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HOW far should a school go in disciplining an unruly student? And what responsibility do parents bear for that youngster’s behavior? These are issues that American educators and parents perpetually wrestle with, and they have been debated around Westchester recently because of two incidents that have received attention not just in coffee shop chitchat but also in the news media. In early June, a trustee of Ardsley’s school board resigned after other middle school parents expressed outrage at her 14-year-old son’s behavior. They accused him of bullying children and repeatedly threatening violence, including a massacre and bombing, and blamed the...

The youth and his lawyer Edward Paltzik say the charges are trumped up. In fact, Paltzik insists that teacher Sharon Cantante, like Gilda Radner's Lisa Loopner on the old "Saturday Night Live" skit, didn't mind getting a few noogies from the boys. "She had this very bizarre tendency to invite students to give her noogies," Paltzik claimed. "This teacher has a history of encouraging noogie behavior." The teen is taking his case to the state Appellate Division. The Mirenberg camp showed a photo of the eighth-grade teacher smiling broadly while absorbing a male student's noogie. The 39-year-old divorcee seems completely...

An Oregon City fourth grader missed her last day of school Friday because she shared a lip cream with two classmates. Madison McFadden attends Redland elementary. She said she didn’t know she was breaking school rules. Madison says it all began the day before school got out when students were cleaning out their desks. Related Content More education news More Oregon news She found a medicated, over the counter, lip cream called “abreva” in her desk. It’s a cold sore medication and can numb up an area. A classmate asked her what it was and wanted Madison to share. She...

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP)- When Rock Hill school officials tell commencement crowds to hold their applause until the end, they mean it — police arrested seven people after they were accused of loud cheering during the ceremonies. Six people at Fort Mill High School's graduation were charged Saturday and a seventh at the graduation for York Comprehensive High School was charged Friday with disorderly conduct, authorities said. Police said the seven yelled after students’ names were called. “I just thought they were going to escort me out,� Jonathan Orr told The Herald of Rock Hill, about 70 miles north of Columbia....

Three high school seniors have been barred from Bloomington Kennedy High School's graduation ceremony tonight at Target Center because of what the school district is calling a prank involving Confederate flags. Rick Kaufman, a spokesman for the Bloomington School District, said three male students brought the flags onto school property Tuesday morning. He said they were suspended after "carrying and waving" the flags in the parking lot as parents and students arrived at the school. Bloomington Kennedy senior Kellie Rezac is a friend of the three boys and helped organize a protest outside the school earlier today. Rezac said the...

Three seniors at Bloomington Kennedy High School will not be allowed to walk in their graduation ceremony after driving to school with confederate flags flying from their trucks. Seventy-five other students showed up at the school Wednesday morning to protest the action taken by the school against Justin Thompson, Joey Snyder and another student. "I figured, you know, we’re seniors, it’s the last day of school…we didn’t mean any offense by it," Thompson said. Added Snyder: "We didn’t look at it as racist or anything." But school officials feel that flying a confederate flag violates the school’s student conduct policy....

An airline passenger claimed that a security guard threatened to arrest him because he was wearing a T-shirt showing a cartoon robot with a gun. Brad Jayakody, 30, from London, said he was stopped from passing through security at Heathrow's Terminal 5 after his Transformers T-shirt was deemed 'offensive.' The IT consultant was set to fly off on a business trip to Dusseldorf in Germany when he was pulled to one side. Brad Jayakody w Brad Jayakody wearing the Transformers T-shift which caused offence at Heathrow Mr Jayakody said the first guard started joking with him about the Transformers character...

A Fourth-grader at Toy Town Elementary School in Winchendon, MA was suspended for five days for showing his friends an empty shell casing to some friends at lunch. According to the NRA-ILA (http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/Read.aspx?ID=3975), Bradley Geslak had been given the casing — from a blank fired during Memorial Day — by a US veteren. He was given two, one of which he gave to his grandfather, also a veteren. He was showing his souvenier off to some friends during lunch when a teacher confiscated the casing and called the boy’s mother to take him home. He’s also been told he won’t...

...On May 29, 2008 the Worcester Telegram & Gazette published a story concerning a ten year boy who was immediately suspended when a school employee found him with a spent blank shell. According to the story entitled "Souvenir Rifle Shell Gets 4th Grader Suspended" the young man was given two of the spent casings by a uniformed veteran after a Memorial Day event. "This is a tragic example of how far over the edge this state and our schools have gone. For the school officials to react in such a manner is simply inexcusable," said Jim Wallace Executive Director of...

WINCHENDON SUSPENSION WINCHENDON— School officials said yesterday a privacy policy prevents them from saying much about the suspension of a Toy Town Elementary School student earlier this week for bringing an empty blank shell casing to school. The decision to suspend 10-year-old Bradley Geslak was made by school Principal Deborah Peterson. “Massachusetts General Law gives principals absolute authority in their schools. She (Mrs. Peterson) has no obligation to notify anyone else because it is expected that she has enough authority under the Massachusetts Educational Reform Act to make these decisions,” said School Committee member Christine B. Philput. “As a School...

The Kent Gardens Elementary School in McLean, Virginia has placed a ban on the school yard game of tag—alleging that it “sends the wrong message.” “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to comfort a weeping child who didn’t want to be ‘it,’” said Vice-Principal Pat Keister. “The game is too stressful and competitive. This contradicts the message of love and affection we are trying to convey through the free condom distribution program for our fifth-graders.”

Is American public education a form of child abuse? A week ago, the Washington Post’s Brigid Schulte reported on a student named Randy Castro who attends school in Woodbridge, Va. Last November at recess he slapped a classmate on her bottom. The teacher took him to the principal. School officials wrote up an incident report and then called the police. Randy Castro is in the First Grade. But, at the ripe old age of six, he’s been declared a sex offender by Potomac View Elementary School. He’s guilty of sexual harassment, and the incident report will remain on his record...

A Texas service member and his son recently found themselves separated not only by an eight-hour time difference, several bodies of water and hundreds of miles, but by a teacher who tried to come between the two as the military dad called his son in his time of need during class.

Is American public education a form of child abuse? The Washington Post's Brigid Schulte reported this month on a student named Randy Castro, who attends school in Woodbridge, Va. Last November at recess he slapped a classmate on her bottom. The teacher took him to the principal. School officials wrote up an incident report and then called the police. Randy Castro is in the first grade. But, at the ripe old age of 6, he's been declared a sex offender by Potomac View Elementary School. He's guilty of sexual harassment, and the incident report will remain on his record for...

Most illegal entrants selected for prosecution under a new zero-tolerance initiative are getting little jail time, but the program still might be producing the deterrent officials desired. The U.S. Border Patrol-led program, which started in January and prosecutes as many as 60 illegal entrants a day, is aimed at increasing the consequences for illegal Mexican border crossers who are used to being dropped off at the border after apprehension. Border Patrol officials say it's working — they've prosecuted 2,317 illegal entrants in the Tucson Sector through March and report that illegal entries and repeat tries have decreased in a 15-mile...

6-Year Old Boy Accused of Sexual HarassmentKindergarten student's father fears his son will be stereotyped as a "pervert" Friday, Apr 04, 2008 - 08:05 AM The father says his son brought home a discipline referral that says the child told his teacher that one of his classmates liked looking at her behind. A six-year old boy is accused of sexually harassing a teacher in Greer. The kindergarten student is now facing possible discipline. Malory Pinkney, Sr. says his son came home Tuesday in tears from Skyland Elementary. His father is a minister and says his child has been accused of...

Have you heard the story of Amanda Rouse? Amanda is a government high school student in the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District in Seaside, California. One morning, 15-year-old Amanda wasn't feeling well on her bus ride to school. So she decided to stay on the bus as it picked up elementary school students, and then the driver would take her home. While the bus driver was driving the elementary school route, she fell out of seat at a sharp turn and hit her head. The bus started hitting parked cars on the side of the road. So Amanda hopped into...

New Haven (AP) _ An eighth-grade honors student at a New Haven school has been suspended for buying a bag of candy at school. Michael Sheridan, a student at Sheridan Middle School, was suspended from school for one day, barred from attending an honors student dinner and stripped of his title as class vice president. Officials say he was punished because he bought a bag of Skittles from another student. A school spokeswoman says the New Haven school system banned candy sales and fundraisers in 2003 as part of the districtwide school wellness policy. Spokeswoman Catherine Sullivan-DeCarlo says there are...

Contraband candy has led to big trouble for an eighth-grade honors student. Michael Sheridan was stripped of his title as class vice president, barred from attending an honors student dinner and suspended for a day after buying a bag of Skittles from a classmate. The New Haven school system banned candy sales in 2003 as part of a district-wide school wellness policy, said school spokeswoman Catherine Sullivan-DeCarlo. Shelli Sheridan, Michael's mother, said he is a top student with no previous disciplinary problems. "It's too much. It's too unfair," she said. "He's never even had a detention." Michael's suspension has been...

Police in Laramie, Wyo., Cite Teen Girls Who Threw French Fries for 'Hurling Missiles' Friday, February 01, 2008 LARAMIE, Wyo. — Three 13-year-old girls accused of throwing french fries during lunchtime at their school were cited for "hurling missiles," an adult infraction covered by city ordinances. The principal of Laramie Junior High and a police officer had warned students during an assembly the day before the french fries' launch that if they threw food, they had to suffer the consequences, Police Chief Bob Deutsch said. The warning came after school officials had heard rumors of an impending food fight. "They...

A student has been threatened with a 3-day suspension from school for bringing to campus, and using, a pen with the corporate logo of the Glock company, a large stylized "G" with the letters "lock" inside. Cooler heads eventually prevailed, and the father reports that he was successful in convincing the school officials to not only withdraw the threat, but also the formal reprimand that already had been placed in his son's educational file. Note: Read the complete article to find out how all this got started and the great response from the father, including what he has to say...

Andrew Figueiredo thought he was just taking a vitamin and a dietary supplement, but South Middleton School District administrators say he was taking medication without authorization and suspended him. Now the father of the Boiling Springs High School senior is demanding a public apology, saying this is a case of “Zero tolerance equals zero common sense.”

The incident apparently happened last month. A six-year-old girl was seen kissing a second grade boy several times while they were riding in the school bus, and the boy was seen kissing her back. The girl's actions landed her in some hot water as her parents were called into the principal's office, and the girl was reportedly suspended from riding the bus for three days. The family could not be reached for comment on Sunday, but other parents in Alexander think school officials overreacted. "I completely disagree with the punishment that was given and I would do something about it...

OCALA, Fla. (AP) -- Authorities have dropped a felony weapons charge against a 10-year-old girl in Ocala who brought a kitchen knife to school to cut up her lunch. The girl, whose name has not been released, was arrested after teachers at Sunrise Elementary School saw her use a 41/2-inch knife on a steak. She was also suspended from school for three days. After reviewing her school record and interviewing her, investigators with the Department of Juvenile Justice recommended that the State Attorney's Office not prosecute the child. The attorney's office agreed. Assistant State Attorney Ric Ridgway told the Orlando...

A 10-year old Florida girl brought a small kitchen knife to cut the left over steak her mother had packed her for lunch. The girl was arrested by police alerted by school officials and now faces a felony weapons charge. School officials defended what many are calling a “hysterical over-reaction.” “We must remain fully vigilant,” explained school spokesperson Margaret Schnook. “If we overlook seemingly innocent incidents like this who knows what the next escalation might be. Do we really want to risk hordes of 10-year old girls slicing meats, peeling fruits or who knows what else in our schools?” Schnook...

There he stood in the Tyrone Square Mall parking lot, surrounded by three police cruisers and mall security. Police had searched and interrogated him. All the while, DiSalvo said, shoppers gawked, perhaps wondering whom he had killed. The 57-year-old said he was guilty of one thing: forgetfulness. He lost his 1991 Grand Marquis in a sea of 6,000 parked cars.

CHULA VISTA – A middle school student was arrested Tuesday after a teacher saw him fashioning a small knife out of wood during a shop class. The boy, who is in eighth grade at Castle Park Middle School, was taken into custody about 11:15 a.m. and then released to his parents, said Chula Vista police spokesman Bernard Gonzalez. The boy has been suspended for four days, said Sweetwater Union High School District spokeswoman Lillian Leopold. When he returns to school after the holiday break he will also undergo counseling, Leopold said. District policy says that a student will be expelled...

A 10-year-old Florida girl faces felony weapons charges after bringing a small steak knife to school to cut up her lunch, according to a report on WFTV.com. Click here for more on this story from WFTV.com School officials say the Ocala 5th grader had brought a piece of steak for her lunch, and had brought a steak knife. According to the report, a couple of teachers took the utensil and called authorities, who arrested the girl and took her to the county’s juvenile assessment center. "She did not use it inappropriately. She did not threaten anyone with it. She didn't...

OCALA, Fla. -- A 10-year old Ocala girl brought her lunch to school and a small kitchen knife to cut it. She now faces a felony charge after being arrested. The school and the sheriff's office disagree on the reason for the arrest. School officials say the 5th grader was brown-bagging it. She brought a piece of steak for her lunch, but she also brought a steak knife. That's when deputies were called. It happened in the cafeteria at Sunrise Elementary School. The 10-year-old used the knife to cut the meat.

GIG HARBOR, Wash. -- A Pierce County High School student is back in school after a three-day suspension for warning classmates about a sex offender on campus. Last week, Raydon Gilmore found a 16-year-old fellow student at Gig Harbor High School at the Washington State Sex Offender Information Center, a Web site that lists the state's level 2 and level 3 sex offenders. "Then it hit me that I was in P.E. freshman year, and this kid was there for a while and he was my neighbor at my locker," Gilmore told KIRO 7 Eyewitness News. The 16-year-old was convicted...

OCALA, Fla. (AP) - Marion County school officials say they seized a 4-1/2 inch steak knife from a 10-year-old student. She was using the knife to cut her steak. She is facing a felony charge of bringing a weapon to school. School employees at Sunrise Elementary School told Marion County sheriff's deputies the girl was eating lunch and using the knife to cut her steak when she was spotted by two school officials. They took the knife away from her. The sheriff's office says the student told deputies she brought the knife to school so she could use it for...

An elementary student in Marion County was arrested Thursday after school officials found her cutting food during lunch with a knife that she brought from home, police said. The 10-year-old girl, a student at Sunrise Elementary School in Ocala, was charged possession of a weapon on school property, which is a felony. According to authorities, school employees spotted the girl cutting her food while she was eating lunch and took the steak knife from her. The girl told sheriff's deputies that she had brought the knife to school on more than one occasion in the past. Students told officials that...

Accusations of racism in a Lee's Summit high school have lead to suspensions, but now the parents say their kids were unfairly punished. Travis Grigsby loves playing drums, but he and his friend Alex Coday weren't able to play for two weeks after they were suspended. It started after the band's performance at a football game. Some kids on the drum line said they were talking about the best knots to use to tie up the drum equipment. "Someone asked if anybody knew how to tie a noose and Travis did admit he knew how to tie a noose," Kim...

L AREDO — After pleading guilty to entering the country illegally, the Mexican immigrant from Veracruz told a federal judge here last week he came to the U.S. to earn money to pay for his mother's funeral.''It doesn't matter if you're trying to pay off funeral expenses, or take care of a sick family member," explained U.S. Magistrate Diana Saldaña, referring to the plight of another immigrant. ''When you cross the Rio Grande, you're going to be spending time in prison if the Border Patrol finds you — that's the bottom line." The frank courtroom exchange has become a daily...

WATERBURY, CT (TDR) - A fourth grade Oakville student has been expelled from a Waterbury school for bringing a toy gnu onto the property. The action falls under the school district's 'zero tolerance' policy, according to administrators. Officials believe the student, who is dyslexic, tried to intentionally break the policy...

<p>MASCOUTAH, Ill. - Two hugs equals two days of detention for 13-year-old Megan Coulter.</p> <p>The eighth-grader was punished for violating a school policy banning public displays of affection when she hugged two friends Friday.</p> <p>“I feel it is crazy,” said Megan, who was to serve her second detention Tuesday after classes at Mascoutah Middle School.</p>

Two hugs equals two days of detention for 13-year-old Megan Coulter. The eighth-grader was punished for violating a school policy banning public displays of affection when she hugged two friends Friday. "I feel it is crazy," said Megan, who was to serve her second detention Tuesday after classes at Mascoutah Middle School. "I was just giving them a hug goodbye for the weekend," she said. Megan's mother, Melissa Coulter, said the embraces weren't even real hugs - just an arm around the shoulder and slight squeeze. "It's hilarious to the point of ridicule," Coulter said. "I'm still dumbfounded that she's...

SEARCH LINKS COALITION LIBRARY PRESS AREA CONTACT US AWARDS YOU ARE HERE: Boys and Schools · Boys and Schools Blog General > Thursday, October-25-2007 Preschool Harassers and Anti-Boy Bias Boo on the stereotype of men being emotionally unavailable beings who wilt at the need to express the smallest sign of physical affection.  Not only have I never seen a man who fits that description outside of an episode of Sex and the City and certain predictable ?chick lit? stories, but the whole image sends a very confusing and contradictory message to men in general: ?Please be more expressive of...

<p>DENNIS TOWNSHIP, N.J. — A second-grader's drawing of a stick figure shooting a gun earned him a one-day school suspension. Kyle Walker, 7, was suspended last week for violating Dennis Township Primary School's zero-tolerance policy on guns, the boy's mother, Shirley McDevitt, told The Press of Atlantic City.</p>

DENNIS TOWNSHIP - A single mother said the school district overreacted by suspending her 7-year-old son for drawing a smiling stick figure shooting another smiling stick figure with a gun. Shirley McDevitt said her son, Kyle Walker, was suspended Thursday for one day after school officials found out about the drawing, sketched on a piece of paper. Kyle attends second grade at the Dennis Township Primary School in Cape May County. McDevitt, of Belleplain, said she was told he was suspended because of the school's zero-tolerance policy for guns. "Are they abusing the zero-tolerance law? I'm sure it's a judgment...

"DENNIS TOWNSHIP, N.J. - A second-grader's drawing of a stick figure shooting a gun earned him a one-day school suspension. Kyle Walker, 7, was suspended last week for violating Dennis Township Primary School's zero-tolerance policy on guns, the boy's mother, Shirley McDevitt, told The Press of Atlantic City." " A photocopy of the picture provided by McDevitt showed two stick figures with one pointing a crude-looking gun at the other, the newspaper said. What appeared to be the word "me" was written above the shooter, with another name scribbled above the other figure." "Kyle drew other pictures, including a skateboarder,...

Bambi vs. the Bureaucrats Six years ago, an Oregon man rescued a fawn and raised her as a family pet. So when the state seized the deer, with a threat of euthanasia, all hell broke loose. By Winston Ross Sept. 19, 2007 - Had he been a hunter, and had the mottled white doe that tumbled down a hill into his rural Oregon driveway six years ago been an adult, Jim Filipetti could have ponied up $19, applied for a deer tag and gunned the animal down. He could have butchered the deer the state now knows as "Snowball," mounted...

Odor of Cigarette Smoke Causes School Employee to Lose Job The Denton Independent School District has removed an employee from her position because she smells like cigarette smoke. Suzanne Lidster was thrilled when she was recently hired to assist a student with disabilities at L.A. Nelson Elementary. "It's something that God sent me here to do with this child," Lidster told FOX 4. "It's like OK, this fell in my lap." But after less than two weeks on the job, Lidster said she received a voicemail informing her that she had lost her position. The school's principal left a message...

Joel Klein vows probe of Queen's school's 911 edict BY JESS WISLOSKI, CARRIE MELAGO and ERIN EINHORN DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS Tuesday, September 11th 2007, 4:00 AM Schools Chancellor Joel Klein yesterday vowed to investigate a Queens high school policy that may have cost a teen girl her health. The Daily News reported yesterday an official at Jamaica High School barred school deans from calling 911 in an emergency - just weeks before 14-year-old Mariya Fatima suffered a stroke her family says could have been less devastating. Klein called this a violation of Department of Education policy and instructions he...

JAPAN: Japan Web site irks illegal aliens Shoddy statistics along with unbalanced news reporting have led to a climate of scapegoating in which visa overstayers are increasingly seen as dangerous Taipei Times Friday, May 7, 2004 The Web site of Japan's Immigration Bureau has never been particularly foreigner-friendly: information about almost everything, from obtaining a visa to getting deported, is available only in Japanese. But foreigners say the site's newest feature is downright nasty. The bureau this year began soliciting tips over the Internet about suspected illegal aliens, enlisting the public in a high-profile deportation campaign ordered by authorities who...

Springs elementary gives tag a timeout By BRIAN NEWSOME THE GAZETTE On the playground of a northern Colorado Springs elementary school, tag is not “it.” The touch-and-run game and any other form of chasing was banned this year at Discovery Canyon Campus’ elementary school by administrators who say it fuels schoolyard disputes. “It causes a lot of conflict on the playground,” said Assistant Principal Cindy Fesgen. In the first days of school, before tag was banned, she said students would complain to her about being chased or harassed. Fesgen said she would hear: “Well, I don’t want to be chased,...

Family members provided an image as an example of the sketch drawn by the boy. PROVIDEDAn East Valley eighth-grader was suspended this week after he turned in homework with a sketch that school officials said resembled a gun and posed a threat to his classmates. But parents of the 13-year-old, who attends Payne Junior High School in the Chandler Unified School District, said the drawing was a harmless doodle of a fake laser, and school officials overreacted. “I just can’t believe that there wasn’t another way to resolve this,” said Paula Mosteller, the boy’s mother. “He’s so upset. The...

Chandler school officials have suspended a 13-year-old boy for sketching a picture that resembled a gun, saying it posed a threat to classmates. But parents of the Payne Junior High School student said the drawing was a harmless doodle of a fake laser, and school officials overreacted. "I just can't believe that there wasn't another way to resolve this," said Paula Mosteller, the boy's mother. "He's so upset. The school made him feel like he committed a crime. They are doing more damage than good." The Mostellers said the drawing did not show blood, bullets, injuries, or target any human....

At Patton Middle School in McMinnville, Oregon, students created something called "slap butt day." On one such day in February 2007, according to The Oregonian (July 22, 2007): "Two boys tore down the hall of Patton Middle School after lunch, swatting the bottoms of girls as they ran -- what some kids later said was a common form of greeting. But bottom-slapping is against policy in McMinnville Public Schools. So a teacher's aide sent the gawky seventh-graders to the office, where the vice principal and a police officer stationed at the school soon interrogated them." A police officer interrogated them?...

Judge dismisses sexual harassment charges against 2 Ore. teens 08/20/2007 By WILLIAM McCALL / Associated Press Two 13-year-old boys accused of slapping girls' bottoms and poking or cupping girls' breasts at school apologized on Monday as a judge dismissed charges against the two, ending a six-month case that drew national attention. The charges triggered a debate over whether such behavior in school should be considered criminal. Four girls listed as victims by the prosecutors had asked the judge to drop the charges against Cory Mashburn and Ryan Cornelison. Yamhill County Judge John Collins did so on Monday, saying it was...