(1) One dead, three wounded at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, AZ. (2) Two people shot (UPDATE: one killed, one wounded) at Texas Southern University – happening now — school on lockdown; shooter on the loose. (UPDATE: 2 now in custody; 1 still being sought) Arizona and Texas have very lax gun laws. Just sayin’ Two campus shootings today, and we’re at the … Read More
New York Inmates Beat A Bunch Of Harvard Students
.… in a debate: BOSTON — Months after winning a national title, Harvard’s debate team has fallen to a group of New York inmates. The showdown took place at the Eastern New York Correctional Facility, a maximum-security prison where convicts can take courses taught by faculty from nearby Bard College, and where inmates have formed a popular debate club. Last … Read More
Failing The Bechdel Test
Know your memes, people. If you don’t know what the Bechdel Test is, this is how wikipedia describes its: The Bechdel test asks if a work of fiction features at least two women who talk to each other about something other than a man. The requirement that the two women must be named is sometimes added. The Bechdel test is … Read More
Quote Of The Day: Blind To Self Edition
From Florida, relating to efforts to ban The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime from a high school curriculum: But Sue Gee, one of the parents who complained about the book, feels that Curious Case is an affront to her faith and that its casual use of swear words would be harmful to students. “I am not interested in having … Read More
Controversial “Feminist”?
Hard to believe this actually is happening in 2015: One middle school class photo is getting a lot of attention — because of what it doesn’t include. Eighth grader Sophie Thomas wore a black t-shirt emblazoned with the word “Feminist” in silver for a recent picture day at Clermont Northeastern Middle School in Batavia, Ohio. Yet when the teen — … Read More
News That Is Not News
What? There are racists in the Oklahoma State greek system? Really? In Oklahoma? The scandal isn’t that this exists. It’s that it took a viral video for the school to actually do something about it.
Breaking: Today’s School Shooting
Marysville-Pilchuck High School in the State of Washington: 3 shot, not including the dead shooter (a student). It’s happening now, but it’ll happen somewhere else soon. UPDATE: 2 dead, including the shooter. Looking at the shooter’s Twitter account, it looks like he was distraught over a relationship: It won’t last…. It’ll never last…. — Jaylen Fryberg (@frybergj) October 23, 2014
How To Talk About Rape In High School? Censorship.
Cardinal Columns is a student newspaper at Fond du Lac High School, in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. In last month's issue, a student wrote an article entitled "The Rape Joke", a thoughful article about the rape culture that percades high schools and youth. You can read the article here. And once you do, I hope you'll agree that the student … Read More
Sex Education For Kindergarteners
Whaat???? OUTRAGE!!! NEVER!!! KERFUFFLE!!!!! Wait… maybe I should read up on the facts…. CPS [Chicago Public Schools] insists the curriculum will use language children understand and focus on topics like bullying, correct names for external body parts and the difference between appropriate and inappropriate touching. “As you identify body parts, you talk about should you be touched here or … Read More
How’s That “More Guns In Schools” Thing Going?
Insane: Arkansas state Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson (R), who is leading an effort to give guns to school personnel, accidentally shot a teacher during an “active shooter” drill earlier this year, theArkansas Democrat-Gazette reports. “The experience gave Hutchinson some pause, but he still supports giving schools the authority to decide how best to secure their campuses.” So, the lawmaker thinks it’s still … Read More
Another Creationism Story To Drive Me Crazy
HuffPo: The Springboro, Ohio, school board is currently considering a proposal that would allow the district to teach creationism, despite objections from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and local parents. The issue, which was discussed at Thursday night’s board meeting, is part of a larger proposal that would open up a variety of controversial issues for classroom discussion. According to … Read More
NC Legislature Wants To Teach Children Lies
If the Republicans in the GOP-dominated legislature get their way, students in North Carolina sex education classes will be taught that abortions are a cause of future pre-term births. You know who says that is true? Me neither. You know who says that's not true? The World Health OrganizationThe CDCThe American College of Obstetricians and GynecologistsThe American Academy of PediatriciansThe … Read More
UNC Facing Backlash For Its Treatment of Sexual Assault Victims
To mark the start of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill student paper has a message for their university over its disciplinary system, which handles sexual assault with the seriousness of a minor infraction. Since the school received national attention for threatening to expel a college sophomore who spoke publicly about her rape, later suspending the proceeding, the … Read More
Don’t Kid Yourself — There’s No GOP “Rebranding”
In fact, the culture wars are getting worse. Despite public attitudes and last year's election results, we're still seeing Republican policymakers ban abortion rights, reject marriage equality, go after contraception access, and target Planned Parenthood – and we're only three months into the year. I suppose, then, it shouldn't be too surprising that abstinence-only and sex-ed remain conservative priorities. In addition to passing some of the most restrictive … Read More
Prude Alert
From Talking Points Memo: Parents in Dietrich, Idaho, aren’t very happy with the way science teacher Tim McDaniel is teaching their children human anatomy. That is to say, they’re unhappy that he is teaching them human anatomy at all. In a formal complaint made against the 18-year Dietrich School veteran by at least four parents, McDaniel is chided for using the … Read More