Interesting ed news
First, a follow-up to a story earlier this week that bullying affects one-third of Oklahoma children. Newsweek magazine published this timely article about just how those who are bullied come to be targeted. The link is counterintuitive according to the article: children who are bullied start out as children who show aggression early in their lives.
And second, two stories related to reading. TIME magazine reports that reading — by all accounts a sedentary activity — may actually help young girls lose weight. And this New York Times story talks about the new idea of linking books and video games together.
Share your comments on these stories below, or share links to other national education news that caught your attention.
Wendy Kleinman
Education Reporter
Children join walk to school effort for a day
I was up earlier than usual this morning to cover International Walk to School Day. I went to Western Village Academy, a charter school in northwest Oklahoma City that accepts all students in the neighborhood.
The morning weather was brisk – cool enough that I could see my breath when I reached the school just after 7 a.m. – but invigorating, too.
You can read more about the walk at Western Village and watch a video about it tomorrow on NewsOK.com.
In the meantime, I’d like to know: Did you walk to school growing up, and do you let your children walk now?
Wendy Kleinman
Education Reporter
Locked down: Too long or worthwhile precaution?
I talked to national school security experts yesterday for this story in today’s Oklahoman about the lockdown at Oklahoma City’s U.S. Grant High School.
Now that you know their views, share your own here. How do you feel about the ongoing lockdown?
(Comments are also still coming in about whether school shootings worry you. Scroll down or click here to add your thoughts on that subject.)
Wendy Kleinman
Education Reporter
Do school shootings worry you?
U.S. Grant High School student Hodauri Latifu McCoy was arrested Monday on a felony complaint of carrying a firearm in a school. An officer removed ammunition from the pistol, according to a police report.
No one was hurt, but all of the Oklahoma City School District is now on high alert.
And this morning, almost 5,000 miles away in Finland, a 22-year-old gunman killed 10 students in a classroom at a trade school before taking his own life.
Do school shootings worry you? What would ease your fears?
Wendy Kleinman
Education Reporter
A Sobering List
You’ve heard of the “Party School” rankings that list college campuses reputed for wild, drunken debauchery.
But have you heard of the “Stone-Cold Sober Schools” ranked by Princeton Review?
Here are the top 20 tee-totaling colleges, based on a survey of 120,000 students.
1. Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.
2. Wheaton College, Wheaton, Ill.
3. U.S. Coast Guard Academy, New London, Conn.
4. College of the Ozarks, Point Lockout, Mo.
5. Grove City College, Grove City, Pa.
6. U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo.
7. U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md.
8. Wellesley College, Wellesley, Mass.
9. Thomas Aquinas College, Santa Paula, Calif.
10. Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Mich.
11. U.S. Military Academy, West Point, N.Y.
12. Wesleyan College, Macon, Ga.
13. Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering, Needham, Mass.
14. City University of New York-Queens College, Flushing, N.Y.
15. Webb Institute, Glen Cove, N.Y.
16. Berea College, Berea, Ky.
17. Agnes Scott College, Decatur, Ga.
18. City University of New York-Baruch College, New York.
19. Simmons College, Boston.
20. Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, Pa.
Do you have any schools to add, to either category?
Susan Simpson
DARE – Does it keep kids off drugs?
DARE — To Keep Kids Off Drugs!
I had the shirt with the slogan splashed across the front in bright red letters.
I had the round black button that said the same thing.
I can still hear the stern voice repeating it in commercials.
Because in the fifth grade, I was a graduate of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program in a Texas school.
My husband, who’s from Massachusetts, also remembers going through the program when he was younger, and went on to be a DARE student teacher.
I reported on the program in today’s Oklahoman, and on the controversy over whether it’s effective.
Did you go through DARE? Did your children? Most importantly, do you think the program does what its name claims: help keep kids off drugs?
Wendy Kleinman
Education Reporter
A teacher’s plea for help
Seven Oklahoma schools are in a national running for a $10,000 grant from Big Lots. A teacher at one of those seven schools — third-grade teacher Dawn Dilley at Putnam City’s Apollo Elementary — sent me an e-mail about it.
She hopes the school will get the money so they can build a fitness track, and wrote an essay and put together a 90-second video with some of the school’s students as part of the application.
Twenty-five runners-up will get smaller amounts of money; there are 100 schools nationwide all trying to win.
The thing is, online voters choose the winner, and she wants some help. Here’s what she told me in an e-mail.
Apollo’s is very important because we are considered a 100% Title 1 school. All our kids qualify and get free lunch & breakfast through a federal program. Now, due the economic issues facing our students, we don’t have a lot of PTA funds or giant fundraiser budgets to draw money from. We are also aware that kids in poverty have a higher rate of obesity and a lower rate of overall health. Knowing this, we applied for this grant to get our school a walking track. This grant would allow us to easily motivate our kids to get in shape and help the regular classroom teachers at our school comply with the OK Legislature’s new longer PE times, since we will be taking on this burden.
What I need from you is your vote and possibly the vote of all the people who read your education blog, or anyone else you know who might vote. I would also like to get the word out to support all OK educators. This competition costs nothing but 5 minutes of time from now through July 22nd.
It would be great if we could win, but it would be even greater if all 7 Oklahoma schools won some money.
Here’s how to vote: Go to www.lots2give.com. Use the drop-down menu to select Oklahoma, and Apollo Elementary’s video as well as the others will appear. Vote by clicking the “Vote for this school” button. People can vote up to three times a day through July 22, and you don’t have to watch the video each time.
Wendy K. Kleinman
Education Reporter
Binge Drinking in College
Does just going to college make you more likely to binge drink?
A national study followed students from early adolescence through their mid-20s and found that compared to their peers that never attended college, current college students were less likely to have been binge drinkers prior to their college years but more likely to binge drink once they entered college.
The researchers say this is probably the result of the college environment. Living in an environment in which drinking behaviors are promoted may increase binge drinking. Also, college students with a greater genetic risk consumed more alcohol per drinking episode.
What do you think? Is getting drunk and sloppy on weekends still a “rite of passage” for college students? It’s not harmless fun if you consider the auto accidents and even death that result from drunk driving, or the impact on relationships and studies.
Post a comment here or e-mail me your thoughts at ssimpson@oklahoman.com
Susan Simpson, Education Writer
Operation Clean Up
No butts about it, Operation Clean Up was a smashing success today at Oklahoma State University.
OSU kicked off its first day as a tobacco-free campus by asking students and employees to pick up cigarette butts littering the Stillwater campus.
Here are the results:
– Approximately 26,667 cigarette butts were collected in one hour (10 pounds)
– This number translates to 293,337 minutes of life lost on campus due to premature death caused by tobacco use (as per British Medical Journal – one cigarette reduces life by 11 minutes – http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/extract/320/7226/53 )
– The “value” of the cigarettes $5,586.74 (average in Oklahoma is $4.19 per pack)
– Time spent smoking this number of cigarettes (assumes 7 minute average) = 186,669 minutes or 3111 hours
– The New York Times reports for each pack of cigarettes smoked, it costs the nation more than $7 in medical care and lost productivity. Based on this average, the number of butts collected today cost the nation $9331 in healthcare and lost productivity.
– Approximately 25 volunteers from across campus participated in the event.
Readers, make sure you check out our new blog by several OSUers trying to quit smoking. http://blog.newsok.com/quitting
Susan Simpson
Sleepy Drivers
Yawn …. I’m having trouble staying awake long enough to write this post.
Not really, I’m just trying to set a tone here.
A new study by the Associated Professional Sleep Societies says that too many college students are driving sleepy. Some admitted to falling asleep at the wheel or causing an accident.
Drowsy driving can be just as dangerous as driving while intoxicated. So here are some tips to avoid it:
* Get enough sleep. This seems obvious but when you are pulling an all-night cram session or out late with your friends, you might not consider the risks.
* Take breaks while driving.
* Consume caffeine.
* Do not drink alcohol.
I’ll admit to DWS (driving while sleepy) when I was in college, and even sometimes now. Luckily, I usually have noisy kids in the car to keep me alert, or I blast some rocking 80s music. But luckily, my nights of cramming for tests and all-hours partying are over.
Thank goodness.
Susan Simpson
