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• No Hugs For You At Some High Schools

  According to this New York Times article, hugging is very popular among high school students. A video on the site mentions Hug High School, and calls teenage hugging a "sociological phenomenon." (Hey, whatever floats your sociological boat.) But at some schools, the big bad grown-ups decided that enough is enough. The Times tells us that "schools from Hillsdale, N.J., to Bend, Ore., wary in a litigious era about sexual harassment or improper touching — or citing hallway clogging and late arrivals to class — have banned hugging or imposed a three-second rule." Read More... Posted May 29 2009, 12:30 PM by Brett Singer with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: news, school, teenagers, high school, New Jersey, wtf, rules, weird, Brett Singer, 3 second rule, high school bans hugging, no touching

• Families Still Spending Big on Prom

  If you have watched a teen movie from any of the last few decades (pick one, any one), there's one lesson to be learned. Your kids have to go to prom.  If they don't, apparently, something dasterdly will befall them, and they will regret it for the REST of their lives. Like, totally, forever and ever and ever, along with their BFFs. Not buying it? Me neither. But parents across the nation are. Read More... Posted May 06 2009, 01:01 PM by JeanneSager with | with 7 comment(s) Filed under: teenagers, high school, money, tuition, prom, economy, Jeanne Sager, economic meltdown

• When Mom's a Sex Offender

  Alex Dinkel just wants his mom to watch him graduate from high school. Unfortunately for him, Jeni Lee Dinkel will be arrested if she steps on the high school campus.  She had sex with one of her son's fifteen-year-old classmates in 2007 and is now a registered sex offender.  The boy Jeni Lee had sex with is no longer at the school, but officials are still saying nixing requests for her to attend Alex's graduation. If it sounds cut and dried, it isn't. Read More... Posted Apr 02 2009, 10:30 AM by JeanneSager with | with 13 comment(s) Filed under: parenting, education, parents, teenagers, high school, child safety, child abuse, Jeanne Sager

• Texas School Accused Of Student Cage Fighting

  Next time you have complaints about your children's school, remember this story. Because things could be worse. According to a report obtained by the Dallas Morning News, school officials at South Oak Cliff High in Texas (ironically known as "SOC", pronounced "sock", as in "sock it to me") had students settle their differences by fighting. In a cage. This did not happen last Tuesday. It happened back in 2003 and continued until 2005. And no one did anything about it. Read More... Posted Mar 30 2009, 02:00 PM by Brett Singer with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: news, school, texas, fighting, high school, wtf, principal, students, scandal, bizarre, cage fighting, Brett Singer, AP, alleged, allegedly, yahoo news, school officials, cage match, Dallas Morning News, South Oak Cliff High, Michael Hinojosa, soc, cage matches, sock, Donald Moten

• Steve Martin Funds Banned High School Production of his Play

  I always liked Steve Martin. One of my first R-rated movies was "The Jerk," and I listened to his comedy albums "Comedy Is Not Pretty" and "A Wild and Crazy Guy" over and over again. (Two words - cat juggling.) More recently, Steve (he lets me call him Steve - well, we've never met, but I think he'd let me call him Steve. Maybe.) has written a few plays, including "Picasso at the Lapin Agile", which ran Off-Broadway for awhile and has since had many productions around the world. Students at LaGrande High School in Oregon were rehearsing the play when 137 people signed a petition protesting the show. In a bold move, the school stopped the rehearsals. So Steve (for now, I'll just call him Steve, OK?) offered to pay for a production off campus, far from the reach of the long arm of the educational law. Read More... Posted Mar 16 2009, 11:40 PM by Brett Singer with | with 4 comment(s) Filed under: Celebrities, entertainment, news, high school musical, school, high school, censorship, controversy, musicals, theater, arts, Brett Singer, theatre, uptight, Steve Martin, midwest, literally high school musicals, picasso at the lapin agile

• Should Schools Separate Non-English Speaking Kids?

  At first blush, I would have said separating non-English speaking kids from their English speaking peers at school is a segregationist tactic that hinders the chances of immigrant children from success.  But a New York Times story that follows kids at the Cecil D. Hylton High School in Woodbridge, Va., a suburb of Washington, D.C., begs the question - if kids can succeed separately, wouldn't throwing them in with English-speaking kids be the real hinderance to academic success? Read More... Posted Mar 16 2009, 04:29 PM by JeanneSager with | with 4 comment(s) Filed under: education, high school, teachers, schools, Jeanne Sager, english, immigration, language education, segregation, immigrant children

• Morning News - Cheney, Duct Tape, Outer Space

  Madeline is taking a little time off, so I'll be your morning newsperson for awhile. Gosh, I sure wish there was something to talk about. The news is so dull right now... Oh! Wait. My bad. Here we go: Dick Cheney did an interview with CNN's "State of the Union" where he said that "reversing [Bush administration] anti-terrorism policies endangers Americans." See, if a Democrat said that about a Republican President, there would be an outcry. The former VP also said the Bush administration spent so much money (remember that surplus we used to have?) because "Stuff happens," and discusses the fact that his former boss (George W. Bush, remember him?) did not pardon Scooter Libby.  Also: an all duct tape prom, a space shuttle launch, and a riot full of wanna be models! Read on... Read More... Posted Mar 16 2009, 09:00 AM by Brett Singer with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: news, politics, dick cheney, crime, high school, duct tape, CNN, barack obama, prom, jobs, economy, obama, recession, president, Brett Singer, josef fritzl, george w. bush, cheney, morning news, bernie madoff, ruth madoff, ben bernanke

• The Most Awesomely Epic High School English Paper of All Time

  This is the most awesome thing I've seen all week. Imagine you are a student who really hates your English teacher. And let's say you had to write an essay about a famous poet but didn't give a damn. Your essay might go like this:   "I chose Walt Whitman for my biography report because Mr. Farlow said if I wasn't going to take this class seriously and pick a real poet I might as well not show up anymore.Walt Whitman was born in ancient China, is over 90 stories tall and travels the land with his blue ox, Emily Dickenson... Read More... Posted Mar 06 2009, 09:30 AM by Cole Gamble with | with 7 comment(s) Filed under: education, school, reading, high school, funny, humor, poetry, teacher arrested, awesome

• RENT Too Risqué For Some Schools

  "Milk" may have won two Oscars (Sean Penn for Best Actor, Dustin Lance Black for Best Original Screenplay) but homosexuality is still a taboo topic at many U.S. schools. Case in point: "RENT: School Edition", a toned down version of the hit Broadway musical that closed last September. Three productions have been canceled due to "objections about the show’s morality, its portrayals of homosexuality and theft, and its frank discussions of drug use and H.I.V." In other words, gay people still make folks uncomfortable. Read More... Posted Feb 24 2009, 01:30 PM by Brett Singer with | with 12 comment(s) Filed under: entertainment, high school musical, music, homosexuality, high school, gay, censorship, musicals, arts, Brett Singer, uptight, gay people, midwest, jonathan larson, rent banned at some schools, rent, literally high school musicals

• Coach Charged in Death of Football Player

  Max Gilpin was 15 years old when he died in August, just three days after passing out during a grueling football practice. How grueling? So grueling that prosecutors are now charging Gilpin's coach, David Jason Stinson, with reckless homicide. Read More... Posted Jan 26 2009, 12:02 PM by KeriF with | with 9 comment(s) Filed under: high school, football, death, Keri Fisher, criminal, max gilpin, david jason stinson

• Smackdown: I Don’t Care If My Daughter Has Sex as a Teen

  Progressive, feminist, supposedly sex-positive parents are, of course, pretty well united against the absurd excesses of abstinence-only education and the religious no-sex-until-marriage frenzy. What continues to amaze me though, is how little the positions they do take really vary from the underlying values of the abstinence worshippers. As a parent, I keep running into a nudge, nudge wink, wink understanding that even though we know it’s not good to base policy on it, of course really we all want to put off our daughters’ sexual awakenings as long as possible (or at least until they’re out of the house). There are jokes about chastity belts and not letting boyfriends come over until age 30. Every once and a while I feel the urge to get out a calendar and check the year. I confess that I don’t get it. Not a smidgen. And I don’t think this is just a matter of my having a defective freak-out gene. I really think that this attitude is not in our daughters’ best interests. Read More... Posted Jan 22 2009, 10:01 AM by Miriam Axel-Lute with | with 24 comment(s) Filed under: teenagers, gender, marriage, high school, college, sex education, daughters, self-esteem, sexism, abstinence, virginity, smackdown, hysteria, chastity belts, Shannon LC Cate, delaying sex, Axel-Lute, teen couples, heterosexism

• Teacher Wants to Drop Huck Finn, To Kill a Mockingbird "for Obama"

  Now that we have a black president, an Oregon teacher says he's ready to stop teaching about the days when the "n-word" was acceptable - and he's willing to say bye-bye to some of the most acclaimed books of school curricula to do it.  John Foley says he's sick of having to explain the usage of the "n-word" in Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn and Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird to his students. Sure, in the end the authors stood as beacons of light in their time for writing books that decried racism, but Foley doesn't think kids (or "an angry African American mom") have the wherewithal to stick with it to the end of the books. OK, let's back up here. He's decrying racism and a lack of education with . . . racism and a refusal to educate? Read More... Posted Jan 21 2009, 10:37 AM by JeanneSager with | with 12 comment(s) Filed under: children's books, reading, high school, teachers, banned books, teaching, Race, barack obama, role models, obama, Jeanne Sager, mark twain, president obama, inspiring teachers, harper lee, black role models, black president, huckleberry finn, to kill a mockingbird

• Teaching Teens to Recognize Abusive Relationships

  A recent study in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine found that a full third of college students were involved in an abusive relationship at some point before they started college. And a survey of 1,000 children found that 25 percent of kids aged 11 to 14 had been harassed and verbally degraded by their boyfriend or girlfriend through phone calls or text messages, often late at night when their parents were sleeping. One of the main reasons for these alarmingly high numbers is that teenage romance is bound to be sticky and confusing, so youth are often blind to behaviors that could be a harbinger of violence. Read More... Posted Jan 04 2009, 03:49 PM by Hannah Tennant-Moore with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: parents, teens, teenagers, high school, abuse, domestic violence, preteens, dating violence, abusive relationships, romance, adolescents, recognizing an abusive relationship, preventing dating abuse, dating abuse, heather norris, deborah norris, teen dating violence, educators

• Catholic High School Kicks out Catholicism

  If you're paying to send your teenager to Catholic school, what do you do when the school decides to go "un-Catholic?" Parents of students at the Northern Virginia Notre Dame Academy have been notified that the private school will cease following the rules of the Arlington County archdiocese in an effort to make the school more financially viable.  But parents who paid tuition so their kids could go to Catholic school are mad - and not just the Catholic ones. Read More... Posted Dec 02 2008, 03:32 PM by JeanneSager with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: education, school, high school, Catholicism, catholic school, Jeanne Sager, religious education, catholics, parochial schools, religious schools

• High School Student in Hospital After Scavenger Hunt

  When I think of scavenger hunts, I think of summer camp, back when I was about 10. The tasks were, "find a blue rock." Maybe a spork. Clearly I'm out of touch. A group of students at St. Charles North High School in Kane County, Illinois, have their own scavenger hunt for the "Jackass" generation. Items on the list include "Getting kicked in the groin", "Pelting the elderly with muffins", and the ever-popular "Jumping from a moving car." Read More... Posted Dec 01 2008, 10:30 AM by Brett Singer with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: news, high school, chicago, wtf, students, Illinois, scavenger hunt, stupid, Brett Singer, Chicago Sun-Times, erik nava, jumping from a moving car, dumb move, sun-times, st. charles north high school, student injured in scavenger hunt, kane county, pelting the elderly with muffins

• Students Make Rev. Phelps Followers Run Away

  Feel-good story? Members of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, gathered a small protest near Omaha Central High School. The church is led by the Reverend Fred Phelps, and I'm sure you know who these folks are. They became famous when they protested at the funeral of Matthew Shepard, and have gone on to protest everywhere it would horrify you to see picketers, including the funerals of slain service members. You know, the "God Hates Fags" people. (Biting tongue now...) However, when the group held up anti-homosexuality and anti-Obama signs near the high school last Friday, they were met by... Read More... Posted Nov 26 2008, 01:35 PM by Kelly Mills with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: racism, crime, high school, homophobia, diversity, Kansas, protest, Kelly Mills, obama, hate, student, phelps, westboro baptist church, picket

• Teacher Has Affair With Student, Parents Say Keep The Door Open

  Anna Louise Thompson, 28, was a "maths" teacher in Brisbane Australia (They says "maths" in Australia, I guess). For three years she had a sexual relationship with one of her female students, beginning when the student was 14. When the student fell in love with a fella, she turned her former lover in and Thompson was fired. Apparently this was quite the affair to remember. And the parents reaction? Read on. Read More... Posted Nov 13 2008, 12:00 PM by Brett Singer with | with 4 comment(s) Filed under: news, school, parents, teenagers, middle school, australia, high school, teachers, wtf, bad teachers, weird news, Brett Singer, scanner, nerve, brisbane, brian fairbanks, anna louise thompson

• Teacher's Aide Suspended For Racial Obama Jokes

  To quote outgoing President George W. Bush, what is our children learning? Apparently the curriculum is Truly Tasteless Jokes. (Anyone remember those?) An instructional aide at a McCandless vocational school is serving an unpaid suspension for making what a student described as racist comments directed at President-elect Barack Obama. Read More... Posted Nov 12 2008, 02:30 PM by Brett Singer with | with 4 comment(s) Filed under: news, racism, school, middle school, high school, teachers, pittsburgh, wtf, barack obama, bad teachers, election 2008, president, Brett Singer, presidential election, wow, obama wins, president obama, it's all over, yes he did, McCandless vocational school, teacher's aide made racist jokes in school, McCandless, vocational school

• They Say: Best Place to Raise Kids is Chicago Suburb

  Think it's time to pull up stakes and move the family? If you're on the east coast, go west. And if you're on the west, you might want to go east. Family's best bet is apparently right in the middle – according to the second annual BusinessWeek report on the best place in America to raise a family. Read More... Posted Nov 11 2008, 01:33 PM by JeanneSager with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: high school, family-friendly, affordable housing, Jeanne Sager, best place to raise kids, businessweek, award-winning schools

• The Painful Reason Bullies Bully

  There's an idea that kids who bully lack empathy or simply don't feel for their victims. But a new study indicates the truth might be more disturbing than that. Researchers took an admittedly small sample of eight boys, ages 16 to 18, with aggressive conduct disorder, and a group of eight adolescent boys with no obvious aggressive behavior. They showed both groups video footage of someone inflicting pain on another person, and used MRI to track the brain patterns of both groups. What they found was pretty creepy: The boys with aggressive conduct disorder... Read More... Posted Nov 09 2008, 01:27 PM by Kelly Mills with | with 5 comment(s) Filed under: research study, school, high school, bullies, psychology, Kelly Mills, brain, empathy, pain, adolescent, mind, aggressive conduct disorder, MRI, disturbing, victime

• Evangelical Teens' Very Active Sex Lives

  In this week's issue of The New Yorker, there' s a cartoon that made me laugh so hard I literally spit out my tea. Although it's not technically Bristol Palin's unborn child speaking, it easily could be. Two kids are sitting on a stoop and one says to the other, "I was an abstinence-only baby." An article by Margarot Talbot in this same New Yorker tackles the issue of evangelical teen pregnancy in a slightly more serious vein. Even for someone who is already convinced that abstinence-only sex education doesn’t work, these statistics are shocking. Read More... Posted Nov 03 2008, 04:00 PM by Hannah Tennant-Moore with | with 4 comment(s) Filed under: teenagers, divorce, marriage, high school, sex ed, contraception, abortion, condoms, teen pregnancy, hormones, guilt, shame, abstinence, virginity, young mothers, conservative, liberal, safe sex, adolescents, new yorker, bristol palin, teen marriage, christian, evangelical sex, abstinence movement, chastity, evangelical, virginity pledge, marrying young, abstinence-only, red states, margaret talbot, comprehensive sex ed, sexual eduation, blue states, delaying sex

• Explaining Financial Troubles to the Kids

  With disappearing 401(k) savings, exorbitant gas prices, and piling up medical bills, many families are being forced to make serious changes in their spending patterns. This can be a shock for teens and preteens who grew up in the 90s, during affluent times in which the prevailing wisdom in the U.S. extolled making your kids happy. Average teen allowances nationwide are upwards of $100 a month, and many high schoolers have credit cards. But last week, a survey found that teen spending had dropped by 27 percent.  Read More... Posted Oct 13 2008, 10:57 AM by Hannah Tennant-Moore with | with no comments Filed under: children, kids, teens, teenagers, high school, preteens, thrift stores, allowances, gas prices, economy, frugal, anxious, paying for college, forced to be frugal, teen spending, financial trouble, spoiled, family spending, cheaper stores, going out to eat, upset, talking to your kids, thrifty, confused, cutback, 401(k), medical bill, economic crisis, bratty

• Chicago LGBT High School Update

  The Chicago School Board is set to vote October 22 on the opening of 17 new schools, including the "School for Social Justice Pride Campus, according to the Tribune.  The school has received the support of most public school system leaders in Chicago, who argue that research shows that lgbt students face a difficult time in high school, dropping out at a higher than average rate and missing school for fear of violence.The debate still rages on the sidelines that if such a school is opened, Read More... Posted Oct 10 2008, 09:00 AM by Shannon LC Cate with | with no comments Filed under: bullying, magnet schools, high school, chicago, LGBT, school safety, public schools, youth, Harvey Milk, queer youth, Shannon LC Cate, School for Social Justice Pride Campus

• Sarah Palin's High School Grades?!?

  If someone is a “heartbeat” away from being the President of the United States of America, I want that person to not only be smarter than me now, but smarter than I was in high school. Sarah Palin, it appears, is not that person. There is “allegedly” a version of Sarah Palin’s (then Sarah Heath) high school grades from a "College Board Admission Testing Program" are floating around the web. With a grade point average of 2.2, she isn’t flunking, but this is far from depicting  “leader” braininess and there's not one “honors” class or A to boot. She even “allegedly” got a D in Foreign Language. But there is a lot of chatter and criticism that the report card could be a forgery. I’m not sure why any one would go through the trouble. They must have some serious time on their hands. Next tinme, maybe they could come over and clean my house instead. But in the end, this is just a good lesson for our children. Get good grades now, ‘cos you never know how, when or where those bad grades will haunt you. To see the document,  click here.   Read More... Posted Oct 09 2008, 07:14 PM by SunnyChanel with | with 24 comment(s) Filed under: politics, high school, barack obama, grades, election, John McCain, sarah palin, college board

• LGBT "Magnet" Schools: Help or Hurt?

  The HRC reports that “A group of over 200 people met last week to discuss a proposal to open the city’s first high school for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth. The Social Justice High School Pride Campus would focus on core college-preparatory curriculum but cater to LGBT youth in the Chicago public school district. Critics fear that the school would allow district administrators to neglect the responsibility to make all schools safe for LGBT students." Read More... Posted Sep 24 2008, 04:44 PM by LilySea with | with 12 comment(s) Filed under: bullying, magnet schools, high school, chicago, LGBT, school safety, public schools, youth, Harvey Milk, queer youth