Zero Tolerance Policies Need Revision!

Zero tolerance policies in schools first became popular in the 1980's, when they were first being used for military purposes. Zero tolerance policies are those which make violence, drugs, weapons, and sexual harassment strictly prohibited in schools. Punishment would be very severe, immediate, and with no chance for redemption or self-correction, even for the smallest infraction, ranging from long after school detentions to expulsion and mandatory attendance to rehab facilities. Schools who create and enforce these policies often have good intentions, and have the student's best interests in mind, yet the policies are often poorly planned, and lack much needed common sense. Many school zero tolerance policies make no room for exceptions, and refuse to evaluate many harmless situations.

Here are some examples in which innocent and bright schoolchildren have dealt with the wrath of their schools' zero tolerance policies:

• A 14-year old boy, whose father and stepfather were serving in the military was expelled for drawing a stick figure picture of the US military fighting the Taliban.  The drawing was seen as highly inappropriate and destructive to the learning environment.

• An 11-year old boy died at school due to a severe asthma attack because his school's zero tolerance policy regarding drugs prohibited him from possessing his inhaler on school grounds.

• A six-year old boy in the Christina School District was expelled for bringing a Cub Scouts dinner knife to school to cut his food. The school associated this small knife with rape and arson. The school later agreed to reduce the punishment for 5 and 6 year olds with such weapons to a mandatory 3-5 day suspension.

• A 13-year old girl who was a straight-A  honor roll student was expelled and required to attend a 9-week boot camp session after bringing a bottle of cherry 7-up with a few drops of alcohol to school and serving it to 11 people. The people she served it to were also expelled, half of them not knowing that the drink contained alcohol. Those who did not know had their expulsion lifted. The girl's parents were outraged, and the girl felt the punishment was much too harsh.

• A Kindergarten student was suspended for making a finger gun at school. The school thought he was armed with a dangerous weapon.

While it certainly helps to keep drugs, violence, and weapons out of schools. Administrators must learn common sense when applying these policies. They need to evaluate the situation and look at the context, and decide whether the situation is truly dangerous. Using extreme punishments for harmless situations not only destroys students' lives, but it takes attention away from students who cause real trouble.

Zero tolerance policies need not be abolished, but they require some revision and rethinking. Zero tolerance policies need to be slapped with some common sense. School administrators must put effort into evaluating the context and the severity of situations, and must not jump to quick and ineffective resolutions.

Students must be given a chance to correct their mistakes, if they are even making a mistake in the first place.

Pushing to Bring Back Segregation in Transportation: Passengers Beg Airlines for Child-Free Flights

Every day thousands of planes take off from airports across the globe.  Each plane is jam packed with a variety of passengers, who cannot seem to coexist. Each one has their angry way with each other in the thick of stagnant, bacteria ridden air and plane travel becomes quite a nightmare. Other passengers tend to moan groan when they see a child walk on board, due to the stereotypes that have lead many to believe that all children on airlines are bound to cause discomfort and disruption. Some even become so fed up at a child's slightest action, that they will resort to unnecessary physical assault upon the child. Some even file lawsuits and make the most imbecilic arguments against a child.
One woman claimed that she suffered hearing loss on a flight from New York to Australia due to a 3-year old being to loud on the plane and filed a lawsuit against the family. A 42 year old woman harshly grabbed a 3 year old boy for kicking her seat. Many unhappy passengers without children of their own have organized and begged airlines to include a child-free flight option, which would be more expensive. Others have asked for segregated seating, in which children would be seated in a separate area on the plane.
Some will cringe the second a child gets on an airplane. These people argue that any child on a plane will automatically be disruptive and inconsiderate and many have claimed to have endured countless flights where such has taken place. According to one survey, 59% of passengers surveyed supported segregated seating on planes, and as much as 20% supported child free flights and said they would pay extra.
The truth is, even if an airline created child-free flights and child seating, there would be no guarantee of a nuisance free flight. There are disruptive travelers of all kinds, including adults. Having segregated seating would be practically useless because any screaming child would still be present on the plane and perfectly audible.
Scheduling would be a nightmare, as many families enjoy traveling during the holiday season. Having segregation on planes would bring back the segregation era, of having children and adults sit in different places on the plane, a problem previously endured in the past with whites and blacks on busses. Child free flights would increase negative and false stereotypes and discrimination against children. The concept of paying extra is apalling. Is this supposed to mean that child free flights are better? Absolutely not! Chances are having a child on the plane will make no difference.
Not every child will cause disruption on a plane, and it is unfair to make such an assumption. Every child should not have to suffer for the mistakes of some of their peers, and most disruptive children learn from their mistakes on the plane after suffering consequences.

Travel is a invaluable resource, which serves many a lifetime and travel is no place for prejudice.

Free Speech 4 Students Rally - MSNBC Coverage

 Free Speech 4 Students Rally - MSNBC Coverage: "This took place in Juneau, Alaska. This student was harassed by the government simply because his age(18) and because he wa..."

The Killers Who Live Long at Large in America's Schools

Kara hated school. She would make any excuse in order to stay home. She would dump chicken noodle soup all over her designer bedspread, and she would break countless thermometers placing them against her pink fluorescent lamp. Her mother asked her why she continued to fake these illnesses. She refused to answer and went reluctantly off to her middle school. The second she walked in the door, she was bombarded with ridicule and abuse. A tall girl, Katie pushed her to the ground and stole her backpack. Other kids egged it on.
For the first two periods, she sat in the bathroom sobbing. When break came around, she sat alone with no food.
Other kids claimed that she was too spoiled, stuck up, skinny, and a honkey. because both of her parents made six figure income, she ate wisely, and she was fair skinned with blond hair and blue eyes. Throughout the rest of the day she was bullied in the hallways and in classes. When she told the teachers they simply laughed and did not believe her. When she came home that day, her mother consoled her and asked her what had happened. This happened daily. She told her, and her mother immediately called the school outraged. The school calmly agreed to sign some paper work and report the issue and that was it. The bullying still continued, and Kara's mother was simply beside herself.
 When she went to pick Kara up from an orchestra rehearsal at her school, she took her and went into the principal's office. She was immediately sat down with the principal, a few of Kara's teachers, and the safety supervisor. When both Kara and her mother brought up the issue, the school officials said, "We cannot discuss this with you.", and pushed them out. Kara's mother demanded something be done. Security led them both out. They went home. Soon the bullying reached Kara's social networking accounts. She was receiving constant cyber-bullying.
Then one day her mom came home after grocery shopping. She had gotten Kara's favorite food in order to cheer her up. She called her name. No answer, then she shouted louder. Still no answer. Then she went up to her room. The door was locked. Kara's mother busted down the door to find her daughter hanging lifeless and blue on her ceiling fan with her old karate belt. Her mother screamed in horror and took her daughter down. She called an ambulance and
gave her CPR in the meantime. When the ambulance arrived it was too late, she was pronounced dead. Kara had been bullied to death.

This is what many children and parents across America deal with daily.

A bully is a person who regularly uses verbal abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse or all three in an attempt to intimidate another person or people and get something they want from them. Bullies often choose people who have something that they envy, or who are different in some way. Bullies also look for vulnerabilities, such as low self esteem, emotional sensitivity, a hard time standing up for his or herself or a physical disadvantage such as a disability or small stature, although at times bullies pick their targets entirely at random. Any type of person can be a bully, male or female, short or tall, black or white, it does not matter. Bullies sometimes prefer to bully in large groups who overpower one or two people. Bullies seek a difference in power from their victims, bullies like to feel in charge and in control. Often times when a victim finally stands up for themselves, or a friend does so, the bully will stop, because the victim is no longer less powerful than them.
Many once thriving children have their self-esteem stripped from them due to bullying from their peers who are insecure themselves. The school is the heart of bullying. A national survey showed that 30 percent of children grades 6 to 10 had bullied or had been bullied or had been bullied at some point in their lives. 13 percent reported bullying others, 11 percent reported being bullied, and 6 percent reported having both bullied someone and having been bullied.  An I-Safe survey conducted in the 2003-2004 school for children grades 4-8 year showed that bullying occurs more often with boys than with girls. The reason. Statistics on cyber bullying are higher. 42 percent of children reported having been bullied online. 35 report having been threatened. 1 in 5 report having it happen more than once. 21 percent of kids have received mean or hurtful messages, 53 percent admit having bullied someone online, and 58 percent admit not telling a parent or teacher about being bullied.



Why has bullying continued to go on at these alarming rates in the schools?


It's because most schools expressly refuse to put a stop to it and prevent future bullying. 35 states have some sort of law passed preventing bullying. 15 states allow and do not prohibit bullying. 11 states prohibit bullying based on sexual orientation and gender identity, 4 states prevent bullying based on sexual orientation, 4 required that bullying be addressed as well as prevented, and 16 states prohibit bullying but give no specific categories of protection. Others have considered legislation, but it has failed to go into effect.

                                                    Bullying By State
Red(15 states)- Bullying is not prohibited
Navy Blue(11 states)- Bullying is prohibited based on sexual orientation and gender identity
Yellow (16 states)- Bullying is prohibited but there are no guaranteed categories of protection
Aqua(4 states)- Requires that bullying is addressed and teachers and students follow an ethical code
Turquoise(4 states)- Bullying is prohibited based on sexual orientation


Many people, including many school officials commonly share an absurd misconception that bullying is just a normal and harmless part of childhood. Many consider it a "rite of passage" or just "boys being boys". Many parents will ignore it when a child comes to them for help for bullying. Even schools in the 35 states that have laws against bullying tend to ignore it all together, or lie about their actions to prevent bullying. Many parents and students who tell school officials are pushed off and nothing gets done. Some parents even go on famous talk shows to spread awareness and hosts and experts belittle their opinions. Many times schools do not want to get involved in a bullying situation, or do not want to get involved in a lawsuit. They are either too lazy to do so, or do not want to risk their image. Some schools are afraid to intervene, or even state their bullying policies to the victim or their parents because of confidentiality issues. Why should confidentiality override student safety? Why should pure laziness override saving a student's life?
In fact, bullying severely damages self esteem and causes depression and can ultimately lead to suicide. At times the bully can kill its victims by accident, some of which is seen when sororities and fraternities recruit college students when hazing goes too far. Some victims end up permanently disabled, and many who survive bullying have emotional scars that last a lifetime. Those who are bullying already have lowered self esteem.
A survey showed that 60 percent of people who bullied others while in school ended up with at least one violent criminal conviction, some go on to lead lives as adult bullies, and many end up bullying their children. This means that more than half do not grow out of the behavior, and that there are deeper problems besides simple immaturity.
Specific environments serve as breeding grounds for bullies. For instance, a child in a home filled with anger, violence and tension may feel that violence is the only way to get what they want. Bullies may have endured traumatic experiences in which they had no control, so they may seek that control from bullying. Bullies who have neglectful parents bully as a way of getting attention. Many of those who are bullied end up becoming bullies themselves and endangering lives as well.
Bullying is a cruel and unethical practice that schools cannot afford to keep ignoring. If it continues, teen suicide rates will continue to rise, school shootings will occur more often, and overall parents and students will not feel safe inside the walls of a school. Bullying is detrimental to the learning process. A child who is bullied often cannot focus on school work for fear of their next attack. A bully who never learns how to treat others properly will do poorly in school due to a poor attitude.  One of the primary goals of a school administration should be to make the students feel welcome and safe while they are learning there. If not students will not want to go back and may seek home schooling, or even drop out.

The primary purpose of school is to provide an education in which students can use to their advantage to pursue life long goals. School is a place for learning and friendship and is not a place for cruelty and intimidation.

Shouldn't Schools be beyond this?

Protecting Children and Free Speech Online

Yes. The US government should not be sticking their nose in America's business concerning what they watch.

The Free Speech of Students: Not a Laughing Matter

   Schools serve as prisons for outspoken students.

The granted right to free speech first came about when the US Constitution was put into effect in 1789. Opinions were mixed, sporting many supporters and many opposers. Blood has been shed, many lives have been lost, many have been censored, ridiculed and punished informally. Free speech in the school at first was considered a laughing matter. People could not begin to imagine the two coinciding. Before the 1960's school was a rare opportunity and a privilege. Students were just grateful to even have an education, and fairness took a back seat. Students were thought of as inferiors(and still are), and the majority followed rules.
Many were not outspoken. Those students who were received harsh punishments not only from teachers and principals, but from peers, friends and parents as well. Even to this day, where school is an opportunity granted to nearly every American child, students are still censored and punished for their thoughts. "Offenses" can be anything from the word crap or gay, to the most degrading racial and homophobic slurs. Students are often attacked if they write, or state any controversial ideas in any way. Students in preschool and elementary school receive the strictest of censorship, and the strictest stifling of creative thought. Censorship in schools stretches across all forms of free speech including T-shirts, visual art, writing, and computer projects. A child in the 1st grade will receive more harassment for their outspokenness than a child in the 5th grade, whereas a college student will most likely be guaranteed the same rights to free speech as their parents.
Dress codes limiting which messages can be displayed on clothing , and limits of lengths of shirts and pants are universal.
In the visual arts department, you may have seen a picture hung up with nipples, breasts, genitalia, or weapons slapped tastelessly with a thick coat of white out. You may have seen stacks of confiscated laptops, and dozens of angry children lined up in the principal's office who do not belong there. School officials often have the misconception that younger children have no business knowing or speaking of thoughts which do not conform to the mentality of the christianized American society. Schools wish to prevent it's students from hearing of anything that may be controversial, and certainly do not want them speaking of it. School officials see outspoken thoughts coming from young children as "age inappropriate", and blame it on the responsibility of the parent. Thoughts which would not be given the time a day had it come from an older student or parent.
Many loving parents who want only the best for their children are wrongly accused of child abuse and their children get blackmailed, and shunned from the school community. Some school officials even go as far as to report the child exercising his or her 1st Amendment rights to CPS(Child Protective Services), or to local authorities to be arrested and prosecuted for hate crimes and repeated disorderly conduct in the classroom. Many students have appeared on the news, being harassed by their school for things as harmless as hanging their country's flag on their bike, or for refusing to partake in the US Pledge of Allegiance.
While it is rare for a child to run into legal trouble due to 1st Amendment rights, there are many   unfair decisions made by school officials, where children have to endure constant day to day harassment. Schools simply spend too much time and energy on a child who does no harm to the well being of other students, yet they simply ignore children who consistently bully others and expressly refuse to stop actual harm.
It seems as if the US government has thrown the 1st Amendment straight out the window when it concerns students. Though free speech theoretically does not exist, students should not be subject to the unharmonious end of that spectrum. When schools stifle the creativity of its students, students are taught from the time they enter that they must conform, and that their opinions are wrong, and should be corrected. They are taught that human tendencies such as sex, body parts, representing your nation, etc. that have existed for ages are morally incorrect, and inappropriate to speak or write about. And thus, children who are creative, after being stifled time and time again have their dreams crushed, and eventually have a desire to be like everybody else.
Controversial ideas should be welcomed and cherished. Schools can in fact use a student's outspokenness to their advantage for activities such as debate teams, writing competitions, etc. The controversial opinions of most students would not cause any physical harm, or emotional damage to anybody. Being offended is a completely different action which is taken by choice, and is not the same as harm and trauma. An example of harm speech would include yelling "fire" incorrectly in a movie theatre, or bullying someone to the point of suicide. Speech that does not harm, yet is offensive to many includes reference to sex, violence, or bodily functions. Speech that does not cause actual harm should be allowed. It is virtually impossible to come up with speech that does not offend at least somebody.
Students should be treated with the same respect that adults get and do not deserve to be censored-period.

A Glimpse Into The Daily Lives of Many Children

I picked up the belt. Its silver studs glistened in the bright white light, and its pink leather irritated my palms. I knew I was going to regret this later. I gripped hard with unrelenting rage.

“Bend over.” I said.

“No! I only ate a little bit.” My son said.

“Pants off! Now, Garret!”

“Please, I won’t do it again.” He said, pulling down his brown skinny jeans.

I pulled back and took my first hit. The belt slapped down loudly and my rage had instantaneously traveled through the belt and onto his skinny pale thighs as a red welt.

“Ouch!” He yelped

“You know better than this! You are going on fourteen years old!”

“Stop! Please! I’ll do anything!”

“You know better than to go through my stuff, you little bastard!!” I said, whipping him in the face. He turned back around, blood trickling from the corner of his sad blue eye.

“I’m sorry, I just thought it was a regular cookie! It was out on the counter!” He wept.

“No, you knew! I’m sick and tired of dealing with this! I pay good money! In fact, 54 dollars straight out of my wallet for that cookie. It’s high quality you know. I have to travel into the city. 54 dollars which go straight to your medical bills!” I yelled, rapidly striking him three more times, twice in the face and the third on his bare buttocks.

“I’m sorry.” He lamented loudly.

“No you’re not. You knew that was a northern lights cookie! It had a label! In plain English, in bold green letters! You knew! You just like getting on my nerves don’t you? You like getting a reaction from me! If that’s how you want to play with me, then you can just pack a little suitcase and get the hell out of my house! You’re not even my real son! I don’t need you in my life!” I screamed

“No! I swear, I thought I may have been green tea flavored! Just relax!” He screamed, tears of pain streaming down his face.

“There are no green tea cookies, you dumb little ass!” I said, spitting on him.

“I’m sorry. Please, I’ll do anything to get you to stop this right now. I’ll watch no television for a week, I’ll clean the house for a month. Just stop hurting me!” Garret screamed.

“Do you like getting heart palpitations? Do you like being paranoid? Do you like eating until you throw up? Do you like being at the hospital getting your stomach pumped?” I screamed.

“No.” He said.

“Well if you do, then you might as well keep on prowling through my stuff then, I just might have to get used to that! Because the world only revolves around Garret! Wrists out and shirt off!” I said. He reluctantly removed his shirt, and put his wrists before me. I then lashed his wrists until they gushed with blood, then I lashed his back leaving several streaks of rage. Then I wrapped the belt around his I squeezed tighter and tighter. I was so through with him, I just wanted him gone. He gasped for air. The sharp studs on the belt dug into my hand and three broke loose. My hands sweated against the hot leather and the sweat seeped into the weak spot toward the middle, and the belt snapped in half. Garret gasped for air, blue, and terrified. He ran off into his room and locked the door. I stared at my bleeding hands in terror, my rage gone; yet guilt overwhelmed me. I then walked away, holding my own tears back.

This is a short story I wrote as a character development exercise. This story symbolizes only some of the abuse children endure every day. This is what countless children in the US have to endure daily, and the government does little or nothing about it.

The Cruelty Still at Large Behind Closed Doors: The Alarming State of Corporal Punishment in the US.

Corporal punishment is defined as a physical retribution for an offense. Corporals are considered to be those of a low status, a term often used in military rankings. Corporal punishment has existed since the very beginning of human civilization, often being used in the courts, in schools, and in the home. Its first recorded incidence was in 10 BC. In ancient times Sparta was known for the harshest physical punishments, which its leaders believed to build high pain thresholds and increased willpower and perseverance.
Some countries practice judicial corporal punishment, in which criminals are tortured as their punishment. Corporal punishment in the US was at high popularity during colonial times and during the 19th and 20th centuries. Common 19th century punishments in the US included whipping, and striking the knuckles with a ruler. Common reasons included, swearing, talking back, boys playing with girls, and disruptive behavior. In the 20th century, popular methods included spanking, paddling, belts, hot-saucing, and soap in the mouth. Children are sometimes asked to choose their weapon, the parent sometimes giving them a choice of a particular belt, soap, paddle, or switch.
Popularity has largely decreased since the 1960's, yet it still has many advocates and people who practice it. Implements such as paddles, whips, switches, belts, cleats, logs and many more are universal among punishers, though many prefer to use their bare hands. Others include washing the mouth out with soap, swallowing soap, squirting hot sauce in the mouth, drinking a bottle of hot sauce, and drinking salt water until vomiting occurs.
Common anatomical targets include the buttocks, wrists, thighs, neck and even the face. Corporal punishment is often referred to as "spanking", "the swish", or "paddling".
Many parents, teachers, and care-givers prefer corporal punishment because it is quick to administer, cost-free, and straight to the point. They find it too time and money consuming to talk to the child, or pay for detention programs, school-wide lecturing programs, or character development classes. Despite the legality, many parents opt to to inflict the punishment in private, for fear of embarrassment. Another common belief is that children will not understand why their action was wrong or inconsiderate if spoken to or grounded and find that children will only refrain from undesirable action if pain is inflicted. Many believe than pain will instill fear and achieve desired results right away.
 Many commonly misinterpret religious texts as advocates for corporal punishment. Many Christians and Catholics believe that the bible instructs them to punish children in a physical way. This is a false and secular belief of some religions, often used to control its members. Many religions actually incorporate corporal punishment for children as a punishment for violation of religious rules.
Corporal punishment is entirely legal in 20 US states. Corporal punishment is most popular in the south, hence 12 southern states abusing more than 1,000 school children in the 2006-2007 school year alone. In those 20 states some school districts have banned corporal punishment. In 30 states corporal punishment is only illegal in schools, and may be practiced freely in the home. No restrictions are placed on the methods used for punishment. Corporal punishment is illegal in most of Europe, being only allowed in France and the Czech Republic, and at least being banned in schools in 17 countries. In Canada, corporal punishment is allowed, yet there are many restrictions. Only a parent or legal guardian(and nobody else) can spank their children aged 2-12 using only bare hands. Implements(paddles, whips, etc.) are strictly prohibited. Face blows and punches are unacceptable, and any punishment inflicted may not leave even the slightest mark(welts, scars, cuts, etc.) Provinces may place tighter restrictions at their discretion, and must at minimum place these restrictions on corporal punishment.

Number of students who suffered corporal punishment(2006-2007 school year) 

Orange(12 states)-1000+ students

Light Orange(8 states)-less than 1000 students

Yellow(30 states)-Banned

Corporal Punishment Legality in Europe

Green(18 countries)-Corporal Punishment is Prohibited in both the schools and the home

Blue(17 countries)-Corporal punishment is prohibited in schools only

Red(2 countries) Corporal punishment is allowed

Legality in the United States.
Red(20 states)-Corporal punishment is completely allowed in both schools and homes, yet some school districts ban use. 

Blue(30 states)-Corporal punishment is not allowed in schools, yet may be used freely in the home.

The US department of Health and Human services reports that annually, an average of 142,000 children are seriously injured from corporal punishment. 18,000 are permanently disabled, and between 1 and 2,000 children each year die from corporal punishment alone. 70% of CPS(Child Protective Services) cases stem from corporal punishment, 41% percent of testifying parents say that they were just "disciplining" their children, and that they "accidentally" killed them, and some are proven not guilty. 99% of prison inmates have been subject to some form of corporal punishment at some point in their lives.

Studies show that 50% children who are physically punished grow into aggressive adults. They are taught that violence is the only way to get what they want, and that violence is the only way to resolve conflicts. Many people that were physically punished as children end up repeating the cycle of domestic abuse with their own children.

Corporal punishment has been shown to lower self-esteem, and is detrimental to the intimacy, love, and warmth of the relationship between parent and child. It causes the child to have a lack of trust and confidence in the parent, making the child afraid to come to the parent for help, ask questions, or trust them.
How is it that so many believe that criminals should not be tortured, yet they openly believe in corporal punishment when it concerns children? How is it that many parents who were abused as children fail to remember the pain it caused them, and openly abuse their own children?

Corporal punishment does not teach children to behave out of genuine interest and reason to do so, instead it causes children to behave out of fear that they will be hurt, and thus they do not learn the real reasons why they should behave, and end up "misbehaving" once they leave their parents. 

Though the physical damage may be temporary, corporal punishment leaves lasting emotional scars that can never be erased.

Corporal punishment is a cruel abuse of power, and a violation of human rights. It is a punishment in which no human deserves and should ever be forced to endure. Children are no exception.

No person, not even a parent or a teacher should have the right to lay hands on a child other than in a caring and affectionate way. Parental guidance should be composed of caring, kindness, patience, enlightenment, and instruction, and not cruelty, humiliation, fear, pain, trauma and rage.

Why have we failed to realize cruelty when we see it?

An Age Limit on Trick-or-Treating: An Appalling New Law Sweeping Across the US

Trick-or-treating began in medieval times, when people went around begging for treats in exchange for praying for the dead of the household, others also engaged in tricks, which often included vandalism or other undesired activities. Later on, in the 19th and 20th centuries, Halloween and trick-or-treating became less about vandalism, and prayer, and more about spending quality time with friends, and politely traveling in costume door to door asking for a variety of things,  including toothpaste, candy, baked goods, drinks, etc. Those who trick in modern times are subject to penalties.
Since medieval times, Halloween, formerly Dia Delos Muertos has been a holiday freely celebrated by a wide variety of people- That's beginning to change though,
Several US cities have passed an ordinance placing an age limit on trick-or-treaters. The limit is usually around 12, prohibiting any person 13 or older from participating in the holiday spirit. Some cities have the limit at when a person enters middle school or high school. Bellville, Illinois has it set at 12 as of 2008 after the proposal by mayor Mark Eckhart after unnecessary complaints by senior citizens and single mothers, driven by the fact that his own father prohibited him from trick-or-treating past middle school.
 Other cities include Richmond, VA, Meridian, Miss., Bishopville, SC, and Boonsboro, MD. Police are cracking down hard every year, and any teens or adults caught in the act can face penalties ranging from a simple warning, a fine from $100 to $1000, or even several months of jail time. Other cities that do not place complete ban on teen trick-or-treating have certain regulations set on costume attire. Dublin, Georgia prohibits the wearing of identity-concealing masks, hoods, sunglasses, makeup, or any other identity concealing apparel by any person 16 and over.

Here are some reasons why these laws are ineffective and an utter violation of human rights:

• It robs many people of the right to engage in traditional celebrations as they please:

 People of all types should have the freedom to celebrate any holiday as they wish, especially if it poses no harm to anybody. This should not be restricted by age, and city officials should simply mind their own business when it comes to such matters and worry about more important issues.

• It will be detrimental to costume businesses in such cities:

Many small businesses will lose tons of loyal customers. Many businesses that paid good money to buy larger sized costumes wholesale, or spent their valuable time hand making them will have wasted money, and customers will be primarily limited to children 12 and under. Plus, large costumes require more material and more money, so stores will be stuck selling cheap, small costumes. Stores will also be limited on the sorts of costumes sold, since some are more popular among the younger crowd than others. This is especially detrimental to costume businesses that do not operate year-round and use Halloween as their time for profit gains.

• Seniors, and others frightened by large people in costumes can shut their doors and turn their porch lights out:

If people do not wish to hand out candy, they can make that clear by posting signs on their door, turning their porch lights out, and leaving their door locked. Those frightened by teens and adults in costumes should not be surprised if one shows up while they are handing out treats.

• Cops make many mistakes when attempting to distinguish those over 12 and those under 12:

Since people come in many different sizes, cops are bound to make mistakes. Many children who hit puberty at an early age, or are simply taller, or more mature than their peers will be subject to unwanted questioning. Parents, older siblings and other relatives supervising their children or younger sibling while trick-or-treating will be unfairly interrogated as well. Also, many teens and young adults can appear to be under 12 with a short stature, and a large, bulky costume, and will often go unquestioned by police, making the law ineffective in the first place.

• Teens and adults will just trick-or-treat anyway:

Many teens and adults will just ignore the law and trick-or-treat anyway. They will find ways to appear younger than they are and bypass police questioning.

• Teens and adults were doing no wrong in the first place:

Many teens and adults who trick-or-treat are simply roaming the streets in a harmless and polite fashion and are being unfairly punished for something that should not even be considered a crime. They are being punished simply for celebrating a holiday and expressing their creativity.

• If adults can drink alcohol, vote, die for their nation, enter a legally binding contract, purchase pornography, purchase cigarettes, and if teens can drive, pay taxes, work, and be tried as an adult in court, then why can't they trick-or-treat?

If adults and  are seen so responsible by the government, if they are given lots of civil freedom, then why are they unable to celebrate a holiday as they please? If teens are subject to some adult responsibilities, and they are already seen as troublemakers by the law, why not give them a break? If all other major civil responsibilities are granted and expected then why is the simple act of asking for candy a crime? Many adults and teens lead stressful lives, playing their role as a mature US citizen and should have the right to let some of the steam off.


Don't you think everyone can enjoy the Halloween spirit?

Caught In the Middle: The Dishonorable Divorce Courts of America

The papers are served and the battle begins. Two parents who were not meant to be nervously inform their child of their heartbreaking rift agreed upon. Soon its off to court , which when between two fit parents includes the negotiation of child custody and alimony. The parents and at times the children too present their case before a judge and the judge makes the final call on which parent is given custody over the child, or what schedule is to be followed in cases of joint physical custody. Often times multiple factors determine the decision of the judge, such as state legislation, federal legislation, the wishes of the parents, the financial stability of each parent, the moral fitness of each parent, and child preferences. Based on these factors, the judge makes the decision based on what he or she perceives as "the best interests of the child". Often times, child preference is treated as the most trivial factor in creating a suitable parental plan, and deciding custodial possession. There are several methods to obtaining child preference, either through a private indirect interview, testifying on the witness stand, or being directly interrogated with one or both parents present. Children are legally deprived of the right to have a definite decision in the divorce proceedings, so what influence a child has is at the discretion of the judge.Some general rules of thumb many judges follow when determining the weight of child preference include:The age of the child.This is the biggest influence for the vast majority of judges. Children younger than 7 or 8 are often deemed to young to even have a preference, or weigh out the reasoning behind their preferences and their opinions are therefore not taken into consideration whatsoever. The preferences of children 8-11 are taken as trivial influence, and at around 12-14 years of age, their preference is taken as a major influence- often being the determining factor of parental planning, due to the judicial assumption that older children can easily run away from a parent they do not wish to live with. Some states set laws in which all judges must follow in terms of the age in which a child can have an influence. In some states child preference is not taken into consideration at all no matter the age of the child, and in some states an nonnegotiable age limit is set. For instance, in the state of Georgia it is 14.The validity of preferences.When children bring their preferences to a judge, they are always questioned, and children are required to explain their logical reasoning for having such preferences. The judge may decide at any point that the reasons are invalid and ignore them. The preferences of older children tend to be taken more leniently,where as the preferences of younger children are more thoroughly interrogated.Parental influence.Children's preferences are often examined for contamination with parental influence, and the preference is ignored if it shows signs of parental influence.
SiblingsAn effort is generally made to keep all siblings in the same household. Older siblings usually have more influence in the determination of where the others are to live.
Day by day, hundreds of American families are torn apart. Countless children are placed in the dead center of raging parents and ignorant judges. Their voices taken with a mere grain of salt by parents, and ultimately by the judge, and state legislations. Every day, countless children are left miserable screaming for help, unheard as they ride on the rocky roller coaster of an atrocious divorce. Already miserable children have the misery magnified, when they are blind-sighted, and when they are given so say in their future. When children are involved in divorce, they are treated as objects to be split and traded, rather than human  beings just as affected by the outcome as their parents, allowing parents and the courts to treat children as pawns and not human beings in a stressful situation. Custody is often times allowed to become a war over "possessions", rather than a peaceful negotiation between parents and children.Why are children treated as mere material possessions? Why are legislations continuing to practice such injustices in the name of family divorce?Shouldn't children have a say?

Lower the Drinking Age..Join The Movement

This is another great argument on why US alcohol laws and youth prohibition have been a failure from the start!

A Shocking Experience at the Glendale Americana

On October 9th 2010, I went with a few friends to the Glendale Americana to see the new hit movie, The Social Network. We met up at around 1:30 PM, got a few snacks at the Starbucks inside Barnes and Noble, and then headed off to see the movie. From the time we hit the concession stand, our peaceful and fun time together quickly turned into a time of harassment and discrimination. As we waited in line, we each stood in a different line to see which one moved faster. When one friend got to the front of the line, we all moved over to order at the same time. The woman directly behind scowled at us and said in a harsh angry tone, "That is not okay. I have been waiting here for so long." We argued that we had been here first, but we were pushed to the back of the line, all because we were adolescents. This spot saving method is one I have witnessed in many adults, being practiced with no complaint or question. Adults are simply respected when waiting in line, and children are simply not. If we had been adults waiting in that same line, chances are, the woman would not have uttered a word.

Then as we headed inside the theater after we had to wait horrendously long to purchase popcorn, candy, and drinks, a supervisor is in the hallway arguing with one friend, because he thought he had touched the screen when he swore he didn't! He nearly removed all of us who paid decent money to see the movie for something one person did not even do! If this had been an adult, or if a parent had been present, all of that unnecessary interrogation and harassment would have been avoided. Only after much persuasion were we allowed back in. After the movie had ended, we hit the restrooms walked outside, and stood in the playground area between two kiosks. As we were discussing what to do next, a tall, young, hispanic security guard approached us. He immediately said, "Hello, how are you doing today? Well, I'm here to make you aware of our policy here at the Americana that you must be shopping at all times. When you come here, we want everyone to shop."

One of us then said, "We just saw a movie though."

The security guard then replied, "But when you come out, you have to begin shopping immediately, and when you get movie tickets, you must head straight into the theatre, no walking around beforehand! And by the way, all minors have to be out of here by 10:00."

We then replied, "Were just figuring out what to do."

The security guard then said, "Well, okay, as long as you get shopping soon." and then walked off.

This security guard clearly harassed us entirely because of our age.

All youth deserve the same respect as adults when in public. It's that simple. They should be able to enjoy time with friends and by themselves without unnecessary harassment, questioning, ridicule or interrogation.

CARU-The Most Insulting Advertising in the US

In 1974 the NARC(National Advertising Review Council) established the Children's Advertising Review Unit (CARU) part of the Council of Better Business Bureaus(CBBB) in order to enforce "responsible children's advertising". CARU is based on the core belief that children under 12 have not yet acquired the cognitive capabilities necessary to effectively evaluate the credibility of an advertisement. CARU believes that children under 12 are more vulnerable to advertising than adolescents and adults and therefore require special advertising regulations. CARU is composed mainly of parents, child development specialists, child mental health specialists, psychologists, and psychiatrists. Advertisers must adhere to stringent guidelines when targeting their advertising to children. Complaints are issued by CARU and parents are encouraged to be on the look out for "irresponsible children's advertising" and voice their complaints to CARU where necessary.
 Regulations require that advertising is not misleading, does not pressure purchase, and that it uses simplified vocabulary otherwise known as baby-talk, or child directed speech. CARU also requires that advertisers air their advertisements on appropriate stations and at specific times during children's programming. Ads containing characters adjacent  the programming taking place must air either after the show is over, or must clearly state that it is indeed an advertisement.
 Ads targeting children must air during children's programming, and ads not targeting children must not. Ads must depict realistic product performance, must properly depict adult supervision, and children must not appear using products that are labeled "keep out of reach of children". Advertisers that are out of compliance are first issued a warning and are given a chance to modify their ads and comply in their future advertising. If this is not done, ads are removed from the air, and advertisers are subject to long and grueling court battles.
Many companies have been unfairly confronted about their child-directed advertisements.
Many ads which inflict no harm on a child's well being are subject to ridicule and unnecessary modifications.
Such instances include J&J's Listerine Smart Rinse ad which aired during Dora the Explorer. Advertisers were subject to ridicule as CARU found this ad "inappropriate for children" due to its  "Keep out of Reach of Children" label. J&J found the proposal absurd, and an unnecessary battle occurred. Many stations have been confronted for airing trailers for movies rated PG-13 during children's programming. CARU is not only invasive to the rights of advertisers and TV stations, it is simply insulting to the children. CARU underestimates the overall intelligence, maturity, and skepticism of children, and promotes a false and insulting image of children throughout the United States. Children are no more vulnerable to deceptive advertising than are adults. Children and adults alike have the same potential to be deceived. Children often mock and question advertisements, ignore them all together, or think before purchasing, or having their parents purchase.
 Children can sense misleading ads when they see them and treat them with skepticism. Children often do not take ads at face value at first sight and can often distinguish between advertising and programming. Advertising does not influence whether children will handle the product correctly, and children do not think about how it was advertised when judging the proper usage advertised products. Many children of today's society hardly even view commercials at all. Children will often fast-forward through commercials to continue watching the desired programming, meaning that advertising is missed almost entirely and is almost never taken seriously! Why impose severe, unrealistic, and falsely based guidelines. Children's advertising should be treated just as the rest, and should be handled no differently.

Free Speech

Curfews: Violating Basic Liberties

Child curfews are laws requiring youth below a certain age to either return home, or leave the streets between certain hours of the night and day. Youth who are simply on the streets late at night are swept off by police officers and often taken to police stations and issued warnings. Youth are often arrested simply for being present in public during the night  without causing any disruptions. Young adults who are mistaken for children are arrested, even when they are legally capable of public presence in the night. Many perfectly behaved, polite, and responsible children are arrested in vain for their harmless public presence simply because of the time they were born. Curfew laws fall identical to the Jim-Crow laws, or sundown laws which limited what hours blacks were allowed  in public places and on the streets. Now children are the target of such unfair prejudices.

Child curfews laws were enacted in the 1980's  in an attempt to lower youth crime has unnecessarily punished many youth who simply roam the streets in a non-disruptive fashion. Curfew laws are not federal, many states and cities have varying curfew times and ages. Some cities even enforce daytime curfews, which generally cover school hours and at times immediately after school. Curfew laws have done nothing to lower teen crime rates as many parents and policy supporters have claimed. Children continue to commit crime in the hours that they are allowed outside their homes and those who commit crimes against youth do the same. 

Curfews simply are not an effective way to deal with crime. Curfew laws continue to punish many very polite and respectful youth who should enjoy the right to liberty and their privileges as a United States citizen under the 14th amendment should which should not be violated or undermined due to age. Children should be able to decide when they are on the streets as they wish. Child curfew laws are clearly unconstitutional. They violate 14th amendment rights, making children treated as the lesser as US citizens. Youth should be taught responsibility,  and instead of restricted, allowed to exercise that responsibility with liberty when in public.

Top Six Reasons Graded Schooling is Failing Students

Graded schooling is a system based on grouping students into several grade levels based on approximate ages. Traditional public schools in the United States will organize students into four standard categories based on age, pre-school from ages 2-4, elementary school for ages 4-11, middle school for ages 11-14, and high school ages 14-18 with many sub-levels for each approximate year of age. For instance, most 6 and 7-year olds will be in the 1st grade. Graded schooling has existed in the United States since the 19th century, being introduced between 1848 and 1870.



1. Graded schooling is one-size-fits-all.

Graded schooling offers no flexibility. Students of a certain age are all placed in on classroom at a given school. Gifted and high-performing students often feel neglected, bored, and under-stimulated, making them loose their enthusiasm for school early on and often find themselves unable to relate socially to peers. Slower students often find themselves unable to keep up with their chronologically similar friends and end up feeling unintelligent and worthless and many students find themselves strong in one subject and weaker in another, in which the one-size-fits all nature of graded schooling leads to inappropriate placement in both areas. No two students of the same age are alike, and forcing a large number of approximately aged students into one or two classrooms is highly unfair, and detrimental to the learning process.



2. Graded schooling creates severe social segregation.


Graded schooling often influences social segregation among peers. Grades often play a huge role in who a student chooses to befriend. Students often stay within a narrow age grouping often only befriending children in their own grade, or no more than one to two grade levels above or below them. Graded schooling makes many older students feel superior and entitled to pick on younger students. Students become more arrogant when amongst younger peers as they become older. In most high-schools, seniors often engage in group bullying rituals that they perform on incoming freshmen,  in elementary schools fifth-graders feel entitled to authority over those in kindergarten. Students who try to join cliques outside a narrow age range are often rejected and ridiculed simply because of age and grade level.


3. Graded schooling creates many stereotypes.


Students are often initially judged by their grade level. Many false assumptions are often made about the cognitive and judgement capabilities of students in a certain grade level. Knowledge is often under or overestimated. Stereotypes and assumptions about a students personal interests and personal qualities are often made based on grade when every student is different. Many people tend to think of high-schoolers as sex crazed party-animals and troublemakers, while they also think of many pre-school students as irrational beings. High school students are often assumed to have more knowledge and maturity over middle-school students, when in many cases such is false.


4. Graded schooling has influenced many extra-curricular groups, summer camps, and private instructors to do the same.


Many summer camps will also categorize their sessions by age. This is a disadvantage to many students who are challenged planning wise with only one age-specified session, and many who attend summer camps have to hound and pester camp directors to allow them to attend a younger or older session. Many private instrumental instructors will often tailor their instruction to specific age categories, rather than the students abilities or learning speed and many child-prodigies and music students who progress above an average rate are troubled with teachers due to grade level. Extra-curricular groups will often limit participation above or below a certain grade level, resulting in many unhappy customers.

5. Graded schooling causes lots of unneeded stress.
  
With graded schooling, students and teachers alike have to stress over target curriculum, and cramming it all into a certain time period. Teachers and students have to worry about grade level assessments. Students have to worry about skipping grades, and if they are going to pass to the next grade at all. Students are forced to compare themselves to grade level standards and are looked down upon if they are not met. Parents, siblings and other relatives often stress over the same matters.



6. Graded schooling limits opportunities.


Adults who were not blessed with a formal education as children often struggle with the pursuit of one, often being unable to attend past a certain age, having to revert to online courses which miss the school social experience and do not properly meet many peoples academic needs. Gifted students who could have excelled, and been granted many great opportunities often miss out and have their talents go unrecognized. Slower students who could have just stayed behind in one area are forced to repeat an entire year or more often due to one weak subject, and are held back both socially or mentally.

Graded schooling has always been useless, unfair and detrimental. If students are to ever obtain success in their learning experience it will be when graded schooling is eliminated.

Ageism: Not Just the Elderly-Racism and Sexism's Evil Triplet

Ageism is defined by the prejudice, stereotyping, or hate against a certain age group. It is commonly recognized, treated as taboo, and disdained when it concerns the elderly. When a person shows prejudice toward a senior citizen, others are quick to shun the offender, and instantaneously become offended. ADEA(Age Discrimination Employment Act) passed December 15, 1967 prevents employers from discriminating against people over 40, and it prevents employers from setting a retirement age. Racial segregation was banned in the 1960's during Martin Luther King's time, and many sports and occupations recently opened their doors to women. Dictionary.com even defines ageism as

"1. discrimination against persons of a certain age group, and 2. a tendency to regard older persons as debilitated, unworthy of attention, or unsuitable for employment."


While all this is wonderful-what about youth? To many people, discriminating against youth goes completely unrecognized and is a socially and legally accepted day to day component of everyone's life. Schools go on day by day segregating it's children by approximate ages, employers will happily refuse many young workers before even getting a peek at their resume, or meeting them in person. Parents treat younger siblings different than their elders, and speech is often filtered and simplified around toddlers and the list goes on. Many people go their entire lives practicing such discrimination without their blatant prejudice even crossing their mind. If you happen to confront someone about their day-to-day ageism practices, most will argue that it is not discrimination at all, or that its just what you are supposed to do, yet they will say that it is wrong to discriminate against the elderly and that it is wrong to practice racism or sexism. Many people are hypocritical when it comes to this. They will say that ageism is wrong, yet practice it daily. Ageism against the young is widely accepted both ethically and legally-and its even supported.

The truth is, ageism against youth is just as harmful and hurtful as it is to the elderly. It is just as harmful and degrading as racism and sexism. Many youth from the minute they are born are bombarded and overwhelmed with prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination. Most children grow up being treated as inferiors, as lesser beings by both their parents, older siblings peers, and most of all the government. They are often pressured as pre-teens and adolescents to treat younger children this way, being shunned and looked down upon if they fail to do so, and are treated the same way by adults. When they reach adulthood, the vicious cycle continues.
Many adults who endured discrimination as youth forget how it felt, blindly accept it, and repeat these practices with their children and any other children they may encounter throughout the rest of their lives. Many adults and children too support government sponsored ageism blindly and fail to see the wrong in it. They look down on many youth advocates, youth rights protesters, or people who simply defend children in day-to-day social situations.

- Ageism today was racial segregation six decades ago, and slavery before the civil war- Just as widespread and accepted as racism was in the past, and just as deadly.

Top Five Reasons Why COPPA Fails

COPPA otherwise known as the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act is a law passed in 1998 by the Federal Trade Commission forcing website operators marketing their sites to children under 13 in any way to place restrictions on collection of personally identifiable information from such children. COPPA requires all children under 13 to have verifiable and valid parental consent when submitting PII(personally identifying information) and if the parents consent they can alter the child's information and revoke the consent at their discretion. Fail to comply with COPPA can result in heavy fines to operators reaching up to $1,000,000 dollars.



1. Parents get unlimited access to their child's online account.


Allowing parents unlimited access to their child's information is clearly a violation of privacy. Allowing parents to modify the information is even worse, because is strips children of the privacy to deserve. Children should portray themselves on line however they wish. Parents should not be allowed to deactivate their child's online accounts and parents should be strictly forbidden from accessing their children's online accounts in the first place. COPPA encourages parents to hack into their children's accounts and monitor them often without their child's knowledge. What COPPA encourages would otherwise be considered hacking in any other case.


2.COPPA does nothing to prevent predators and hackers from attaining a child's information.

It only requires parental permission when a child provides PII to a website operator. COPPA takes no steps to ensure that the information is kept safe from spyware, malware, or online predators. In fact it enforces invasive monitoring by the parent.

3. Many websites go overboard.

The majority of websites that collect PII find it too tedious to obtain parental permission and therefore they restrict under 13's all together from registering on their websites. Such websites enforce harsh and degrading TOU's of privacy policies to make their laziness clear. A prime example of this is Justin.tv. Its privacy policy states:

"If you are under 13 years of age, then do not access the JUSTIN.TV PLATFORM AT ANY TIME OR IN ANY MANNER. Protecting the privacy of the young is especially important to us. For that reason Justin.tv does not knowingly collect or maintain personally identifiable information from children under 13."-Justin.tv Privacy Policy.

This harsh, insulting and discriminatory statement goes far beyond what is required of COPPA. It restricts out of pure laziness, and misinterprets what COPPA is.

4. Why children under 13?

The FTC has the belief that children under 13 cannot understand the provisions of online judgement and therefore requires parents with assumed "better judgement" to maintain a child's information, when in fact, children are just as aware if not more online than their parents. Children today have a vast pool of knowledge about the internet and know its dangers. Most children know more than their parents who are not of the technology generation about the internet.


5. Kids can easily bypass age screening mechanisms.

COPPA is really useless in its misguided principles, and cannot be properly enforced, because kids can so easily lie about their age, and there is no foolproof way for websites to screen the age of its visitors and kids usually expect restrictions.