Wednesday, July 21, 2010



Small-minded and ineffectual Wisconsin school

Police called to arrest kid over free lunch disagreement

Milwaukee police have dropped a theft citation against a 15-year-old accused of stealing a chicken nugget meal from his school cafeteria.

Police Chief David Banaszynski said the case against Adam Hernandez, who was handcuffed, photographed and fingerprinted after Shorewood High School officials accused him of stealing the lunch, was dropped with the agreement of the school principal, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Tuesday.

"It shouldn't have gone this far. There are other means and methods to handle this kind of situation," Banaszynski said.

Hernandez, who had been scheduled to go to trial Tuesday, said he did not steal the food, but it was given to him by a friend enrolled in the free lunch program.

SOURCE




The celebrity tattoos that have sparked a Latin craze among British schoolchildren

Celebrity Latin tattoos may be fuelling a revival of the ancient language in schools, it emerged today. Pupils are increasingly demanding to study the subject, according to an exam board, as tattooed celebrities such as David Beckham and Angelina Jolie enhance Latin's profile.

The OCR exam board today launched a new Latin qualification aimed at teenagers as secondary schools increasingly offer the subject, either during the curriculum or after-hours.

But examiners urged pupils not to emulate model Danielle Lloyd, whose Latin tattoo is riddled with errors. While Beckham and Jolie's Latin inscriptions are grammatically correct, Lloyd's is meaningless, they said. Her tattoo, 'Quis attero mihi tantum planto mihi validus', which is etched on to her shoulder, is intended to translate as 'To diminish me will only make me stronger'. But experts say the words in fact translate into something more akin to 'Who I wear away for me only for me strong'.

Beckham, on the other hand, gets full marks for his two Latin tattoos. The footballer has 'Ut Amem Et Foveam' (meaning 'So that I love and cherish') inscribed on his left forearm and 'Perfectio In Spiritu' (meaning 'Perfection in spirit') on his right.

Meanwhile Jolie chose 'Quod me nutrit me destruit', which means 'What nourishes me also destroys me'.

Other celebrities embracing the trend include actor Colin Farrell, who has 'Carpe Diem' or 'Seize the day' inscribed on his left forearm.

The OCR exam board said schools and youngsters were aware of the continuing influence of Latin and had expressed an interest in a qualification to recognise basic achievement in the subject.

The new 'Entry Level Certificate in Latin' is a qualification in its own right or could be taken as a precursor to a GCSE or A-level in Latin. It is likely to be taken by 13 to 17-year-olds.

It follows a surge in the number of secondary schools offering Latin over the past decade. Surveys suggest that one in five secondaries now teaches the subject, including several hundred comprehensives. A computer-based Latin course backed by Cambridge University is said to have made it easier for schools to offer Latin. The team behind the project say schools are held back by a lack of access to Latin, rather than a lack of interest in it.

Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London and a long-standing advocate of Latin, said: 'I'm delighted that OCR are introducing the first ever Entry Level Qualification in Latin. 'It proves how much demand there is for this great subject and will provide the perfect platform for the next generation of classicists.'

Students will be introduced to the Latin language, including a list of 100 Latin words. They will also study aspects of Roman culture.

OCR said the continuing influence of Latin in day-to-day life could be seen in baby naming. It said three of the four top girls' names have Latin origins - Olivia (from Latin 'Oliva' meaning Olive), Emily (from the Latin 'Aemilianus', a Latin family name) and the Grace (from Latin 'Gratia', meaning goodwill or kindness).

Paul Dodd, qualifications manager for languages and literature at OCR, said: 'Latin vocabulary has had a rich and lasting influence on English, as well as being the foundation for modern day Spanish, French and Italian. 'Latin language and culture have played a major part in shaping our own intellectual, literary, artistic and political traditions.

'Many schools already teach Latin alongside other subjects but have no way of formally recognising their learners' achievements below GCSE. 'Our new Entry Level qualification provides a good bridge to further attainment as well as providing a way of recognising the skills learned.'

SOURCE





Australia: ALL schoolchildren "require opportunities to engage in developmentally appropriate sex and sexuality exploration"??

We all know by now that early-age sex education has coincided with an increase in juvenile sexual activity but this would seem to positively encourage it

QUEENSLAND teachers have been told that all children "require opportunities to engage in developmentally appropriate sex and sexuality exploration".

A professional development series run by Education Queensland and Queensland Health, designed to help teachers cope with the growing problem, also questioned whether parents should be told about some incidents because of the distress it caused.

Child welfare group Bravehearts and the State Opposition claimed the information was "frightening" and "concerning" and came at a time of exponential growth in young children acting sexually towards their peers.

Former Education Queensland student services executive director Leith Sterling acknowledged some sexualised behaviour policies had been unclear and said Education Queensland was considering "embedding" protective behaviours in the curriculum.

Teachers were told experimental sexual play was normal but if a child could not be easily diverted, or had used aggression, it was a problem.

Prep children masturbating in class was considered to be developmentally appropriate given there was no concerning context. An example of two Prep children mutually taking part in the act prompted one health professional to ask teachers whether it was worth telling parents, if the children could be diverted from the activity.

The session was run last year with Education Queensland initially refusing to provide public access to it. Information was released only after a Right to Information application.

The department's policies have since come under question after it was revealed year one and two boys had allegedly performed sex acts on young girls at one state school which had 18 allegations of sexualised behaviour among pupils last year – 11 of them reported to police last year.

Education Queensland director-general Lyn McKenzie said there were systems in place to help staff deal with the issue and engage with parents on any incident where student welfare was a concern.

An Education Queensland spokesman said the claim that "all children require opportunities to engage in developmentally appropriate sex and sexuality exploration" was not the department's policy and "expert" opinion only.

But Bravehearts executive director Hetty Johnston said she found the statement frightening as the number of reported incidents was "growing exponentially".

SOURCE

1 comment:

jwenting said...

So all schools should employ child prostitutes in order to allow their pupils to have sex?

Because there will always be some who can't find a classmate willing to engage, and adults will find it's illegal for them to have sex with the pupils.

Will be interesting to see that play out.