that one-in-five high schools in the US graduate fewer than sixty percent of their students. One in ten schools graduates fewer than fifty percent. The press has dubbed these schools "dropout factories."

"LOCKDOWN" ENTERS PUBLIC SCHOOL LEXICON
(December 9, 2007) The Boston Herald reported that while the term "lockdown" used to refer to prisons, it now is also being used for public schools when there is a threat of violence.

PERKINS RESIGNS IN MARYLAND
(December 13, 2007) Numerous articles have appeared concerning Chris Perkins, who was being considered for a state level appointment in Maryland. He resigned from his position as head of Victor Cullen Center for juvenile offenders in Maryland following the public release of a "Statement of Licensing deficiencies" report on a program Perkins had previously run in Montana, Swan Valley Youth Academy. Links to the various articles and documents can be found on Strugglingteens.com