Posted on May 22nd, 2013 by lskenazy
Readers — I do believe the flyer below is real, from a pre-k in Philadelphia. And, for the record, I love when kids make up their own superheroes, not the ones cadged from the media. BUT even I got my witch persona (uh, that is, my childhood witch persona) from The Wizard of Oz. I [...]
Filed under: Miscellaneous, School and Zero Tolerance and Bullies | 78 Comments »
Posted on May 14th, 2013 by lskenazy
Sorry Readers — I’m all riled up today. Too many things are annoying me, and one of them is the story I just heard from a friend. On Friday, in honor of Mother’s Day, her first grade daughter’s class was having a tea. So, in the foyer, waiting to go into the classroom, were a [...]
Filed under: Crazy Parents, Miscellaneous, School and Zero Tolerance and Bullies, Uber Safety | 106 Comments »
Posted on May 2nd, 2013 by lskenazy
Folks — Here you go. This is just sort of an hors d’oeuvre (world’s hardest word to spell) for the day: Your daily dose of Zero Tolerance insanity WITH a dash of hope at the end! According to WRAL in North Carolina: PRINCETON, N.C. — The Princeton High School community is rallying around a student who [...]
Filed under: Bad Laws, Rules and Verdicts, Miscellaneous, School and Zero Tolerance and Bullies | 84 Comments »
Posted on May 1st, 2013 by lskenazy
Readers: This is a story about an unpredictable scientific reaction — and an all too predictable school over-reaction. According to the Miami New Times blog: Kiera Wilmot got good grades and had a perfect behavior record. She wasn’t the kind of kid you’d expect to find hauled away in handcuffs and expelled from school, but [...]
Filed under: Bad Laws, Rules and Verdicts, Breaking news, School and Zero Tolerance and Bullies | 61 Comments »
Posted on April 29th, 2013 by lskenazy
Hi Folks! My last two posts were about the 10-year-old boy not allowed to bring his pen knife on a nature trip as well as the ridiculous rules for adopting a pet that now sometimes include things like, “Pet needs one parent home at all times,” and, “Cat cannot be kept as a mouser in a barn.” [...]
Filed under: Helicopter Effect on Kids, Infantilizing young folk, Miscellaneous, School and Zero Tolerance and Bullies, Uber Safety | 42 Comments »
Posted on April 27th, 2013 by lskenazy
Readers — This is the surreal story of a 10-year-old who brought a Swiss Army Knife with him on a 5-day nature trip and was treated like a terrorist in training. According to The Daily Caller, the boy’s dad was summoned to cut short a business trip about 100 miles way and immediately come pick [...]
Filed under: Miscellaneous, School and Zero Tolerance and Bullies, Stupid Advice | 132 Comments »
Posted on April 24th, 2013 by lskenazy
Hi Readers — Here’s an example of our “Do something — anything!” school safety culture at work. Personally, I’d never heard of airsoft guns. When I Googled them, they looked totally scary and far too realistic for my tastes. BUT they are neither lethal nor, where this family lives, illegal. And, as you’ll read, none of [...]
Filed under: Miscellaneous, School and Zero Tolerance and Bullies | 56 Comments »
Posted on April 5th, 2013 by lskenazy
Readers — I just got off the phone with a mom in Pennsylvania whose tiny school district has allotted $100,000 for new security measures without even knowing what it will spend the money on. This district dropped about 10% of its teachers last year for lack of funding, but it is so freaked out by [...]
Filed under: Breaking news, Media Madness, Miscellaneous, School and Zero Tolerance and Bullies | 91 Comments »
Posted on March 21st, 2013 by lskenazy
Readers – We all want some sensible safety precautions taken in schools, but as far as I can tell they were all in place about 50 years ago and don’t really need to get more persnickety. But just as something there is that loves a wall, something there is that loves another layer of excess [...]
Filed under: Bad Laws, Rules and Verdicts, Infantilizing young folk, Insurance repercussions, Miscellaneous, School and Zero Tolerance and Bullies, Uber Safety | 64 Comments »
Posted on March 20th, 2013 by lskenazy
Readers — I’m not going to make this a long post, because the craziness is pretty obvious and I think there will be an uproar against it. Suffice to say some Maryland schools have outlawed (at least for the moment) hugs, homemade cupcakes and parent volunteers pushing any child other than their own on the swings. [...]
Filed under: Breaking news, Miscellaneous, Parks, Playing and Playgrounds, School and Zero Tolerance and Bullies, Uber Safety | 92 Comments »
