| Newspapers; 3/25/06 | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Mar 25 2006, 07:17 AM (165 Views) | |
| NFarquharson | Mar 25 2006, 07:17 AM Post #1 |
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From the Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...HOOLS/603250438 Saturday, March 25, 2006 Putting parents in their place: Outside class Schools swap strategies on handling intrusive, micromanaging parents Valerie Strauss / The Washington Post How moms and dads can hurt a school Everyone knows the type: The parent who stands up at the PTA meeting, master of the arena, and says, "I believe I speak for everyone when I say ... " They aren't speaking for everyone, of course, but just about no one will directly challenge them. They will, however, be the subject of gossip after the meeting. Those are the adults whom educator and author Rosalind Wiseman calls "queen bee moms" and "kingpin dads," the powerful parents who seem to soak up all the air at school meetings, try to set the agenda for the school community and seem to always get their way. Wiseman, co-founder of the Empower Program, a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating teen-agers about violence, says the dynamic between these parents and the less assertive ones who won't challenge them is complicating school communities and sending bad messages to children about conflict resolution and about how to stand up to an unfair power system. "Parents are as impacted by the culture, which is really peer pressure, as teen-agers are, but we don't like to admit it because we are supposed to be beyond it," Wiseman said. "It is embarrassing to be in your forties and admit you are acting like you are 12." Wiseman, who has just published a book about the interaction of parents titled "Queen Bee Moms & Kingpin Dads," said she sees all kinds of involvement by parents in their children's school lives but doesn't see enough "sane" behavior. Parents, she said, would do well to stop worrying so much about whether they "fit in" at back-to-school night or what people will think about them if they alert another parent about their child's poor behavior. "It's paralyzing for kids to see their parents not be willing to take these kinds of risks themselves," she said. "The danger for schools is that little tiny things get blown up into big things and the climate is affected." Millennial generation traits Those born after 1982 can have overly involved parents. Some of this generation's common traits: -- Sheltered -- Confident -- Team-oriented -- Conventional -- Pressured -- Achieving Source: LifeCourse Associates They are needy, overanxious and sometimes plain pesky -- and schools at every level are trying to find ways to deal with them. No, not students. Parents -- specifically parents of today's "millennial generation" who, many educators are discovering, can't let their kids go. They text message their children in middle school, use the cellphone like an umbilical cord to Harvard Yard and have no compunction about marching into kindergarten class and screaming at a teacher about a grade. To handle the modern breed of micromanaging parent, educators are devising programs to help them separate from their kids -- and they are taking a harder line on especially intrusive parents. At seminars, such as one in Phoenix last year titled "Managing Millennial Parents," they swap strategies on how to handle the "hovercrafts" or "helicopter parents," so dubbed because of a propensity to swoop in at the slightest crisis. Educators worry not only about how their school climates are affected by intrusive parents trying to set their own agendas but also about the ability of young people to become independent. "As a child gets older, it is a real problem for a parent to work against their child's independent thought and action, and it is happening more often," said Ron Goldblatt, executive director of the Association of Independent Maryland Schools. "Many young adults entering college have the academic skills they will need to succeed but are somewhat lacking in life skills like self-reliance, sharing and conflict resolution," said Linda Walter, an administrator at Seton Hall University in New Jersey and co-chairman of the family portion of new-student orientation. Educators say the shift in parental engagement coincides with the rise of the millennial generation, kids born after 1982. "They have been the most protected and programmed children ever -- car seats and safety helmets, play groups and soccer leagues, cellphones and e-mail," said Mark McCarthy, assistant vice president and dean of student development at Marquette University in Milwaukee. "The parents of this generation are used to close and constant contact with their children and vice versa." Academics say many baby boomer parents have become hyperinvolved in their children's lives for numerous reasons. There is the desire to protect youngsters from a tougher and more competitive culture. And there is the symbolic value of children. "It was just about 20 years ago that we started seeing those yellow 'Baby on Board' signs in cars, which arguably had little to do with safety and a lot to do with publicly announcing one's new status as a parent," said Donald Pollock, chairman of the Department of Anthropology at the State University of New York at Buffalo. "I imagine that parents who displayed those 'Baby on Board' signs are the ones who are now intruding themselves into the college experience of those poor babies 18 years later," he said. "There are a lot of things I can't control," said one Bethesda, Md., mother who asked not to be identified because, she said, her daughter would be mortified. "Terrorists, the environment. But I can control how my daughter spends her day." Teachers and principals in the early grades began noticing changes in parents in the 1990s. Parents began spending more time in classrooms. Then they began calling teachers frequently. Then came e-mails, text messages -- sometimes both at once. Today schools are trying to figure out how to take back a measure of control. Some parents who once had unlimited access to classrooms or school hallways are being kicked out, principals say. Teachers are refusing to meet with parents they consider abusive, some say. A number of private schools have added language in their enrollment contracts and handbooks warning that a student can be asked to leave as a result of a parent's behavior. Some have tossed out children because their parents became too difficult to work with. College officials say they, too, are trying to find ways to handle ubiquitous parents. Freshmen orientations incorporate lessons for parents on how to separate and let their children make their own hair appointments. At Colgate University in Hamilton, N.Y., for example, administrators issue parents the university's philosophy on self-reliance when they drop off their children, spokeswoman Caroline Jenkins said. Colgate administrators also send out a memo to department heads at the beginning of each semester reiterating that "we will not solve problems for students because it robs students of an opportunity to learn." The Parent Program at Alma College in Michigan takes a comprehensive approach at orientation, complete with scripts that allow parents to role-play. A problem is presented and parents are asked, "Tell me what you've done already to solve this problem," said Patricia Chase, director of student development. The answer often should be nothing, but inevitably parents offer lots of somethings. "Our aim is not to tell parents to let go completely because, of course, parents want to be an integral part of their children's entire lives," said Walter of Seton Hall, where orientation includes sessions for parents and students -- both separately and together. "Rather, it is to discuss how to be involved in their children's lives, while allowing their children to learn the life skills they will need to succeed in college and beyond." __________________________________________ http://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...40/1026/SCHOOLS Saturday, March 25, 2006 Former coach charged in assault of then-16 swimmer He is charged with seven counts involving Birmingham Seaholm student in 2003 Mike Martindale / The Detroit News BIRMINGHAM -- A longtime teacher and championship swim team coach at Birmingham Seaholm High School was charged Friday with seven counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a 16-year-old student in 2003. Dennis Michael Carter, 52, of Ferndale, was arraigned on charges in district courts in Royal Oak, Troy and Bloomfield Township, according to Birmingham Police Commander John Van Gorder. The alleged offenses occurred with a girl, since graduated from the school, when she was a high school sophomore and member of the team in 2003, he said. "The alleged incidents all took place over several months between 2003 and early 2004," said Van Gorder. "The girl was on the swim team and said she broke off their relationship. A few years later, this has still bothered her and she felt she should come forward." The sexual contacts allegedly occurred in motel rooms and inside a van in Royal Oak, Troy and Birmingham, he said, necessitating the arraignments in the court jurisdictions of alleged offense. Carter resigned his job at Seaholm this month after being interviewed by police. On Friday, he showed up in court, as arranged, with attorney Mitchell Ribitwer. "This involves multiple charges and courts and at this time we have no comment," said Ribitwer. Judges released him on $50,000 personal bond in both Troy and Royal Oak courts and $10,000, 10 percent in Bloomfield District Court He will appear for a preliminary exam in Royal Oak on April 6, Troy on April 7 and Bloomfield Township on April 10. The offense is a felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison. While the girl has admitted being a willing participant to the incidents that allegedly occurred during an extended relationship with Carter, she was only 16 years at the time and not of age of consent to have a sexual relationship with any teacher, Van Gorder said. Under state law, she would have to have been 18 years and one day old for lawful consent with a teacher, he said. That is a higher standard held than for other potential partners. Under law females must be 16 years old and one day old for consensual sexual relations. Van Gorder said no other students or former students have made allegations towards Carter. Carter, who also taught engineering to Birmingham high students for more than a decade, coached the Seaholm girls' swim team to consecutive Class A championships in 1995, 1996, and 1997. You can reach Mike Martindale at (248) 647-7226 or mmartindale@detnews.com. _________________________________________ http://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a.../603250309/1008 Saturday, March 25, 2006 Don't send teens to prison for stupid school pranks Flawed anti-terror law sanctions 20 years in jail The Detroit News / Michigan lawmakers should rewrite the state's anti-terror law, which does not distinguish between a high school prank and a terrorist threat. The 2002 law was passed in the frantic months after Sept.11, when memory of the collapsed World Trade Center was fresh. So it's stringent to a fault. In the most recent case, an 18-year-old Rochester High School senior faces 20 years in jail for what is believed to be a prank. Before that, a 12-year-old Clinton Township girl was charged with making a terrorist threat to bomb her school. She had no bomb. And justice would have been better served by administering a spanking than by trotting out ludicrous charges of terrorism. In Michigan, a teen joke or high school prank carries the same 20-year penalty as a threat from an al-Qaida agent with a suitcase full of hand grenades Such a maximum sentence for pranks is too high. By way of comparison, killer Nancy Seaman may serve as few as 10 years after clubbing her husband to death with an ax in Farmington Hills in 2004. The accused in the Rochester case is Daniel Ray Davis Jr., 18, who allegedly scrawled "Columbine Part Two" on a bathroom wall at school. The boneheaded move caused a lot anxiety among students and parents, who have a right to be irked. Plenty of punishments short of a long prison term would be appropriate in such cases, especially since authorities in the Rochester scare said they never believed there was a high level of risk. Yet the law's the law. The main fault here lies with the Legislature, not local authorities. Strictly interpreted, current law prohibits writing and publishing a first-person short story that includes a terror threat. That a fiction writer never intended to carry out the threat doesn't count under the absurd language of the existing statute. That is because the law specifically bans an accused person from offering his or her "intent" or "capability" as a defense, loading the odds in favor of prosecutors. Judges and officials often use discretion when dispensing justice under a lousy law, especially when it involves minors and the circumstances don't fit lawmakers' one-size-fits-all policies. But that's no reason to keep a bad law on the books. Revise the state's anti-terror law. Distinguish between prank and felony as a matter of common sense and justice. _______________________________________ http://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a.../603250312/1008 Saturday, March 25, 2006 Troy should spare more red tape for day care homes The Detroit News / Now that Troy has allowed day care homes to operate in the city, it should be careful not to regulate them out of business. Local zoning laws had forbidden 19 such home businesses -- licensed by the state to operate since 1973 -- from hiring help to take care of the seven to 12 children allowed on the premises. The City Council's recent vote against banning the day care homes may end that two-year battle, but now the front shifts to potentially costly regulation. One of the biggest complaints against day care homes seems to be about the noise the children make -- something that was common in days gone by when neighborhood children often played outside together. And City Council member Cristina Broomfield told The News that the complaints are few and isolated. The Planning Commission wants to go beyond state licensing mandates and enforce requirements such as 6-foot-high privacy fences and half-acre lots. These don't necessarily ensure better care for the kids, but they do impose stiff costs that will harass the owners out of town. Plenty of Troy residents and other area residents work and need care for their kids. It's difficult enough for day care centers to meet growing costs and care for children without the city piling on with arbitrary rules. If Troy prides itself on being pro-business and pro-family, then the council should let state licensing rules prevail and not regulate day care homes out of business. |
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| NFarquharson | Mar 25 2006, 07:22 AM Post #2 |
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From the Free Press: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article...EWS05/603250305 Metro Detroit Students could get jump on college Enrollment at 15, state aid proposed March 25, 2006 BY LORI HIGGINS FREE PRESS EDUCATION WRITER Bright high school teens could get a head start on college with the state's financial assistance, under legislation introduced this week in the Michigan House. That's good news to Nicholas Volker, a sophomore at Walled Lake Western High School, who said high school classes are "too slow and boring" to maintain his interest. "I really want to go to college right now. It's much faster-paced," said the 14-year-old from Wixom. But the legislation, sponsored by state Rep. Jack Hoogendyk, R-Kalamazoo, may face an uphill battle. School administrators are raising questions about the social impact on teens and how much it would cost. "There are a lot of obstacles that will have to be discussed before I see this being of any benefit to Michigan students," said Kathleen Booher, executive director of the Tri-County Alliance, which represents the interests of school districts in metro Detroit. A key problem for schools: The financial assistance would come in the form of half of the per-pupil funding they now receive for each student enrolled. That would mean schools would lose money each time a student opted to enroll full-time at a college or university. "If you lose one or two students out of any given class, that does not reduce the district's costs in delivering that class. It still costs the same to employ that teacher and to provide that classroom," Booher said. Under the proposal, students must be between 15 and 19 to enroll. They also would have to complete half of the courses required for graduation or score in the top 20% on a nationally recognized college-entrance exam to be eligible. State financial assistance would be about $3,437, which would more than cover the cost for a year of classes at Oakland Community College, where a student taking 30 credits would pay about $1,000 a year. One year at Oakland University would be nearly $5,000, while a year at the University of Michigan would cost about $9,000. Students would get their high school diplomas after earning a two-year associate's degree at a community college or after two years at a four-year college or university. But some people wonder whether young teens are mature enough to make it on a college campus. "How many 15-year-olds are going to be well equipped to function as independent souls on college campuses? It's something we have to talk about before we open the doors wide for something like that to occur," said Margaret Trimer-Hartley, spokeswoman for the Michigan Education Association, the state's largest teachers union. "High schools are responsible for providing a great deal of supervision and monitoring of student-safety issues. Colleges are a much more open, free environment," said William Mays, executive director of the Michigan Association of School Administrators. Despite the concerns, Hoogendyk said he sees the legislation as something that will "change the face of public education," and an idea that is in line with Gov. Jennifer Granholm's goal of boosting the number of college graduates in Michigan. "It will get more Michigan residents ready for a 21st-Century economy," Hoogendyk said. "We'll have kids who can graduate from college two years sooner with much less debt." Hoogendyk has proposed similar legislation in the past, but it went nowhere. This time, he has the support of House Speaker Craig DeRoche, R-Novi, who said in a news release announcing the proposal, "Anything we can do to encourage and facilitate access to higher education for Michigan students is a wise investment in Michigan's future." Lisa Volker, Nicholas' mother, said the proposal does something "for the kids who are motivated learners. These are the kids who are languishing in our school systems right now. They're bored to tears. They're not getting anything out of their high school years." She said she had plans to enroll Nicholas, an academically gifted teen who skipped sixth grade, in classes at Oakland Community College this summer. Some argue that Michigan already has an option for advanced teens who want to take college classes. That option, dual enrollment, allows teens to remain in high school while also taking college courses. In the 2004-05 school year, the last year for which information was available, 9,434 high school students were dual-enrolled. And some people say that Michigan already has a plan to keep gifted students engaged: the proposed graduation requirements that will have all students taking more math and science classes. "Let's give that a chance to work," Mays said. Contact LORI HIGGINS at 248-351-3694 or higgins@freepress.com. |
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| NFarquharson | Mar 26 2006, 07:12 AM Post #3 |
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missed one from Freep: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article...ION01/603260315 Editorials Add 2; Multiply Opportunity Changing dropout age from 16 to 18 can make lifetimes of difference March 26, 2006 Michigan puts a lot of power in the hands of 16-year-olds. And a lot of trust in their judgment. That's the age when they can drive -- and drop out of school. The state has done much in recent years to prepare teens better for the dangers of driving but nothing to address the lifelong dangers they face by quitting school. The irony is that the state's 16-year-old dropout law remains on the books even as the Legislature prepares to finally embrace a long-overdue toughening of the standards for high school graduation. What good are impressive graduation requirements if kids can still quit school at 16? Legislators ought to find this irony troubling and an urgent impetus to make the dropout issue part of the debate over diploma requirements. By doing nothing, the state is only inviting students who may be frustrated or intimidated by the more rigorous requirements to take a walk into what is almost always a low-paying future with dim prospects. In the 2004-05 academic year, the Center for Educational Performance and Information estimated that 8,600 Michigan teenagers officially dropped out of high school. There are bills pending in both the state House and Senate to raise the legal drop-out age to 18. The measures, sponsored by Rep. LaMar Lemmons III, D-Detroit, and Sen. Liz Brater, D-Ann Arbor, are notable, because each also includes a plan of action for teens on the brink of dropping out. For instance, a 16- or 17-year-old could satisfy school attendance requirements by completing a vocational education program or community college course work. Under the bills, schools would be allowed to make such programs available. More important, the bills also provide for situations of economic hardship. There are some kids in this state who hold down jobs to provide needed income for their families. They shouldn't have to face a choice of staying in school or helping the household budget. Under the legislation, an eligible student could satisfy school attendance requirements by working 25 hours and attending school at least 15 hours a week. Those who say such allowances are special incentives to undeserving young people miss the point. By allowing creative alternatives for struggling students to remain in school, Michigan could spare standout students from having to sit in classes with students for whom traditional learning approaches just don't work. Beyond helping young people get a shot at a brighter future, the added incentive for school districts to develop such programs is the $1,700 a year they receive from the state per pupil. Sixteen is simply too young to decide to say no to school. And there is no better time than now to make that the law in Michigan. To encourage action on this issue, contact the chairman of the Senate Education Committee, state Sen. Wayne Kuipers, R-Holland, at senwkuipers@senate.michigan.gov or 517-373-6920 about SB 0004 or contact House Education Committee Chair Rep. Brian Palmer, R-Romeo, at repbrianpalmer@house.mi.gov o |
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