Kicking is sexual harassment?

The school is the sick party here

The mother of a Boston elementary school first-grader being investigated for possible sexual harassment for hitting another boy in the groin says her son acted in self-defense.

Mark Curran, 7, tells FOX 25 another boy came up to him on the school bus and strangled him so he defended himself by kicking the boy.

His mother says he was visibly shaken when he got off the school bus following the incident. “He said some kid choked me on the bus. I said excuse me? He said he choked me and stole my gloves,” says Tasha Lynch.

Lynch says she anticipated a simple resolution when she contacted the school to discuss what happened. “They both had a fight. They both should’ve shaken hands, said sorry and they both should have done punishment extra school work,” says Lynch.

Instead of extra school work, Tynan Elementary School in South Boston informed Tasha Lynch of the sexual harassment violation.

A spokesman for the school says the principal is looking into an incident that occurred on one of the school buses, but they will not publicly discuss a student.

Lynch has kept her son out of school for two weeks since the incident fearing for his safety. She says kicking the boy was wrong, but it should not be a sexual harassment issue.

This is a code of discipline by the Boston Public Schools and is not being investigated by police. Mark Curran has a disciplinary hearing on Monday during which the school reserves the right to suspend him for three days if found guilty of the violation.

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British teacher suspended for 'gross misconduct' after giving stranded dyslexic pupil a lift

What a messed-up world we live in!

A supply teacher has been suspended for 'gross misconduct' after giving a lift to a 17-year-old pupil. Martin Davis, who has been teaching for 23 years, risks losing his job permanently because he drove a dyslexic boy home when the student did not have money for the bus. He said: 'I still can’t believe what’s happened. I was just trying to do this boy a favour and now I could be out of a job.'

Mr Davis, 58, who teaches maths and science, is appealing against the judgement by the recruitment agency for which he worked.

He had been posted to Tyne Metropolitan College, in North Tyneside, and was giving individual support to a number of dyslexic boys. Two weeks ago, he agreed to give one of his pupils a lift home after school because the boy had forgotten his bus fare.

But father-of-two Mr Davis was later told by a school official that he had been 'stupid' to agree to take the pupil in his car, and he apologised.

Brook Street recruitment agency then told him he would not be allowed to return to the school because of his alleged gross misconduct.

When he tried to argue against this decision, agency bosses led him to believe that he had been dismissed, and he has now been told that he must not work until an investigation into his actions has been concluded.

He told the Daily Telegraph: 'I spoke to the class tutor and she was devastated. I also spoke to the boy in question to say goodbye and he was upset and angry about what was happening because he said I had been a great help to him.'

The agency claimed it was only following 'procedures'. A spokesman said: 'The worker in question has acknowledged there is a safeguarding issue, and he has been suspended whilst we complete this investigation, which is required by regulation.'

Tyne Metropolitan College said it had no involvement in the decision to suspend Mr Davis.

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Australia: Boys and girls may be split in Victorian classrooms

THE Baillieu Government will encourage state schools to adopt single-sex classes if a current trial lifts academic results.

Education Minister Martin Dixon said the grassroots trial by at least six primary and secondary schools would examine whether students were more likely to thrive in same-sex classrooms.

He said the model potentially offered students the benefits of a private school-style single-sex learning environment, while giving them the social benefits of co-education.

"If this has benefits, and I think it has, you'll find it makes schools a one-stop shop in terms of social and learning experiences for children," Mr Dixon said. "We're certainly not going to mandate it, it is more a matter of facilitating it."

Oberon Secondary College principal Anne Murphy said the Geelong school would trial two single-sex classes in year 8 next year and consider expanding it schoolwide if successful.

"If, educationally, we find that the kids' learning is advanced from being in a single-sex classroom then I would be hard-pressed to justify not offering that more," Ms Murphy said.

"I know several parents will feel this is a co-educational school and they want their children to have a co-educational experience. In a co-educational school we can give them the best of both worlds."

Dromana Secondary College principal Alan Marr said the school had split boys and girls in year 9 maths and English classes.

"It has been a positive experience, so positive we're considering bringing it down into year 8," he said.

"We've noticed the girls have been much calmer and less hesitant to act things out, and the boys have been more confident to express their own opinions."

Some schools, including Essendon Keilor College and Camberwell High School, have been running boys-only classes for several years to address gender imbalances caused by girls attending local all-girl state schools.

Victoria has seven single-sex girls' public schools but only one for boys. Mr Dixon said it was up to individual schools to decide whether to adopt single-sex classes.

"We will make the findings and all the background material (relating to the trial) available to all the schools in the system and say here is an option that may work for your cohort of students," he said.

Parents Victoria executive officer Gail McHardy said schools considering same-sex classes needed to work around families, many of whom wanted their children to learn alongside the opposite sex. Broad consultation with the school community was critical.

The Queensland Government last week extended trials of single-sex classes after participating schools reported improved results.

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