Let them kill themselves off. . . .
I got an idea. . . let the dumb-asses get ran over. Why do we try to suppress nature's natural selection???
Ban Proposed On Cell Phones, iPods In Crosswalk
Ban Would Apply To Cell Phones, MP3 players, Blackberrys
NEW YORK -- A state senator from Brooklyn said on Tuesday he plans to introduce legislation that would ban people from using an MP3 player, cell phone, Blackberry or any other electronic device while crossing the street in either New York City or Buffalo.
View Images: Evolution Of The iPod NewsChannel 4 reported that Sen. Carl Kruger is proposing the ban in response to two recent pedestrian deaths in his district, including a 23-year-old man who was struck and killed last month while listening to his iPod on Avenue T and East 71st Street In Bergen Beach.
"While people are tuning into their iPods and cell phones, they're tuning out the world around them," Kruger said. The proposed law would make talking on cell phones while crossing the street a comparable offense to jaywalking. Some pedestrians said they were not worried about their safety while using their electronic devices while walking.
"I look for the light," said Venus Montes of Williamsburg. "I'm still looking," said Lance Gordon of Far Rockaway. "It's not like I'm not paying attention."
Others said the proposed ban would not work. "I don't think anyone's going to be up for this," said Patricia Lewis of Staten Island. "I don't think anyone wants this."
Other pedestrians said they thought the proposal was a good idea. "It's too dangerous," said Nicole Lake of Jersey City. "Drivers don't pay attention and pedestrians don't pay attention."
He should not have been sent home for wearing 'Gang' clothes, he should be sent home for being a Gator fan. . . .
Student Forced To Remove "Gang-Style" Gators Shirt
POSTED: 4:30 pm EST January 30, 2007
UPDATED: 9:08 am EST January 31, 2007
SAINT CLOUD, Fla. -- Two Osceola County parents said their son was humiliated at school when he was suspected of wearing "gang-style" clothing. Saint Cloud Middle School said only a handful of students were searched last week when they got a complaint.
The parents told Eyewitness News, if their son was wearing low baggy pants or a bandana, by all means he should have been sent home, but he wasn't. He was wearing a Florida Gators t-shirt.
Robert and Sara Crosby can't understand how their son could be connected to gang activity, especially by wearing a Gators t-shirt.
"Embarrassed. He was very upset. He said he kept asking the police officer if he looked like a gang member," Sara Crosby said.
The 7th grader wore blue jeans and a Gators shirt to school last week, on a day Saint Cloud Middle School just happened to be on the lookout for students donning so-called gang colors.
Sara Crosby said the school never told her about the search.
"I don't think it's fair what they're doing. The parents have no notice of what's going on," she said.
Osceola County Schools said the school doesn't have to notify parents, because it's a safety issue. A spokesperson for the school system also couldn't confirm or deny Crosby's son was searched.
Sara said her son was forced to change into his gym shirt.
"And that's what he had to wear all day," she said.
Seventh grader David Polito said he saw another student targeted for wearing a simple t-shirt.
"I have a DC [Shoes] shirt. They sent a kid home for a blue and white one like that," Polito told Eyewitness News.
The school system is downplaying the crackdown, telling Eyewitness News it's a non-issue. But, for the Crosbys, it obviously is.
"It'd be different if it wasn't a Florida Gators t-shirt. That's all it was," Sara Crosby said.
Osceola County Schools also said there is no dress code change and insists everything is back to normal now.
What excuse do we use? That's right: It's for the Children.
Know what's good for the children? Letting them be children, for starters. . .
Oh, and yes, it's in the heart of Liberal country, MA.
Tag is now out during recess at Willett Elementary School in Attleboro.So is touch football and any other unsupervised "chasing" games that are deemed to pose the risk of injury as well as liability to the school.
"It's a time when accidents can happen," said Principal Gaylene Heppe, in her second year at the helm of Willett.
Heppe included the new rule as part of a standardized set of playground rules that were not in play upon her arrival.
In doing so, she joined in a growing movement against traditional games played by young children in school gymnasiums and playgrounds. A few years ago, school administrators in the area, as well as around the country, took aim at dodgeball, saying it was an exclusionary and dangerous game. Modified versions now include softer balls and ways for children to re-enter the action.
While no district-wide policies banning contact sports at recess appear to have been put in place locally, many principals are making up new rules in an atmosphere reflecting society's increasingly cautious and litigious nature.
Elementary schools in Cheyenne, Wyo. and Spokane, Wash. banned tag at recess this year. So, too, did a suburban Charleston, S.C. school, outlawing all unsupervised contact sports.
Reasons cited by school administrators largely focused on safety; kids would get too rough or run into each other, giving rise to parent complaints and threats of lawsuits. Another reason cited was that in a free-for-all activity at recess, such as tag, some children would become unsuspecting, and unwilling, participants in the game.
A number of those same schools, however, allowed those activities with supervision during gym classes.
Some Willett School parents interviewed for this story said the new recess rules are misguided, especially with the serious issue of childhood obesity. Others said they work against children developing skills to negotiate rules and resolve disputes.
"I think that it's unfortunate that kids' lives are micromanaged and there are social skills they'll never develop on their own," said Debbie Laferriere, who has two children at Willett.
"Playing tag is just part of being a kid," she said. "Now, for children not to be able to make those decisions by themselves without interference from adults doesn't give them the opportunity to make their own choices."
Games like tag give children "social skills that transfer to later in life," she said.
Parent Christine McAndrews agreed.
"I think it's a little bit silly," she said, adding that she was not aware the rule was in place. "The kids love to play pick-up football games that they organize themselves. It's great for their social skills and they resolve things on their own. It's good for them."
"It's part of being a kid," she said.
Willett parent Celeste D'Elia, on the other hand, backed Heppe's decision. Her son, she said, feels safer and enjoys the alternatives to throwing a football around.
"I've witnessed enough near collisions" in the playground area, D'Elia said. "I support anything that makes the playground safer and helps teacher to keep track of them."
Calls to a handful of elementary schools in this area revealed that principals are dictating the rules of play at recess, but the rules differ.
David Barner, principal of Thacher Elementary School in Attleboro, said there is no outright ban on tag, touch football or other such games during recess at the school.
"We do have discussions at the beginning and throughout the school year about rules so that students play appropriately," he said.
The physical education teacher plays a large role in instructing children on how to play games, he said.
Matthew Joseph, new principal of Hyman Fine Elementary School, also said there's no prohibition of contact sports at recess. Teachers and others, however, are trying to redirect children from physical games to those that involve teamwork. There is also an effort to get children using the new playground the PTO installed and a new field. Team games, like kickball, are encouraged, he said.
Mary Brown, principal of the Solmonese Elementary School in Norton, on the other hand, doesn't consider tag a contact sport.
"We play two-hand tag on the shoulder" which is supervised, she said. "No pushing is allowed."
Tag football is also allowed for third-graders, if supervised, Brown said.
Of course, she noted, "you have to have someone out there young enough to run around with them."
George Gagnon, principal of Falls Elementary School in North Attleboro, said playground rules have swung a different direction since he started there four years ago.
Tag, touch football, soccer, "they can play all that," he said. That wasn't the case before he arrived.
Gagnon's philosophy is, "I'd rather see them running around, getting fresh air and coming back in refreshed."
He feels children are "trapped" in organized sports like football, hockey and baseball. Running around outside at recess, kids make up their own games with their own rules and resolutions, Gagnon said.
Accidents occur "every couple of days," he said. "But kids run and fall --- that's kids."
Oh, geez, c'mon!
I think he did the right thing, but went about it the wrong way. He should not have taken the gun to school, but he was simply doing the Humane Shelter a favor by saving them the euthanasia shots.
He should not be charged.
Principal May Be Charged in Cat Killings INDUS, Minn. (AP)A school principal has resigned and could face felony firearm charges after he shot and killed two orphaned kittens on school property last month.
Wade Pilloud, who resigned as principal of the K-12 Indus school, 40 miles west of International Falls, said he shot the kittens to spare them from starving to death after their mother was killed in an animal trap.
Pilloud said the shooting, which occurred on school grounds, endangered no one.
"I have bred cats, and I currently own two myself," he wrote Friday in an e-mail to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "I am not a cat hater. I did not want the animals to suffer."
The incident happened Sept. 21, and several students still on the grounds for after-school activities heard the shots.
"There were parents who felt, apparently some rather strongly, that there were concerns about the safety of their children," said Joseph Flynn, an attorney for the South Koochiching/Rainy River School District. "The district's position is that safety was not compromised."
John Mastin, acting sheriff in Koochiching County, said Pilloud could be charged with felony possession of a firearm on school property and reckless discharge of a firearm, a misdemeanor.
County Attorney Jennifer Hasbargen said Friday that the case was under review.
Mastin said the shooting put no one in danger but said Pilloud used "poor discretion and poor timing," especially amid the growing fear of gun violence in schools.
The district put Pilloud on administrative leave after the incident.
Flynn said Pilloud agreed to an undisclosed settlement and resigned.
School locked down over squirt gun
Grover Cleveland student charged for toy gunBy KATHY THOMPSON Staff Writer
ZANESVILLE - A 14-year-old eighth-grade student will be charged with disorderly conduct and inducing panic for taking a squirt gun to school.
The boy was escorted from the grounds of Grover Cleveland Middle School Monday after the "small black plastic gun" was found in his locker.
The mother of the student has voiced her distress at how her son has been treated and feels the charges are unfair.
"He's not the one that induced the panic," the mother said. "The school induced the panic when they locked the school down even after they knew the gun was a toy."
Kevin Appleman, director of student services, said the school went "immediately into lockdown for the safety of the students and teachers."
"But how is that my son's fault?" the mother asked. "They knew it was fake before they even found it. I think this is very unfair." The mother went on to explain that school officials had taken her son into the principal's office and questioned him. It was at that time the boy told authorities about the squirt gun.
Prosecutor Michael Haddox said if found guilty in juvenile court on the two misdemeanors, the boy could face up to 90 days in a juvenile lockup, receive a year of probation, pay court costs, ordered into counseling and even possibly have his driver's license suspended when he is eligible to get it.
Haddox would not comment on exactly why those two charges were filed.
The mother feels suspending her son from school for 10 days was more than enough punishment.
"He's very upset that he's not able to go back and do his work with the other students," she said. "He's also very involved in an after-school program called REACH and he's not allowed to do that."
She also said she has not heard any more from the school authorities.
"I think they need to take some responsibility in what happened," she said. "He should have told them when he first got to school and found out he had left (the squirt gun) in his jacket, but he just stuck it in his locker."
This is the third time in a month that a student has been suspended from Grover Cleveland.,
Earlier this month a seventh-grader was charged after police found a look-alike BB gun in his locker at school. The boy showed the gun to several of his friends before putting it in his locker.
That student was charged with inducing panic and possession of a look-alike firearm, both first-degree misdemeanors. He was charged with inducing panic because his actions forced school officials to lock down the school to protect students and teachers, just as in the most recent case.
Just day later another seventh-grader was escorted out of the school in handcuffs after he "went into a rage" in the assistant principal's office.
That student has been suspended, but not officially expelled as of yet, as the school officials will meet again with his parents, according to Appleman.
Principal Les Richards said these three students do not reflect the majority of the student body.
"We have a great school and a lot of good students who work hard each and everyday," Richards said. "The parents and public need to remember that."
