Hi Readers — I am ashamed to say this yszdbebbhs incident happened in my own city, New York. (Well, Staten Island, anyway.) A Staten Island fourth-grader was reprimanded and almost suspended yesterday when the principal spotted him playing with a LEGO policeman and a two-inch-long toy gun during lunch, the Advance reports. Under the city’s no-tolerance […]
Archive | School and Zero Tolerance and Bullies
Enjoy the School Dance — But No ‘Sexual Bending’
Hi Readers! Here rybdheaaey are the rules for a school dance in Wisconsin. As summarized by The Smoking Gun, they include “no ‘sexual bending’ [or] the touching of breasts, buttocks, or genitals. Leg straddling is also verboten. Additionally, students are on notice that ‘Both feet must remain on the dance floor at all times.’” As awkward as […]
Calling All Teachers!
Hey Teachers (and everyone else, of course): I’m going to be talking to a few teachers groups in the near future and would love to hear tips from any of you who have figured out how to incorporate some Free-Range ideas into your classrooms. Is there a way you’ve figured out to add free time […]
Lunch Time 451
Hi Readers — Thought you might enjoy this peek at the lunchtime shenanigans at one American school. (Well, perhaps “enjoy” is not quite the right word, but anyway.) A reader writes: At the beginning of the school year we got a list that forbade nuts and nut products, which is pretty standard these days.  My daughter started […]
Principal Declares Recess is NOT “Free Time”
Hi Readers! Sometimes I think our society has come so far from darkness to enlightenment (no more Inquisition, for instance; no more Scarlet A’s) that we have come full circle and are now back to being idiots. A case in point? This principal’s letter to parents about why she doesn’t want kids to consider recess […]
School Bans Dictionary
Hi Readers — As many of you have pointed out today, a grammar school in California has banned the Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary because it contains a definition of “oral sex.” I guess the parents who complained would much rather their kid get his sex information from the geniuses on the monkey bars. Here’s the […]
These Kids Have Balls!
Or at least they want them: Two Ottawa fifth graders have started a petition to be allowed to PLAY WITH BALLS ON THE PLAYGROUND. The principal banned balls during the winter, because, she told the CBC , “They’ve  got snow stuck to them, they’re frozen, often there’s pebbles on them and they’re flying through the […]
Outrage of the Week: Boy Scientist Sent for Counseling
Dear Readers: Â OMG, as I rarely say, because I am over 22. Â Here’s the latest crazy thing, according to the sadtbefeft San Diego Union Tribune: An 11-year-old boy did a science project on his own (tsk tsk!) and brought the results to show his buddies at Millennial Tech Magnet Middle School. Â Yes, a school DEVOTED […]
Mini Outrage of the Week: Kid Suspended for Bringing Peppermint Oil to School
Hi Readers! What in tarnation? A 10-year-old girl brings peppermint oil to school, gives a few drops to her friends to flavor their water, and the next thing you know, she receives a whole, big in-school suspension, according to this ayfshibktz article in The Boston Post (by way of Newsday). Now, danger-wise, peppermint oil is […]
No Recess Under 32 Degrees? Because Kids Freeze Like Water?
Hi Readers — Got a notice from our school last week: No more recess when it’s freezing outside — 32 degrees Fahrenheit — or when the wind chill takes an above-freezing day and makes it FEEL freezing. Now, as a kid growing up in Chicago, this was my dream policy. (Yes, even as a kid […]