In New Canaan, CT school officials are considering adding radio frequency tags to student or staff ID cards, or placing them on school property, like laptops. This is purportedly to be useful for tracking students during school emergencies.

I couldn’t have stated my opinion about this any better than the following comment from user, POIUYT,

“Why not just implant it in their wrist and stamp 666 across their forehead?”

Full story here

Hosier said the beads comforted him since the loss of his brother and uncle. He refuses to take them off and could be suspended again if he continues to wear them to school.

Five students at a California high school – Daniel Galli, Austin Carvalho, Matt Dariano, Dominic Maciel and Clayton Howard, wearing patriotic U.S. shirts on May 5, Cinco de Mayo, were told they must turn their T-shirts inside-out or be suspended. Assistant Principal Miguel Rodriguez told the students he did not want any fights to break out between Mexican-American students celebrating their heritage and those wearing American flags.

The boys did not comply and were taken home by their parents. Matthew Dariano is part hispanic, but considers himself an American. The boys refused to apologize for wearing the shirts.

Full story at Foxnews

The girl’s mother had signed a consent form for use of the high school clinic, assuming that covered things like an earache, a sports physical, even birth control, but not for help terminating a pregnancy. The consent form did not mention abortion or facilitating abortion. The girl was told that if she concealed it from her family, the abortion would be free of charge.

“Free of charge?” Nothing is free of charge. Someone paid for this abortion. Is this what our taxes are being used for?

T.J. Cosgrove of the King County Health Department, which administers the school-based programs, says it’s always best if parents are involved in their children’s health care, but they don’t always have a say. “At any age in the state of Washington, an individual can consent to a termination of pregnancy.”

It is beyond bizarre that a teen cannot get their ears pierced without parental consent, but an abortion? No problem. What is wrong with our country? God save us.

ABC News Story

A Jackson Mississippi high school called off their prom this year. School policy requires that senior prom dates be of the opposite sex. Rather than allow 18-year-old senior, Constance McMillen, to wear a tuxedo and bring her girlfriend to the dance, the school board decided to cancel the prom.

The ACLU filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court to force the school to hold the prom and allow McMillen to bring whomever she chooses and wear whatever she wants, arguing that banning same-sex prom dates violates McMillen’s constitutional rights.

They must be reading a different constitution than the one I have. I don’t recall reading anything in my copy about same-sex prom dates.

Mayor Paul Walker and the community of 4,000 support the school board’s decision.

“Same-sex prom dates and cross-dressing are new issues for many high schools around the country,” said Daryl Presgraves, a spokesman for GLSEN: Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network.

A bill introduced into Congress by U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D-CO, would make it illegal to discriminate against gay and lesbian school students.

The bible clearly states that homosexuality is a sin. That does not mean that we hate these people or abuse them, but there are some limits to what is acceptable at school functions. I applaud the school district for sticking to their standards and hope the ACLU and the federal government keep their nose out of something that is a local issue. No one has a “right” to a school prom.

UPDATE 3/24/2010

A federal judge ruled March 23 that the school district’s actions violated Constance McMillen’s constitutional rights opening the door for Constance to sue the school for damages.

U.S. District Judge Glen H. Davidson refused the American Civil Liberties Union’s demand to force the Itawamba County school district to put on the April 2 prom. However, he said canceling it did violate 18-year-old Constance McMillen’s rights and that he would hold a trial on the issue.

The judge noted that McMillen has been openly gay since she was in the eighth grade and that she intended to communicate a message by wearing a tuxedo and escorting a same-sex date.

“The court finds this expression and communication falls squarely within the purview of the First Amendment,” Davidson said.

She has appeared on the “The Early Show,” “The Wanda Sykes Show” and “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” to talk about how she is fighting for tolerance. DeGeneres presented her with a $30,000 college scholarship from Tonic, a digital media company.

American Family Association spoke out about the case: “This is not about speech at all, but about the homosexual agenda. It’s about the schoolyard bullies at the ACLU using an activist federal judge to force schools to normalise sexually aberrant behaviour.”

I have never seen SPR, but looked up a few reviews to see what others thought of the movie. Overall the movie received good reviews, but it was definitely considered extremely violent.

goodnewsfilmreviews.com had this to say about the level of violence:

Cautions: This is a war movie, therefore there’s plenty of brutal violence and grisly death scenes. This film particularly has vibrant battle sequences and deaths that are some of the most striking to ever be put to screen. There’s also plenty of salty language but given the subject matter, it is permissible.

Do many teens watch movies of this type and worse? Undoubtedly, however since the public schools are supported by our tax dollars, they are (or should be) accountable to the taxpayers. Concerned, conservative parents should have input into questionable material such as this. At the very least schools should notify the parents and provide the student the option of sitting out the class.

Although we homeschool, this is the school district we live in. I’m sure R-rated movies with even more questionable content are shown in schools across the country. This one hit pretty close to home though.

“Superintendent Larry Zimmerman said that he put a hold on showing any R or PG-13 movies while the district takes a closer look at its procedures, but stopped short of calling for an all-out ban, pointing out their potential educational value.”

Full Details…

The Robbins became aware of the invasion when the school’s assistant principal, Lynn Matsko, confronted Blake, accusing him of engaging in improper behavior in his home and citing as evidence a photograph from the webcam embedded in the laptop issued by the school.

State grants permitted the district to issue laptops to all 2,300 high school students. The Apple MacBook laptops have a built-in webcam with a “security feature” that can snap a picture of the operator and the screen.

Matsko later told Michael Robbins, that the district “could remotely activate the webcam contained in a student’s personal laptop . . . at any time it chose and to view and capture whatever images were in front of the webcam” without the knowledge or approval of the laptop’s users.

Big Brother is watching you!

Full details…

Gonzalez wrote “Lex was here 2/1/10″  and “I love my friends Abby and Faith.”

The girl was released after being held for several hours at the police station.

Gonzalez must perform eight hours of community service, as well as writing a book report and an essay on what she’s learned from the experience.

While I don’t endorse writing on desks and damaging public property, handcuffing and arresting a child for this is extreme and inexcusable.

Other New York City Student arrests:

2007 – Chelsea Fraser, 13, arrested for writing on her desk
2008 – Dennis Rivera, 5, handcuffed and sent to a psych ward after throwing a fit in his kindergarten class
2009 – 12-year-old sixth-grader arrested for doodling on her desk

On April 27, 2005, David Parker, of Lexington, MA was arrested and charged with “trespassing” at the Estabrook Elementary School.

This occurred during a meeting scheduled by the Principal of Estabrook, Joni Jay, to discuss the Parkers’ request that the school abide by the Massachusetts Parental Notification Law concerning curriculum involving human sexuality issues.

Parker said he met with school officials to gain those assurances and then refused to leave until he got them. Parker stayed at Estabrook School for more than two hours as officials and Lexington police urged him to leave. Finally, they arrested him for trespassing.

Parker, who refused to bail himself out of jail, said he spent the night in custody to prove a point. (The trespassing charges were later dropped.)

”I chose to stay, which I’m not sure was a wise move,” he said. ”But I wanted to see how far they would go for asking something simple.” Parker said he wanted to control ”the timing and manner” in which his son learned about ”adult themes.”

The controversy began when Parker’s son, a kindergarten student, brought home a “diversity bookbag” with several items in it. Among them was the book, ”Who’s In a Family?” by Robert Skutch showing different kinds of families, including same-sex couples.

The night before Parker’s arrest, he addressed the Lexington School Committee during their public meeting.

“Children who are successfully indoctrinated that same-sex marriage is normal and correct will eventually understand that sexual intimacy is a part of this union. Let’s not be naive about the implied human sexuality aspect of same-sex unions. Let’s be honest with ourselves. When we accept same-sex unions, we accept its implied . . . sexual intimacy. These concepts are indeed inextricably linked.”

Parker and his wife requested that the school, in the future, ensure that teachers remove their children from discussions of same-sex households.

It was explained to Parker and his wife that the policy allowing students to opt out of discussions of human sexuality was not relevant here.

Judge Mark Wolf dismissed the Parker’s federal civil rights lawsuit, stating that because Massachusetts allows same-sex “marriage,” the state has a “rational interest” in fostering its acceptance.

More than a dozen groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, the Anti-Defamation League and the Massachusetts Teachers’ Association, have backed the Lexington schools. The Supreme Court has refused to hear the Parker’s appeal.

According to Boston lawyer Daniel Avila, associate director for the Massachusetts Catholic Conference, “Parents shouldn’t have to check their moral values at the door when their kids enter the public school system. Books about same-sex coupling clearly transmit values even if they aren’t labeled sex education.”

Sources:

http://www.davidparkerfund.org

http://www.massresistance.org