Former coach sentenced to 10 years in prison for sexual assaulting student
BROOMFIELD – A former Broomfield High School teacher and wrestling coach was sentenced to ten years to life in prison for having sex with an underage student. Check out this CBS4 report.
Minnesota school district sued over alleged anti-gay bullying
Schools across the country in recent years have made a push to try to root out bullying. What once was considered common, though unpleasant, schoolyard behavior is now increasingly verboten.
Minnesota’s biggest school district is now being sued for allegedly not doing enough to prevent harassment of homosexual students in its Anoka-Hennepin School District. Read more in this Wall Street Journal blog.
Safety issues under scrutiny in high school weight training
When Boyd Epley walks into a high school to examine its strength and conditioning program, he says he often comes across a far too familiar scene where a teacher is propped back in his chair reading a newspaper while students lift weights on their own. Read more in USA Today.
New book takes on zero tolerance fervor in schools
High-tech surveillance. Metal detectors. Zero tolerance for, well, just about any bad behavior, real or overblown.
Welcome to “Lockdown High,” the title of a sweeping new book by journalist Annette Fuentes, describing how the schoolhouse has become a jailhouse and fear prevails. Read more about this book in this Associated Press book review.
Study: A quarter of parents say their child involved in cyberbullying
A quarter of parents polled by Symantec’s Norton researchers in a new study on cyberbullying said their child had been involved in a cyberbullying incident, either as a victim, bully, or witness, the company said Thursday.
The Norton survey polled 1,068 U.S. parents with children between the ages of eight and 18, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent. The poll was conducted online. Read more in PC Magazine.
Strip club operator loses high school coaching job
GOLDEN – The operator of several strip clubs in the Denver area has lost his job as a Golden High School tennis coach after he was arrested on prostitution-related charges. Check out this 7NEWS report.
Bullying and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
The issue of bullying in schools has taken center stage in the national dialogue in recent years. Bullying has been the backdrop to high-profile suicides, school violence, and increasingly urgent debates over teens/tweens and social media. At most every school in the country, bullying is a major topic of concern.
As often happens, the law has struggled to catch up to an important social issue. But with the recent, thorough and fascinating opinion by Judge Jack B. Weinstein, L.K. v. New York City Dep’t of Educ., 2011 WL 1549243 (E.D.N.Y. April 25, 2011), that may be about to change. Read more in the New York Law Journal.
About our First Person series:
First Person is where Chalkbeat features personal essays by educators, students, parents, and others trying to improve public education. Read our submission guidelines here.