Tackling Sexual Harassment In Memphis City Schools By Patricia Hawke

The Menace of Sexual Harassment in Memphis Schools

Mention the words “sexual harassment” and images of leering executives making lewd comments to or in the presence of co-workers or employees comes to mind. We tend to associate sexual harassment as an adult phenomenon; the kind that gets men – and in rare cases women – in deep trouble, or at the very least leaves them with a lighter wallet. We don’t associate it with young students in schools.

There is enough evidence to show that we should, at least where Memphis City schools are concerned. The statistics speak for themselves. Studies conducted by Girls for Change a program founded through the initiatives of the Memphis Area Women’s Council, Center for Research on Women and the University of Memphis Women Studies program, has found shockingly high rates of sexual harassment against girls in the Memphis schools.

The girls surveyed were between the ages of 13 to 17 and were middle or high schoolers in Memphis schools. Close to 76% reported either being the victim of harassment or having witnessed harassment in some form at school. Most of the students surveyed – close to 92% - belonged to Memphis public schools and at least 86% of the victims were African Americans. The mean age of the girls surveyed was 13.88 years.

Sexual Harassment in Memphis Schools is not Merely Bullying

We tend to think of instances of girls being teased or called names at school as bullying and, according to experts who are concerned at the effects of such harassment on girls in Memphis schools, we need to draw the line between bullying and sexual harassment. According to available data from the 2005 Youth Risk Behavioral survey, the incidences of sexual relationships, forced or otherwise, in Memphis schools are higher than the national average. Not only this, students at Memphis schools are more likely to have multiple partners, or become pregnant or impregnate a partner than their peers elsewhere in the country. The Memphis Area Women’s Council together with the Center for Research on Women is working on establishing the relationship between the high prevalence of sexual harassment in Memphis schools and the increased incidence of premature sexual activity in students.

Sexual Harassment and its Effects on Students in Memphis Schools

Sexual harassment in Memphis schools can take many forms – it can be in the form of spreading malicious rumors about a student, making unwanted phone calls or sending explicit emails, name calling, offensive jokes, and graffiti. In its virulent display, perpetrators may be emboldened enough to pinch, grab, snap bras, pull down skirts and engage in other behavior that aimed to humiliate the victim. The Memphis Girls for Change Program focuses on empowering girl students of Memphis schools and equipping them to deal with such instances in a school environment that’s very often a mute spectator.

Resource: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=187437&ca=Education

Arts Integrated And Learning Styles Go Hand-In-Hand In Oklahoma City Schools By Patricia Hawke

Many people understand the importance of exposure to the arts. We love art; it is a necessary part of our society. In fact, for every culture and every society, art in some form or another is critical to how we live. For many, many years, arts programs have been cut in Oklahoma City Schools in efforts to divert funds to “more pressing” subject areas like reading and mathematics. While these are indeed necessary subjects for Oklahoma City Schools students to master, including an arts education in a student’s learning experiences can do nothing but improve their time attending Oklahoma City Schools, as well as contribute to the amount of success they see as a whole.

Most Oklahoma City Public Schools concentrate on teaching students in three ways; by showing them how to do things, by telling them the information they need, or by giving them opportunities to try things themselves (also known as visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning styles).

There are, in fact, many learning styles as identified by Howard Gardner, psychologist and noted pedagogical theorist:

- Linguistic – “word-smart”
- Interpersonal – “people smart”
- Bodily-kinesthetic – “body smart”
- Logical-mathematical – “math smart”
- Naturalist – “nature smart”
- Spatial – “picture smart”
- Musical – “music smart”
- Intrapersonal – “self smart”

More than ever, schools are realizing the importance of addressing all of these learning styles. Students attending certain Oklahoma City Schools are reaping the benefits of the commitment to providing educational experiences via these learning styles.

In efforts to give more and more students an education that addresses their specific learning style(s), some Oklahoma City Schools are integrating the arts into their programs. Following an “A+” model originally begun in North Carolina, Oklahoma City Schools are instituting their own arts integration programs. Originally a project of the DaVinci Institute, it is currently administered by the University of Central Oklahoma.

The model being used by Oklahoma City Schools looks at 8 different areas to improve arts integration in their schools:

1) Arts;
2) Curriculum;
3) Multiple intelligences;
4) Experiential learning;
5) Enriched assessment;
6) Collaboration;
7) Infrastructure; and
8) Climate

For teachers employed with Oklahoma City Schools, the program has been a godsend. All educators strive to “light the spark” and desperately want to reach all - 100% - of their students. For the instructional staff, of the Oklahoma City Schools using this model, discovering how to appeal to the different ways children learn has been exactly what they have been looking for.

Another impressive aspect of the program is the Oklahoma City Schools professional development that goes along with it. Instead of giving newly trained teaches the manual with the expectation that they follow the model, the A+ model provides extensive and ongoing training and support to all teachers new to the program. Oklahoma City Schools’ teachers focus on learning to work together, using research-based practices to establish curriculum that includes interdisciplinary themes that foster arts integration across classes as well as use Gardner’s various learning styles.

Clearly, Oklahoma City Schools are working to improve learning, one style at a time.

Resource: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=187449&ca=Education

A Storm In A Teacup At Miami Dade Public Schools By Patricia Hawke

Controversy over Book Ban Rattles Miami Schools

Miami Dade Public schools have been rocked by allegations of throwing aside civil liberties in favor of pleasing parts of the local populace. First came the unnecessary controversy over an innocuous children’s book that portrayed life in Cuba from a child’s perspective. The book “A Visit to Cuba” was not a prescribed textbook for young children in Miami schools, rather it was part of the school library. A young Cuban American girl bought the book home and showed it to her father; a Cuban dissident and political prisoner who was upset at the soft picture the book portrayed of life under Castro. He immediately notified the Miami Dade public schools’ authorities who proceed to place the book under a ban. Miami’s strong Cuban American population supported the ban on the book in Miami schools’ arguing that reading the book could create the wrong impression in young children’s minds about the reality of life in Cuba. The American Civil Liberties jumped into the fray and filed a lawsuit against the ban calling it unconstitutional.

Book Ban – A Knee-Jerk Reaction by Miami Schools?

A few weeks later another book found itself at the center of a storm in Miami Dade Public schools. This time it was Cuban Kids, a children’s book that portrayed a couple of Cuban children on the cover dressed in what seem to be Scout uniforms- but are reportedly uniforms of the young revolutionaries, ( a group that all school children in Cuba are required to be members of). Parents of Cuban American children in Miami schools say the book gives young children the impression that the lives of Cuban children is the same as the lives of American children. They argue that young impressionable minds are not able to filter party mouthpiece rhetoric from fact and risk being brainwashed by books like these that do not portray the true picture of life under Castro for students in Miami schools.

The argument seems a little too simplistic. Civil liberties activists and critics of the book ban agree that it would be hypocritical for a country that claims to uphold democratic ideals the way ours does, to allow react with a knee-jerk response to the contents of a book. What, they ask, would be the difference between Castro’s Cuba and the land of the free if the simple decision of whether or not to read a book is taken away from its citizens? While parents of Cuban American children in Miami Dade Public schools, many of them having arrived at this country after extended stays in Cuban prisons, do have a point in being concerned about the impression that their children and others will receive through these books-they don’t need to be. In a situation like this keeping the lines of communication between parents and children open can go a long way to help children separate the grain from the chaff and come away with a true picture of the ground reality in the Communist nation. Banning a book, any book is not the solution.

Resource: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=187440&ca=Education

10 Qualities You Find In Good Students And Good Citizens By Caroline Mackay

Over the years I have found 10 qualities in students that make them good students. To me a good student is not always the student that gets an A. Some students can get an A without even trying and they will take any path they need to, to get that A. Then there are those students that work their little hearts out and get a B or even sometimes a C and they are much better students that the A student talked about above. A student is someone that wants to learn and study to make himself better.

Self Discipline is of the utmost importance. If it is not present then few of the other qualities will be found. Self Discipline means that they think about their words and actions and then make choices that are right for themselves and for others. Those with self discipline accept that things do not always go their way. In other words, this student will finish their work before they play.

Respect for others and for property will be present in good students. They will treat others the way they want to be treated. Destroying or taking someone’s property and harming it would not be something they would do.
Perseverance can be found in good students. They will work hard and not give up when it gets tough. They stick to something until it is finished. In other words, They don’t give up, they keep trying.

Citizenship is found in good students. They obey the rules and work to make the community, (school) a better place.

Compassion in present in good students. They are kind toward others and help them instead of knock them down verbally and physically.

Integrity is found in good students. They make choices that help them be the best they can be. They do what they think is right and work at doing their best.

Responsibility is always present in good students. They are dependable and make good choices. They take care of things that belong to them and show more responsibility when they take care of themselves and what they do.

Trustworthiness is a must. These students can be counted on to do the right thing even if an adult is not present. They return borrowed items and do what they say they’ll do.

Fairness is another trait present in good students. They will take turns, share and listen to what other say. They take only their share and play by the rules.

Honesty is found in good students. They are truthful and sincere. They will do their own work and return borrowed items. They are the ones that will make sure that their score is correct even if it means that they get more wrong.

If you find these qualities in a student you can be sure that they will be a joy to teach.

Resource: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=168345&ca=Education