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Here's a tale that will make you think maybe home schooling wouldn't be so terrible after all: A fifth-grade teacher in Queens, New York is in trouble for having her students write holiday cards to her boyfriend—who happens to be in prison and has a record of being into kiddie porn. More »
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Tennessee, the Volunteer State, has a state representative who would like to "volunteer" to tell you something really, truly dumb: if you don't want your kids to end up gay, don't let them watch Modern Family. The loving gay couple featured on the show will teach kids about The Gayness, and in turn they'll themselves become The Gayness. More »
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A proposed new law in the horrible state of Arizona would require teachers there to keep their behavior G-rated both in and out of the classroom. No, really. The law, sponsored by five Republican senators, would suspend or fire teachers if they spoke or conducted themselves in a manner contrary to FCC regulations for TV at any time. Arizona teachers, batten down your nipples— Janet Jackson style shenanigans will no longer be tolerated. More »
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There are plenty of schools that have banned kids from wearing certain kinds of clothing—everything from short skirts to baseball hats and even pajama pants—but one Virginia school district is considering taking things to the next level. The Suffolk school board has proposed banning children from "cross-gender dressing," and, as with many misguided efforts, they're saying it's meant to protect the affected children, not punish them. More »
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To celebrate Black History Month, the Dallas school district decided to take its fifth-graders to a screening of the movie Red Tails. The male ones, that is. Because girls can't be fighter pilots, or even learn about them, obviously. More »
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Last month, a Wisconsin 7th grader was suspended from the basketball team for speaking in her family's native language. Her words: "I love you." More »
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One school is giving a whole new meaning to the term "make-up class." Mount St Mary's Catholic High School in Leeds, England, is facing some harsh criticism for offering makeup lessons to its 14 and 15-year-old students. The school claims the purpose of the class is to "teach children how to make a good first impression and also boost their self-confidence," but some of the parents think it's neither the time nor the place to learn about beauty routines. More »
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When Yale University introduced gender neutral housing for seniors, it was an experiment to see what happens when people stop being polite and start getting real, and also a test to see whether male/female cohabitation might work for the general student population. And after a trial period allowing upperclassmen to live with whomever they please, the mind bendingly awful results are in: almost no one is against gender integrated housing, and more than 2/3 of students say they're interested in partaking in yearlong boy/girl sleepovers. The horror! More »
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An American girl attempting to walk to her Jewish school in Israel is subjected to daily taunting and physical intimidation so bad that she says it makes her afraid to go to school. Her tormenters aren't fellow children, but rather adult men upset by the presence of the "immodest" girls attending school in their ultra-Orthodox neighborhood. And now, the town's male residents are clashing with police and media over their the gender integration they say insults their faith. Eight-year-old girls can be such whores. More »
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So much of the discussion of rape and violence against women centers on educating girls on how to protect themselves, so it's nice to know that, at least in a few schools, educators are going out of their way to talk to boys about their role in stopping sexual violence. All this is taking place in an after-school program called Men of Strength, or MOST, that aims to teach middle school boys that "they should be allies for girls and that violence is inexcusable." More »
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In the past year people have proven that they have a truly undeniable urge to say and do stupid things on Facebook, and that includes plenty of teachers. From the elementary school teacher who made fun of a student's hairstyle on the site to a nursery school teacher fired for tricking her ex into thinking they had a daughter, educators have been disciplined, let go, or even arrested for things they posted online, even when they had little to do with their students. Now school across the country are trying to combat the problem by issuing new guidelines that ban teachers from private communications with kids via social networking sites. The intention is to protect both teachers and students, but the new rules may be punishing those who use the technology effectively rather than just a handful of idiots and sleazeballs who shouldn't be in a classroom anyway. More »
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Mouth and throat cancer have been making news lately because of their link to HPV. Now there's evidence that patients' level of education could affect their risk of dying from these diseases. More »
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A man in Virginia has pled guilty to criminal actions associated with what he says is a scholarship program. Three women received money from the man to use for educational expenses, and in return, the man got to spank them when they "misbehaved." And you thought the Miss America pageant was a dubious scholarship program. More »
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Across the country this week and next, college students are taking final exams. Quarters and semesters are coming to an end, and with that, a moment of decision for some with crushes on their professors. I know this well: each year around this time, my inbox fills up with queries from women (and, much less often, men) who want advice on whether they should ask out their instructors once the term is over. More »
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For years conservative legislators have argued that abstinence-only sex education is the best policy, because if there's one thing we know about teenagers, it's that when you tell them not to do something they listen. However, today scientists have come out with information that may come as a shock (if you like to plug your ears and rock back and forth whenever someone suggests there's a teen pregnancy problem). Researchers found that states that teach kids about contraception as well as abstinence have much lower teen birth rates than those that still insist "just say no" is cornerstone of a good sex education program. More »
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Remember this summer, when Miss America contestants were asked if evolution should be taught in our schools, and everyone except for the pinko commie blue state beauty queens responded as though they were being interviewed for the position of news anchor on Fox & Friends, hemming and hawing as though they'd been asked to describe their most recent sexual experience to their parents. (If you can get through the entire video without rolling your eyes once, you're made of stronger stuff than I). More »
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The mother of a sixth grader is irate after a Hooters waitress was invited to speak at her son's school career day, comparing the incident to a California school's decision to invite Sasha Grey to read to students. More »
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Rhett Felix, a first-year government and law teacher in Eureka, Illinois, has been suspended for six days and reassigned for showing clips of The Daily Show to high school students. The segments shown in class didn't focus on Jason Jones' vasectomy, but sexual harassment allegations against Herman Cain and the issue of health insurance discounts for exercising. Mayor Scott Punke, whose nephew was in the class, protested Felix's lesson because teens in their "conservative community" can't handle the Daily Show's dirty (and liberal) humor. He said: More »
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A teenager was recently suspended from her New Jersey middle school, allegedly for wearing a Confederate flag sweatshirt to class. Now her mom is threatening a lawsuit. The shirt isn't racist, she explains — her daughter just loves Virginia. More »
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A new study has found that over half of girls, and many boys, experience sexual harassment in middle or high school. And although some might claim that's just "kids being kids," victims suffer many ill effects. More »
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In one British County, teachers apparently have some pretty unhelpful responses to bullying. Some allegedly told victims to try "acting less gay." More »
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A Baptist university in Georgia is requiring all its employees to sign a "personal lifestyle statement" rejecting homosexuality. And if they don't, they'll be fired. More »
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Underemployed, overeducated, post-graduate sticker shock sufferers, rejoice— President Obama is going to announce a student loan plan that will allow you to pay slightly less per month and cap the amount you have to pay back per year. Someone's breaking out the Fancy Ramen tonight! More »
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Once again, parents are in an uproar about just how sexy their child's sex ed program should be. In the spring, the New York City Department of Education will begin requiring one semester of sex ed in sixth or seventh grade and another in ninth or tenth grade. The city has proposed some lessons that will give the kids practical information about sex and protection from STDs and pregnancy, but rather than discussing these topics with a licensed educator, some parents would rather have their kids schooled in the ways of love by their idiot friend Cheryl during a sleepover. More »
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Finishing school, once the realm of the tiny daughters of steel magnates training for a future in rich housewifery, is now a different animal. While finishing-school grads can still walk like non-water buffalos and clap after the opera in a way that doesn't cause mass monocle-poppings, the reason for mastering the rules of decorum has changed, and one school in Switzerland teaches its students that the road to wealth is paved with good manners. Or, maybe more accurately, the moat around existing superwealth is filled with obscure decorum rules. More »
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As a graduate of Wellesley College, I thought going to a women's college was about receiving an excellent education at an institution that's mission is to promote gender equality. Now a Wesleyan undergrad has opened my eyes to the horrors of single-sex education. How could I have failed to notice my fellow students "almost literally screaming 'Death to the Patriarchy!' all day, every day," and the "bloody tampons strewn all over the bathroom floor"? Unless of course, these are just ridiculous generalizations from someone who's unhappy with her personal experience at a women's college. More »
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After a swirling Canadian firestorm (blizzard) of controversy, the principal behind the controversial "Pray Against Abortion for Credit" push in Winnipeg's Christ the King school has been placed on paid leave. More »
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California public schools are desperately trying to figure out how to incorporate lesson plans highlighting the contributions of individuals who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender in light of July's passage of a bill requiring them to do so. More »
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Bad news, fatties. A new study from the Department of Making You Feel Bad has just released results of a new study that found that people with marriage on their mind don't want to date you. But there's a glimmer of good news among the bad: you can overcome your unlovable-ness by earning more money or going to school forever. More »
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It's not your imagination. Young women really do have to work harder than guys in order to receive equal treatment, a long-held suspicion confirmed by two recent studies. More »
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Barnard College recently angered its student body by announcing that seniors will no longer be allowed to register (and pay) for part-time enrollment in their finals semesters. This means many students have to scramble to graduate early — and pay extra for that privilege. More »
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A school committee chairman in Abington, Massachusetts — let's just call him Michael Scott — likes to open meetings with a magic trick, but now he's in trouble for a mildly risqué prank. Without consulting them beforehand, he had school committee member Ellen Killian and teacher Steven Shannon participate in trick that made it look like Killian's bra had been removed with the pull of a handkerchief. The committee chairman has apologized, and luckily the trick was only seen by about a dozen people who were at the meeting ... and whoever was watching the broadcast on cable TV (i.e. no one). More »
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After years of sexual education that willfully denies the possibility that kids are going to have sex no matter what, some schools in Texas are starting to teach curriculums that information on contraception. This is partly because it isn't as cheap to yell, "Don't do it!" to teens as one might think, and there's less federal money available for abstinence-only programs. But the bigger reason behind the shift is that people are finally facing the fact that abstinence-only programs simply don't work. More »
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School uniforms can range in glamour from the over starched bane of a student's existence to the oversexed star of a music video. In Great Britain, they're used as a tool with which girls explore their sexuality, and this is causing an ass-ache for educators. More »
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Here's a tale guaranteed to inspire you (or perhaps just make you feel lazy): Allyson Reneau left the University of Oklahoma in 1981 to get married and start a family. She told herself that she'd go back to finish her degree when her baby was five, but that didn't happen until 2009. After having 11 children, spending 20 years as a stay-at-home mom, then opening a successful gymnastics school, Reneau was finally able to return to school. For the past few years, this is what her schedule looked like: More »
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For queer students considering college acceptance letters, figuring out which campus and community will be most accepting of their sexual orientation, gender expression, or trans status can be a major and sometimes the most major factor in making their decision. Many a transfer application has been made when a student just couldn't feel safe or comfortable at their original college; truly accepting environments can be hard to come by. But Elmhurst College may be making history as the first college who's actively seeking out queer applicants instead of just accepting them — at least for a diversity scholarship that would cover up to one third of tuition. More »
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Long have advocates of the traditional family unit bemoaned the death of marriage and long have internet smart alecks made fun of their ridiculous claims that it's being destroyed by gays, divorce, or the Kardashians. While the institution of marriage is changing in America, in Asia, it's sharply growing more and more unpopular, and much of that is due to the choices of women. This has some experts alarmed. More »
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We've all heard that women outnumber men in college, and a new study may reveal one reason why: people apparently perceive college as more necessary for women than for men. More »
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A school district in Minnesota is being sued by six teens who say they were severely bullied for being gay, and the staff did nothing to help them. While school officials say they're against all bullying, they insist the school must remain "neutral" on homosexuality to avoid offending anyone in an area that's particularly divided over gay rights. Now the school's policy is drawing national attention, and not just because of the lawsuits. It happens to be located in a district represented by one of America's preeminent homophobes: Michele Bachmann. More »
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