The word 'obese' is banned from letters to parents of fat children in case it upsets them

By Daniel Martin
Last updated at 7:07 PM on 17th December 2008

Ministers banned the word 'obese' on letters to the parents of fat children - because focus groups did not like it, England's chief medical officer said today.

Professor Liam Donaldson revealed that the term was replaced on letters to parents by 'very overweight' over fears it would upset and stigmatise fat children.

Writing on the BBC News website he said obesity had become a taboo word or an 'O word'.

The Department of Health announced in August that for the first time parents would be routinely informed if their child was clinically overweight.

Children are weighed on entering primary school (at age four or five) and in their final year (aged 10 or 11) as part of the National Child Measurement Programme.

Parents can opt out of having their child weighed if they wish, but the vast majority do not.

Letters are then sent out to make parents aware of potential problems with their child's weight so they go and see their doctor about it if needed.

But Professor Donaldson said that in the planning stage, a 'stumbling block' was the wording of the feedback letter.

'At an earlier stage, some child health professionals had argued against the idea of a school-based weighing and measuring scheme because it would stigmatise overweight or obese children and lead them to being bullied.

'When the letter was field-tested with parents in focus group interviews there was a clear message that the term "obese" was unpopular. They felt they were being personally blamed for their child's health, and that their child would be "labelled for life".

'The majority of these parents felt that using the term "very overweight" in combination with the associated health risks was a better approach. Suddenly, we had stepped on eggshells.'

He added: 'Obesity has become the new cancer. A word that is taboo, that intimidates, strikes fear, that promoted softer euphemisms. In effect it has become an "O" word.

At the time, the National Obesity Forum described the Government's decision not to use the word obese as 'prissy and namby pamby'.

Professor Donaldson said it was not just children who appeared not to like being branded obese.

He recounted a meeting in 2006 which was held to discuss action on obesity. He described it as 'downbeat', with people saying very little.

'After the meeting broke up, one person crept back into the room and whispered to me: "We couldn't talk about it properly because someone obese was in the room",' he recalled.

'Today, the word obesity arouses deep feelings and provokes strong opinions. It influences in ways that can't always be predicted.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1096945/The-O-word-The-word-obese-banned-letters-parents-fat-children-case-upsets-them.html

Moonbat Teacher of the Month

A high school student in Wisconsin has filed a federal lawsuit against his art teacher for censoring his drawing because it included a cross and scriptural reference.

MADISON, Wis. — A Tomah High School student has filed a federal lawsuit alleging his art teacher censored his drawing because it featured a cross and a biblical reference.

The lawsuit alleges other students were allowed to draw "demonic" images and asks a judge to declare a class policy prohibiting religion in art unconstitutional.

"We hear so much today about tolerance," said David Cortman, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal advocacy group representing the student. "But where is the tolerance for religious beliefs? The whole purpose of art is to reflect your own personal experience. To tell a student his religious beliefs can legally be censored sends the wrong message."

Tomah School District Business Manager Greg Gaarder said the district hadn't seen the lawsuit and declined to comment.

According to the lawsuit, the student's art teacher asked his class in February to draw landscapes. The student, a senior identified in the lawsuit by the initials A.P., added a cross and the words "John 3:16 A sign of love" in his drawing.

His teacher, Julie Millin, asked him to remove the reference to the Bible, saying students were making remarks about it. He refused, and she gave him a zero on the project.

Millin showed the student a policy for the class that prohibited any violence, blood, sexual connotations or religious beliefs in artwork. The lawsuit claims Millin told the boy he had signed away his constitutional rights when he signed the policy at the beginning of the semester.

The boy tore the policy up in front of Millin, who kicked him out of class. Later that day, assistant principal Cale Jackson told the boy his religious expression infringed on other students' rights.

Jackson told the boy, his stepfather and his pastor at a meeting a week later that religious expression could be legally censored in class assignments. Millin stated at the meeting the cross in the drawing also infringed on other students' rights.

The boy received two detentions for tearing up the policy. Jackson referred questions about the lawsuit to Gaarder.

Sometime after that meeting, the boy's metals teacher rejected his idea to build a chain-mail cross, telling him it was religious and could offend someone, the lawsuit claims. The boy decided in March to shelve plans to make a pin with the words "pray" and "praise" on it because he was afraid he'd get a zero for a grade.

The lawsuit also alleges school officials allow other religious items and artwork to be displayed on campus.

A Buddha and Hindu figurines are on display in a social studies classroom, the lawsuit claims, adding the teacher passionately teaches Hindu principles to students.

In addition, a replica of Michaelangelo's "The Creation of Man" is displayed at the school's entrance, a picture of a six-limbed Hindu deity is in the school's hallway and a drawing of a robed sorcerer hangs on a hallway bulletin board.

Drawings of Medusa, the Grim Reaper with a scythe and a being with a horned head and protruding tongue hang in the art room and demonic masks are displayed in the metals room, the lawsuit alleges.

A.P. suffered unequal treatment because of his religion even though student expression is protected by the First Amendment, according to the lawsuit, which was filed Friday.

"Students do not shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse gate," the lawsuit said. "No compelling state interest exists to justify the censorship of A.P.'s religious expression."

Another way of saying it is students are expected to check their First Amendment rights at the school door. The teacher, Ms. Millin, required all students to sign a class policy that prohibited any violence, blood, sexual connotations or religious beliefs in their artwork to prevent offending a student.

Yet, the school allows other religious items and artwork to be displayed on campus. For example, a Buddha and Hindu figurines are displayed prominently in the social studies classroom. I suppose Ms. Millin has never heard of the First Amendment and even if she has, her breathingist understanding that she can create her own version is flawed.

I know what the liberals will say: “But Nathan, if the tables were turned, you’d be applauding the Christian teacher for forbidding non-Christian artwork in the class.” First, I don’t know of any Christian teacher trampling the First Amendment rights of their students in such a way. And secondly, this is not new that Christians are the target of such attacks. No one can attack other religions for fear you’ll be struck dead. But since Christians don’t respond with suicide bombs, that justifies such an offense.

Not only are Christians instructed to not kill when offended, we are called to love our enemy and pray for their salvation. In this particular case, it is unfortunate that the family had to file a lawsuit to keep their son from failing out of school. But since Millin violated the student’s First Amendment rights, thus breaking the law, the lawsuit is biblically justified.

And for good measure, let’s review the original intent of the First Amendment. Prohibit a national church denomination, prevent the government from forcing citizens to pay tithes, etc. Ms. Millin’s version is nothing more than pipe dream created by liberal judges that falsely believe the Constitution is a “living, breathing” document.

http://stoptheaclu.com/archives/2008/04/03/moonbat-teacher-of-the-month/

THE NECESSITIES OF A GOVERNMENT BUREAUCRAT

THE NECESSITIES OF A GOVERNMENT BUREAUCRAT

In Bothell, Washington the government school district is considering closing a school in order to save money. But that seems a bit ironic considering the school district is using tax payer money to buy home electronics for its administrators for personal use. Sounds like a great use of tax dollars if you ask me.

The Northshore School District has been buying administrators TVs, digital cameras and iPods. They justify the spending by explaining that it is "part of their pay" and it "helps makes them familiar with technology." What a bunch of horsesqueeze. Are you believing this crap?

Out of 93 eligible administrators, all but 13 of them have taken advantage of this "benefit," costing the taxpayers $119,000.

Bothell schools buy home electronics for administrators
06:13 PM PDT on Wednesday, April 2, 2008
By LINDA BRILL / KING 5 News and wire reports

BOTHELL, Wash. - At a time when the school district for the Bothell-Woodinville area is talking about closing a school to save money, it's buying home electronics for the personal use of administrators.

The Northshore School District says buying TVs, digital cameras and iPods for administrators is part of their pay and helps make them familiar with technology.

All but 13 of 93 eligible administrators have taken advantage of the benefit, spending $119,000 under the current contract.

"Even an HDTV is used for work, because it's hooked up to a computer and used like a monitor," said Susan Stoltzfus, Northshore School District spokesperson.

"I don't understand how a digital picture frame is a work-related activity, nor a big screen TV, nor an iPod," said teacher's union president Tim Brittle.

It was a sore issue at a recent school board meeting when Brittle demanded that the practice stop.

"I wouldn't consider it a perk because it is considered part of your salary compensation, it's taxable," said Stoltzfus.

The benefit is given to administrators and approved by administrators, but isn't offered to teachers.

"These purchases do not directly go to helping children," said Brittle.

School Board President Cathy Swanson says the district needs to clarify the program to make sure the purchases are job related.

There are other school districts that offer similar perks for administrators, such as Bellevue, but they require the purchases be educational. The Northshore School District implemented that change on Wednesday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Only 1 of 2 students graduate high school in US cities: study

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080401184532.kxjxy7xo&show_article=1
Apr 1 02:46 PM US/Eastern

Three out of 10 US public school students do not graduate from high school, and major city school districts only graduate one out of two students, according to a study released Tuesday.

In a report on graduation rates around the country, the EPE Research Center and the America Promise Alliance also showed that the high school graduation rate -- finishing 12 grades of school -- in big cities falls to as low as just 34.6 percent in Baltimore, Maryland, and barely over 40 percent for the troubled Ohio cities of Columbus and Cleveland.

And it said that black and native American student's have effectively a one-in-two chance of getting a high school diploma.

"Our analysis finds that graduating from high school in America's largest cities amounts, essentially, to a coin toss," the study said.

"Only about one-half (52 percent) of students in the principal school systems of the 50 largest cities complete high school with a diploma."

Based on 2003-2004 data, the report said that across the country the graduation average for public school students is 69.9 percent, with the best success rate in suburbs -- 74.9 percent -- and rural districts -- 73.2 percent.

Asian-Americans score the highest graduation rate, at 80 percent, with whites at 76.2 percent and Hispanics at 57.8 percent.

Women graduate at a much higher rate than men, 73.6 percent to 66.0 percent.

In the country's city schools, the study found that in urban areas generally, just 60.4 percent graduate, and in the principal school districts of the top 50 cities, barely half graduate.

Detroit, Michigan's main school district scored a graduation rate of 24.9 percent.

New York, the country's largest city, has a graduation rate for its main school district of 45.2 percent, and Los Angeles, the second largest, of 45.3 percent.

Only five of the principal school districts topped the national average.

Child abuse in overprotected government schools now includes forehead touching?

Classroom incident probed
By Melissa Pamer, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 03/28/2008 11:30:17 PM PDT

SOUTH PASADENA - District officials are investigating an incident in which a substitute teacher allegedly reprimanded a student inappropriately, authorities said Friday.

Police were called to South Pasadena Middle School on Wednesday following a report that a teacher had assaulted a child, said Cpl. Craig Cooper of the South Pasadena Police Department.

After investigating, police closed the case, determining no abuse had occurred, Cooper said.

The teacher "used the tip of her finger and patted (the student) on the forehead," Cooper said. "She was all, `Come on, you, you can do better than that."'

School officials, who also made a complaint to Los Angeles County child services representatives, are continuing to look into the case, said South Pasadena Unified School District Superintendent Brian Bristol.

"There was a substitute teacher that engaged in conduct that we consider to be physically and verbally assaultive," Bristol said, declining to confirm details about the alleged forehead-tapping.

The incident was reported by students to other teachers, who told school administrators.

The substitute teacher, who was set to teach another class, was removed from her classroom, Bristol said.

"She made a poor choice, and we do not tolerate that. Such conduct is unacceptable," Bristol said of the teacher, adding that she will not be allowed to teach in the district again.

Bristol declined to give the names of the teacher or student involved, citing privacy.

Officials have contacted the parents of students who were in the classroom where the incident took place, he said. The district is also consulting with its legal counsel as to how to proceed, he said.

School employees are required under state law to report evidence of child abuse, said Stuart Riskin, a spokesman for the county Department of Children and Family Services.

Details of such complaints and related investigations are confidential, he added.

melissa.pamer@sgvn.com

(626) 578-6300, Ext. 4475

Hard to find skilled workers in the U.S. - Blame our wonderful government education system.

AT&T CEO says hard to find skilled U.S. workers
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080327/tc_nm/att_workforce_dc

Wed Mar 26, 9:39 PM ET

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Reuters) - The head of the top U.S. phone company AT&T Inc (T.N) said on Wednesday it was having trouble finding enough skilled workers to fill all the 5,000 customer service jobs it promised to return to the United States from India.

"We're having trouble finding the numbers that we need with the skills that are required to do these jobs," AT&T Chief Executive Randall Stephenson told a business group in San Antonio, where the company's headquarters is located.

So far, only around 1,400 jobs have been returned to the United States of 5,000, a target it set in 2006, the company said, adding that it maintains the target.

Stephenson said he is especially distressed that in some U.S. communities and among certain groups, the high school dropout rate is as high as 50 percent.

"If I had a business that half the product we turned out was defective or you couldn't put into the marketplace, I would shut that business down," he said.

Gone are the days when AT&T and other U.S. companies had to hire locally, he said.

"We're able to do new product engineering in Bangalore as easily as we're able to do it in Austin, Texas," he said, referring to the Indian Publish Postcity where many international companies have "outsourced" technical and customer support workers.

"I know you don't like hearing that, but that's the way it is," he said.

Stephenson said neither he nor most Americans liked the situation, and the solution was a stronger U.S. focus on education and keeping jobs. Business needed to help, such as AT&T's repatriation of service positions and education grants, he added.

(Reporting by Jim Forsyth; Editing by Gary Hill)

Mother: School Took Girl's Crutches

When 13-year-old Amber showed up at her government middle school with crutches, it took no time at all for government school employees to find something wrong with the situation. Amber was on crutches after dislocating her kneecap. But her injury may have gotten worse after a school nurse decided to take a power trip.

The government school nurse took away Amber's crutches and made her walk around all day without them and without the use of an elevator to get upstairs. The nurse took away Amber's crutches because of a government school policy "prohibiting them without a doctor's note and that the intent is to prevent other students from being injured." In fact, Amber's mother even called the hospital to fax a doctor's note to the school so that Amber could use her crutches ... but the school fax machine was broken.

Apparently there is no district policy requiring doctor notes for crutches, but the government school health supervisor decided this would be the policy in an email sent to the principals. But even in the email, there is nothing that says that the crutches can be taken away until a note is produced. This is just a government bureaucrat letting her position as a government employee go to her head. It's a power trip.

The family, needless to say, is suing the Hillsborough County School District and will pursue a claim against the school nurse for violating Amber's civil rights.


http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/mar/29/me-mother-school-took-girls-crutches/?news-breaking
By VALERIE KALFRIN

The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 29, 2008

TAMPA - Patricia Elalem said she couldn't believe her daughter's kneecap dislocated after what at first seemed like a minor injury.

Even more troubling to Elalem is what might have caused the injury to worsen. Elalem says a nurse at Walker Middle School in Odessa took away 13-year-old Amber's crutches last month, forcing the girl to walk in pain.

Patricia Elalem said the nurse told her she had to remove the crutches because of a school policy prohibiting them without a doctor's note and that the intent is to prevent other students from being injured.

"I was floored," Elalem said. "You don't take medically prescribed treatment away from a child."

Elalem has filed a notice of intent to sue the Hillsborough County School District. The notice is required by law for legal action against a government entity and gives the school district 180 days to respond.

Her attorney, Tom Parnell, said he did not know what damages he would seek because Amber is still recovering from surgery to repair her knee. "I'm hoping at her age she's able to recover," he said.

If Amber walking without the crutches has caused long-term damage, Parnell said, he will pursue a claim that the school nurse violated the girl's civil rights.

School district spokeswoman Linda Cobbe said the district's office of professional standards is investigating a complaint Elalem filed about the licensed practical nurse, Denise McKee.

"The school and the parent have two different stories," Cobbe said, noting she could not elaborate because of the pending litigation.

There is no district policy requiring a doctor's note for crutches, but the district's supervisor of school health has issued an e-mail to principals stating students must produce a doctor's note to use crutches or a wheelchair, Cobbe said.

"We ask for a doctor's prescription or a doctor's note, but there's nothing that says take away the crutches," Cobbe said.

Amber is an avid athlete who participates in basketball, track and soccer, Parnell said. She had orthopedic surgery March 13 to repair her knee after walking without the crutches and now carries a doctor's note at all times about using the crutches, he said.

The girl initially hurt her knee while kicking a ball Feb. 3, her mother said. The injury seemed minor until the next day, when Amber complained to McKee about the pain. Elalem said when she picked Amber up from school, she spoke to McKee about taking Amber to Tampa General Hospital, where Elalem works as a registered nurse.

Amber was diagnosed with a strained ligament; the teenager's knee was placed in a brace called an immobilizer, and she received crutches, with instructions not to put weight on the knee, Elalem said.

On Feb. 6, when Amber returned to school, McKee phoned Patricia Elalem asking for a doctor's note for the crutches, Elalem said. Elalem said she didn't know the note was required but phoned the hospital to have a doctor fax a note to the school.

The school fax machine wasn't working, so McKee never received the note, Parnell said.

That morning, McKee took away Amber's crutches, Parnell said.

"She didn't give her access to the elevator. So Amber was forced to walk up and down the stairs until about 1:30 p.m., when she couldn't take the pain anymore," he said.

Elalem said her daughter called her, saying, "I can't walk. Come and get me."

On the way home, Amber said, "You know, the nurse took my crutches this morning and made me walk all day," Elalem recalled.

"I got home, took her immobilizer off, and her kneecap was on the side of her leg," Elalem said.

Amber tried physical therapy for a few days but needed knee surgery, her mother said. She had a reaction to the pain medication and was admitted to the hospital for three days. She now is taking medication and watching her diet because she has developed symptoms of an ulcer, her mother said.

"It's been a nightmare. It hasn't stopped," she said.

Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at (813) 259-7800 or vkalfrin@tampatrib.com.

Successful schools will be forced to take pupils expelled for violent and disruptive behaviour

Successful government schools in Great Britain will be forced to take students who have been expelled for violent and disruptive behavior. That's government education for you.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=546228&in_page_id=1770

Popular schools will be forced to take on pupils who have been expelled for violent and disruptive behaviour.

Under a Government plan, all heads who expel a pupil will be expected to admit a child who has been thrown out of a neighbouring school on a "one out, one in," basis.

Sought-after schools which would have given their vacant place to a child on the waiting list would instead have to admit an unruly youngster.

They would also have to accommodate disruptive children at other times in "managed moves".

The plan, which Children's Secretary Ed Balls wants to enshrine in law, would prevent classroom hooligans from becoming concentrated in struggling schools.

But critics warned last night that discipline problems would be imported into schools which have so far managed to keep order.

The move was being seen as a fresh strike at faith schools, days after some were accused of breaking admissions rules by taking "voluntary" payments in return for places.

This plan could force them to accept pupils of a different religion instead of believers on their waiting list.

Many schools already participate in voluntary partnerships, in which they agree common rules and pool resources for dealing with disruptive children.

But Mr Balls said some groups were not operating particularly well and some schools had not signed up.

Michael Grove, the Tory children's spokesman, said: "What head teachers need is the power to exclude troublemakers without having their decision over-ridden."

Balls

School's Secretary Ed Balls said he would change the law 'at the earliest opportunity'

Sir Alan Steer, head of Seven Kings High School in Ilford, was given the task of looking at government reforms aimed at raising discipline standards and recommended some schools — particularly popular faith schools — should now be forced by law to join local "behaviour partnerships".

He said a number of schools including those independent of local authority control were avoiding taking in excluded or so-called 'difficult' pupils and demanded a change to the process.

In a report published today, Sir Alan said: "A school that permanently excludes a child should expect to receive a permanently excluded child on the principle of one out, one in.

"It remains my firm view that all secondary schools — including new and existing academies, foundation schools and pupil referral units, should participate in behaviour partnerships."

Mr Balls told the NASUWT teachers' union conference in Birmingham that he accepted Sir Alan's recommendation and added: "Schools require support — from each other, from the specialist services in their local authority such as educational psychologists and youth workers, and above all from parents."

Sir Alan said schools had a "social responsibility" to work together to deal with the most badly behaved pupils, although mainstream institutions-would not always be the right place for them.

"I don't want a situation where schools were exporting without accepting their responsibility to import, where they could," he added.

Some parents with children on the waiting list for places at popular schools might protest that, if a vacancy were to become available, their offspring should get in ahead of a child whose behaviour was so bad he or she had been expelled.

But Sir Alan said that, as headteacher of a school that was three or four times over-subscribed, he would still take the expelled pupil over the child on the waiting list.

And even the most out of control children could change his or her ways if moved to a different environment, particularly if the "critical mass" of pupils were well-behaved, Sir Alan said.

"It is easier for me actually to take a child with difficulties than it sometimes is for another school because the critical mass is positive. We shouldn't say every child that gets excluded is an irredeemable villain," he said.

Hard evidence of headteachers of successful schools refusing to take in problem pupils is difficult to find but plenty of anecdotal accounts suggest the avoidance tactic is widespread as schools seek to preserve their league table positions and popularity.

The law change could create new discipline problems in schools that have been able to improve behaviour by ejecting the children responsible.