STUDY SHOWS PARENT-CHILD TALK WORKS
(April 30, 2001) The Washington Times reported a study by The Alan Guttmacher Institute that concluded “Teens who did abstinence-education homework with a parent became more dedicated to postponing sex than teens who didn’t do such homework....The study is one of the first to demonstrate that a program that focuses on parent-child communication can make a difference in the child’s sexual attitudes.”

EVEN LOW LEAD LEVELS CAUSE DECREASE IN IQ SCORES
(May 5, 2001) Science News, Vol. 159, No. 18 reports “lead can damage a young child’s ability to learn and reason…at exposures far lower than the limit deemed acceptable by the U.S. government.” Study leader, Bruce P. Lanphear, epidemiologist at Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati, says, “this is a bombshell” explaining the new results of studies indicate “there is no threshold for the adverse effects of lead on cognition.” Even subtle poisoning can have lifelong impacts, notes Joel Schwartz, of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.

TEACHERS IGNORE CHEATING
(May 9, 2001) Education Week, a survey by a professor at Rutgers University reported that almost half of 4,500 high school students believed teachers choose to ignore students who are cheating. Possible reasons include fear of “retaliation by the parents...They’re afraid they’ll be sued by parents, and that schools don’t have the resources to back them up [in court].” 54% of the students surveyd “admitted to using the Internet to pirate others’ material.”

PRIVATE SCHOOL APPLICATIONS ARE UP
(May 8, 2001) The Christian Science Monitor article, “More knock at the doors of private schools”, describes a significant increase in applications for many private schools. Reasons that parents are switching to private schools include individualized attention, a feeling their kids are not suitable for big-schools, concerned about competitive college admissions, a desire for high-quality education, and increasing concerns about public schools.

ARREST RATE FOR GIRLS UNDER 18 INCREASING
(May 1, 2001) In The Washington Post, an American Bar Association study concluded “girls under the age of 18 have become the fastest-growing segment of the juvenile justice population...Arrest, detention and custody data show an increase in both the number and percentage of girls in the juvenile justice system - a trend that runs counter to that of boys. Delinquency cases involving girls jumped 83 percent between 1988 and 1997.”

RECREATIONAL USE OF RITALIN GROWING
(May 2001) Teacher Magazine, reported a study by the Massachusetts Department of Health that found nearly 13 percent “of high school students surveyed admitted to using Ritalin recreationally at least once.” Students often call them “Smarties” since students tend to think the drug “will pump up their academic performance."

DODGEBALL RESTRICTIONS
(May 6, 2001) The New York Times, reports a growing movement to eliminate or restrict the game called Dodgeball from schools because it is “considered aggressive, unwholesome and a cause of injuries by some school administrators.” The game has been banned or restricted in school districts in Virginia, Florida, New York, Texas, Maine, and Massachusetts because it has been suggested that games of elimination could damage children emotionally.

COLORADO OUTLAWS REBIRTHING THERAPY
(April 17, 2001) Governor Bill Owens, of Colorado signed a law on April 17 to outlaw the ‘rebirthing’ therapy that “resulted in [Candace Newmaker’s] death last year.” The girl died last April “suffocated after she was wrapped in a blanket for 70 minutes during a rebirthing therapy session.”

REBIRTHING THERAPISTS CONVICTED
(April 20, 2001) The Rocky Mountain News reported two Colorado rebirthing therapists “were convicted today of reckless child abuse in the death of 10-year-old Candace Newmaker....”

STUDY FINDS L.A. CATHOLIC SCHOOLS DO MORE WITH LESS
(May 6, 2001) A study by The Pacific Research Institute found that “Catholic schools in Los Angeles effectively educate low-income and minority students at costs sharply lower than the Los Angeles Unified School District’s and achieve a much lower dropout rate.”

PARENTS MOST INFLUENTIAL OVER CHILDREN
(May 1, 2001) A survey conducted by the Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, reported “Teenagers surveyed said that parents influenced their sexual decisions - more than friends, siblings, teachers, sex educators, religious organizations or the media. But adults in the same survey, by a wide margin, said that friends were the most important influence on teenagers’ decisions whether to have sex or not.” [more...]

AMER. BAR ASSN: ZERO-TOLERANCE GOES TOO FAR
(May 5, 2001) The Kansas City Star, published a “scathing report” by the American Bar Association against “bizarre applications of get-tough measures, particularly in schools,” stemming from a zero-tolerance attitude.

LOW ENROLLMENT CLOSES URBAN SCHOOLS
(May 9, 2001) Education Week, reports several cities are closing schools due to the “exodus of students to charter schools,” and lower enrollments due to “economic blight, lower birthrates, and middle-class flight.”

SOURCE OF IMPULSIVE BEHAVIOR FOUND?
(May 24, 2001) Reuters reported a study published in the journal, Science, identifying a “hot spot” on the brain which “may be the key to impulsive behavior involved in the critical choice between instant gratification and delayed reward.” Researchers stated this has important implications regarding drug addiction, ADHD, and anti-social behavior, “all of which are linked to the impulse for instant gratification.”

PLACEBOS LESS EFFECTIVE?
(May 23, 2001) Placebos, viewed as occasionally effective “on their own thanks to the power of the mind,” are overrated, according to a recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine, reported by Reuters. An analysis of 114 medical studies published over a 53-year period concluded, “placebos are no more effective than no treatment at all.” The only exception was in relieving pain; their effectiveness perhaps because pain is so subjective.

MORE TEST SCORE ERRORS
(May 25, 2001) The New York Times reported testing errors have affected public school students in more than 20 states in the last three years;” also reporting a second problem for the Graduate Management Admission Test, administered by the Educational Testing Service (ETS), which also administers the familiar SAT and various graduate school admissions exams.

PROGRAM REDUCES TEEN PREGNANCY
(May 30, 2001) The New York Times reports 1/3 fewer pregnancies and births than the control group in a three-year program created by Dr. Michael Carrera at the Children’s Aid Society. The program offers tutoring, SAT preparation, job skills, medical and dental care, sports and creative arts in addition to traditional sex education. Doug Kirby, author of a research report on teenage-pregnancy programs newly released by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, a nonprofit, nonpartisan group in Washington, states “sex and H.I.V. education do not hasten sexual activity and education about abstinence and contraception are compatible, and not in conflict with each other.” He also said several studies indicate “service learning” programs that include voluntary community service projects can reduce teenage pregnancy.