Cutting class? It'll cost you. Five minutes late? That'll be a five-dollar bill. Schools across the country are increasingly turning to monetary fines as a way to punish students (and often their parents) for their misdeeds. Unexcused absences, tardiness and cursing in class are all infractions that have resulted in fiscal punishments for students. One Texas student racked up more than $600 worth of punishments for swearing in class, while a city in California adopted a policy that would allow schools to charge kids up to $500 for ditching school.
Police officers -- the men in blue whom little boys idolize and want to emulate. Too bad the feeling's not always mutual. A school district police force in California is being criticized because the officer's association produced T-shirts which read "U Raise 'em, We Cage 'em" and featured a picture of a frightened-looking child behind bars. Many are understandably concerned about the impact on student-cop relationships as a result of the shirts. Officer Friendly has left the building, kiddos.
Are Southern kids experiencing a decline in manners? Some are saying that the region, well-known for politeness and social niceties, is slipping into rudeness. There are those who say that good manners are a crucial part of a Southerner's identity and they blame today's parents for failing to instill those manners in the next generation. A longtime teacher in Alabama says that the decline in home-cooked meals is a large part of the problem, as "You don’t need to know all your social graces to sit down at McDonald’s and eat a burger and fries.” Another etiquette teacher sees the problem stemming from two-parent working households, because busy, stressed-out parents don't hold their children accountable for their behavior. Of course, there are also some who say that criticizing busy parents for taking their kids to fast food restaurants now again, isn't demonstrating the best of manners, either.
Kids smoked pot before medical marijuana was legalized and they smoked it after it was legalized. No more (and, probably, no less). A study in Rhode Island showed that teens there didn't use pot any more after the state legalized medical marijuana than they had beforehand. Researchers had been assessing whether or not middle and high school students used the drug more after it was legalized for medicinal purposes. They didn't.
Dana Macario is a TODAY Moms contributor and Seattle mom to two sleep-depriving toddlers. She is currently developing an alarm clock that will start an IV coffee drip 10 minutes prior to wake-up time. Once properly caffeinated, she also blogs at www.18years2life.com.