"Why make laws to fix a problem when it can be fixed with an ON/OFF switch?"
Because, sadly, you are being raised in a world where most parents no longer pay attention. And the ones who think they are, are easily fooled by the kid who hits the 'jump' button on the remote when Mom or Dad comes in at night to check on them, just to jump it back to whatever they were really watching when they leave. You seem to have parents that do pay attention, and have given you a responsible look at your world. Good for you and good for them, really, I mean it. I say, look a little closer. Look hard at the people you go to school with, the kids on the bus. The girl down the street.
Someone below quoted a FoxNews article about teenage sex saying it's no big deal, and it's always been that way. Ummm - no it hasn't. Sure, many teens enter the sexual world sooner than others, but they didn't have orgies the way they do today. Come on, be honest, you are 14 - I'm sure you know of a few. 15 year-old boys didn't try to make 13 year-old girls give them blow jobs on the back of the bus - esp when it's not even their girlfriend. And, not to veer off-topic, but we didn't have to deal with 15 year-olds becoming addicted to heroin and oxycontin (heroin comes in pill form now and costs only 4bucks a pop - easily had and no needles to scare kids away anymore). This is not toking behind the garage or even taking a 'hard' drug like,LCD, which is non-addictive. One could argue the high number of young stars that are always being reported as nonchalantly entering rehab might have something to do with it. The problem? Most teens don't have access to the 30 or 40 grand it will take to get them into rehab the way these rich stars do.
This isn't a lingerie poster were talking about. It's out-right porn for teens on MTV (which the FCC can't do anything about). Orgies in the hot tub on Real World. One girl taking a shower with 3 boys on Road Rules. Teenage parties, that are not shown on TV, where the boys line up and whip it out so they can get sucked off by the row of 13 year-old girls going by. For the parents of teens out there - go ahead - have a very frank talk about this with your kids - you'll find out.
As far as "doesn't the govt have anything better to do?", I say no. Esp not the FCC. It is their job, and it's about time they started doing it. Does the world really need to listen to Stern ask some young model what kind of things she sticks in her vagina, and which one gets her more excited? He knows what he's doing, he does it because it makes him rich. Some people care about others and the world around them, others see them as a potential paycheck.
I was raised on Happy Days and the Waltons, during a time when girls were respected and treated like ladies (except for the creepy boys who always tried to convince you to do something, but somehow girls still knew how to say no). Your generation got Howard Stern and Stringer - and I am sorry for that, because it's my generation that gave you that world.
"I for one am sick of these 'think of the children!!!' laws, which don't help the children at all. Being 14..."
Being 14, means you are about to inherit the world, or at least this country. Just a couple of more years under the protection of good parents, and you will be walking around in it. I am glad at such a young age you are paying attention, and are mature enough to have a voice. I hope that you will continue to 'pay attention', whether it be against laws that 'think of the children', or for them doesn't matter. As long as you remain aware of the world around you, and let that voice grow stonger.
This back and forth between MPAA and RIAA and their cries over poverty and theft ruining their bottom line - then vehemently debated by many here proclaiming that these movie previews HELP spur more movie sales, not the other way around.
Wouldn't it be interesting if a different boycott could be arranged - one where instead of everyone saying 'don't buy music, don't movies', we just say - for one good movie - Don't record it? Do not let it hit the internet? Not one little copy? If we look back at the Matrix, Spiderman, et al., these were heavily taped and found online, only to have their ticket sales soar into the hundreds of millions. So many here could claim, 'See, it didn't hurt at all - it probably helped as advertising.' It is an argument that I agree with, that the people who take the time to hunt for and download a grainy copy are those who are the movies biggest fans anyway, and they just can't wait to see it. It won't stop them from going to the movie, buying the DVD - they just want to get their hands on all of it.
Soooo - what if? Let's take Spiderman2 about to come out soon. I suppose to prove a theory one way or the other, something needs to give. Otherwise it remains theory. So imagine if not one copy of Spiderman2 were released online? And what if, instead of a blockbuster, the movie only produced a lackluster performance? That could add fuel to the argument that the pre-recording really was helping after all, and the MPAA just shot themselves in foot - again. If sales are about the same, it could prove that the pre-recording didn't make a difference. Does the MPAA really think that they could have earned more than the 300 to 500 million some of these movies make? I know that there are many holes in my idea, and it would be almost impossible to pull together a united, worldwide 'freeze-frame' event. But still, it makes me wonder - what if?
yes, both the Broderbund and Palm are nuts already. I'm in K-12 ed and we have tons of old stuff, and a lot of new, most requiring admin, such an enormous variety between the K-5 grades and higher grades. Some programs put files on the hard drive, and we have to pick those out and give 'Authenticated Users' full control just to get them to run. Even if you went out today and bought a Math Blaster type game, if you looked at the files on the CD, you would see a lot of things dated 1999 or 2001. Scary. But we are forced to rely on these things, and we are at the mercy of the vendors who should be more proactive at keeping their stuff up to date, and MS, who keeps changing the way things run, forcing these vendors to keep going back and fixing things. A vicious cycle, leaving customers like us stuck in work-around mode.
Monopoly indeed. Look at some of the press articles from the DiscLive site. CC and DL have been going to toe to toe for a while with this. Of course, from this one article, it is clear that CC clearly has the upper hand:
"But who will have final say over these recordings? Simon says, "As the promoter/venue owner we do not need special permission from the promoter/venue owner to record shows."
I can see CC refusing mechanical licenses to to DL as they are the 'owners' of most of the venues.
Note that DiscLive has applied for a patent too:
"DiscLive has developed a patent pending proprietary technology that enables the mass-production of CDs and DVDs within minutes of the end of a concert."
As a frequent gatherer of legal live recordings, I think the prior art is with the fans, as they are the ones who have been plugging into soundboards and passing out free CDs immediately after a show that allows live recording, since the day laptops came with burners in them. One just need to look at a site like FurthurNet to see the hundreds of legal recordings available for download (their software and registration required to download), many of which were issued immediatley after the show.
Why not here? The fact that running XP realisticly in a real-time environment is a major PITA may not be new news, but it's still news worthy. I'm in education and I have lost track of the number of software apps that XP killed on me. Who cares if they have a compatibility tool kit? Who has time for that?
The point is, the policies are ok if they are an option, note that not too many ppl used them in Win95/98. Now everyone is forced to use them. Mr gates decided how everyone should run their business, school whatever, without really thinking out HOW we use them.
Elem school CDs - those little reader rabbits and what not - all dead! Half our databases needed tweaking. Sure, we have to wait for the software vendors to get up to speed with ms, takes months! In the meantime, you find a reasonable workaround, or you don't use it anymore.
Even something a fairly new and robust as a palm pilot - even the default XP built in ordinary users policies - the users can't install the palm software, requiring an admin to do something they should be able to do for themselves. But as an admin, you can't install an outlook policy for another user!!!!! What to do? We add the user as an admin to local machine, install the palm sw, put the user back to ordinary, log in as us and go to the palm folder, ensure "Authenticated Users" has full control of the palm folder (or minimum of Read/Exe - depends on if the app writes or not)- then everything works!!
We use Authenticated Users added to just about everything to get past our XP annoyances. In NT world it was "Everyone". I found that doesn't work so well. I have managed to add AU to just one file that a program has installed - and in a very weird one, I had to add it the shortcuts with full control - go figure XP - to get things working. I know one guy who allows full access to the C: Drive via group policy, but then hides the C: drive as another solution, but more pop ups that way. My way also doesn't stop most of those little pop-up and malicious web page trojans from coming through! The companies that write that garbage could care less about ms rules, I'm sure they do all they can to get around it.
I did something similar several years ago for a public school district. 9 buildings, each one 1/2 mile to 3 miles apart. We didn't have much of a budget, so we looked at all existing cabling in each building and what was already coming off of the telephone poles. We got lucky, there was a cable coax line going into each building, with two channels. Channel A was used for public television, Channel B was unused. So we spent around 10K in headend equipment and a cable modem for each building, with the exception of finding a few bad taps or splitters on the poles around town, it was really quite simple to set up. You say you use satelite and phone? Figure out where your headend will be, and how each building will connect to the other. Then figure out how to get access to the headend.
"custom software (subject to service occupation tax on the value of tangible personal property transferred with the software)""
I think the word 'custom' is being taken out of context here. They already tax custom, I read this as they mearly want to define custom so it maintains a clear distinction against 'licensed' software - which is currently untaxed.
"...and software licensed or leased by the developer (currently not taxed). "
"Collect sales tax on software packages (currently paid by consumers but not by business) - $64.0 million""
To me the above means, a large corp can go out and purchase one copy of COTS (commercial off the shelf) software, which is taxed, then purchase 1000 software licenses, allowing the use on the one taxed item to be used 1000 more times - which is currently untaxed. So as 'consumer' I go out and buy whatever, and I pay tax at the store. But a 'business' goes out and buys one, pays a tax, but does not pay tax on the legal additional use of the software. I read this as a way of taxing the now untaxed extra licenses, not necessarily 'custom' software.
I agree. There are so many holes with this process, I don't even know where to begin. As an admin of a school system, I am stunned that the feds would even consider going over a supers head and not let them know what was happening. If they are trying to make an example, they really picked the wrong target. A school district is a like a mini city, and it is utterly ignorant of the feds to think they can take their internet/email away and not have an impact on the functioning of the district. The days of losing email access for a day or two in schools is long over. They now run mission critical apps just like everyone else. Imagine if it was payroll day? Most payrolls are electronically submitted to the paying bank. There are several accounts in a district that get updated like this. Due to all the COPA who knows what-the-law-is-named-now crap to protect kids online, just about every school in the country runs a filter or they will lose e-rate money, and as is indicated in the article, the do block downloading sites as best they can. (just another reason why federally forcing schools to run filters doesn't work, because they don't always work right, as indicated). Everyone has a logon so it can be traced? Bah! Not in an open lab. Our own downloading has slowed to a trickle, but it hasn't stopped. Everyone uses home directories, they can't access the C: drive, so we periodically search the server drives for *.mp3, or *.exe, etc. We catch a few that way, and things get deleted. As far as organized crime is concerned, the only way that would play in is if one of their servers was hacked, they didn't know it, and someone out there was streaming music/movies from their server (and stealing their bandwidth to boot) without their knowledge. That is no reason to bust in to a school like they are the bad guys. That actually happened to me once, someone had posted 10+ movies to our ftp site overnight, I hadn't put the MS lockdown tools on yet. But it was found in a couple of days and the movies were deleted. That doesn't make us bad guys, just another business getting caught in the same traps as everyone else out there, correcting it and moving on.
I can't believe they didn't even send a letter with any chance of making right before pulling a 'raid'. In most cases the ISP is the one who sends a letter to suspected pirater, giving them a chance amend. There once was a time when you were innocent until proven guilty, just another reason how the DMCA fails this country so miserably. (off note, we should all remember this one during the next round of DMCA comments in 2+ years)
I can imagine how scared the kids might have been because of it, esp on the heels of the Columbine anniversary. FBI agents just standing around their buildings, gaurding doors and not talking to anyone??? Someone out there blew it politically when they tried to make an example of a school district.
Agriculture and Plant patents make up a huge portion of the whole patent operation. So, yes, there a many apple trees that bear apples that are indeed patented. Go to the uspto.gov site and search for "apple AND tree ANDNOT computer" and see how many hits there are.
"What is a plant patent?
A plant patent is granted by the Government to an inventor (or the inventor's hiers or assigns) who has invented or discovered and asexually reproduced a distinct and new variety of plant, other than a tuber propagated plant or a plant found in an uncultivated state. The grant, which lasts for 20 years from the date of filing the application, protects the inventor's right to exclude others from asexually reproducing, selling, or using the plant so reproduced. This protection is limited to a plant in its ordinary meaning:"
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/plant/index.h tml
Here's one for an Apple tree named `Lynn`:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Disclosed is a new and distinct variety of apple (Malus pumila, Mill) that was discovered in a cultivated area of the back yard of my residence off Washington State Highway 28, Rock Island, Wash. The seedling apparently germinated in about 1990 and was basically ignored until it fruited in 1999. I noticed the color and quality of this initial fruit. In the Spring of 2000, I grafted budwood from the seedling onto about 100 `Jonagold` (unpatented) trees growing on Malling 7 (unpatented) rootstock. This grafting took place in Rock Island, Wash. Approximately 10 of these grafts produced fruit in 2001. The fruit from these grafts and other characteristics of these grafts were identical to the fruit and other characteristics of the original seeding, thus confirming the stability of this new variety. I decided to call my new variety `LYNN`.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
My new variety is a seedling apple tree with a distinct pink-red blush over about 20 to 80 percent of the fruit surface, which has a glossy yellow ground color. In addition, the fruit size typically is large, the shape conic, and the flesh crisp, juicy, and sweet-tart in flavor. These characteristics make it a clearly distinct new variety.
This apple of my new variety is very distinctive, not sharing a number of external or internal characteristics with any other variety. The apple of my new variety has the pink on yellow coloring similar to `Winter Banana` (not patented), but is much different in shape. `Winter Banana` is more round in shape with a very shallow basin. `Winter Banana` apple ripens in mid-late October and `Lynn` ripens in mid-September.
I left the corp world several years ago for public school education and have never looked back. Much more flex time, lots of vac time, you'll prob get every holiday listed on the calendar - I get Good Friday - who gets that? Of course there are office style politics, but I don't think they are as bad as the commercial world. Look at the other perks - most universities let you take courses for free - that's how a lot PhD types are born. You will be surrounded by smart, creative, academically like minded ppl - most will love their craft. Some private universities and K-12 private schools include free housing - another major perk if you don't own your own home - no rent, no mortage! There is a private school in my area that offers housing to every employee, whether prof or janitor! Also, most universities allow your children to go there for free, for as long as you are employed! Now that is worth the lower pay right there.
Yes, exactly! It was originally designed as an open-ended invitation to let ANYONE compete if they could build a good vehicle. Over 200 teams applied, spent many, many thousands, then DARPA freaked at the response level and said, "oh, we're sorry, but we decided that we will now only allow 25 enties, and they have to meet these standards" Most of the standards were BS govt paper work and forms, with immediate deadlines that basically eliminated all the garage-type engineers that had spent upwards of 50K of their own money. So DARPA only let the big boys in, basically undermining their own orignal plan? What a joke! Now the big boys flop, so they roll over and say, "Um, well, ok, guess we'll let everyone back in?" I'm sure the folks who spents thousands are glad to have another shot, but this whole program has been completely mismanaged from the get-go.
I know I am posting this so late, that no one may ever see it - but I just have to say, after reading through the replies - We were basically asked - what was cool, what do you miss about the dot.com era, and most of the replies are about how easy it was to screw over a vendor!!!! So many ppl found a way to profit over a vendor's attempt to offer a deal to the customer - buying online then selling it for more on eBay, while having the vendor ship for you?? Getting extra checks and just keeping them? Signing up to browse the web then having a mouse emulator do it for you?? The list goes on. Just one more element to add to the long list of failed business practices that led up to a very fateful economical crash. And some of those very same ppl who did the screwing, are now themselves screwed as they are unemployed, etc. Sheesh!!!
If I had to pick which space program to fund, I would choose planning for war in space before I would put a man on Mars. Mars is a big dead rock. It may have held life at some point, maybe not. We can put a robot up there today to help take a peek, 10 years from now, they'll probably be shipping samples back to earth. Having someone bypass our ground/shore weapons and detection systems, by shooting at us from outer space, seems to be a lot more likely than finding someone to talk to on Mars.
"Let's do the math: According to its latest earnings report, Apple averaged $349 in revenue per iPod sold. If prices remain stable, 3 million iPods would generate more than $1 billion in revenue. Four million units could produce $1.4 billion in sales. Apple sold $345 million in iPods during fiscal 2003.
Turning the dial to iTunes, Apple says that more than 30 million songs have been sold to date, with 17 million of those coming during the Christmas quarter. The Pepsi promotion should dramatically increase iTunes traffic. Add in the help from HP and paid downloads could pass 100 million during 2004. At that level, Apple should make a few pennies per song, up from zero now."
I'm a big Pixar/Toy Story fan, and I really liked Nemo too. But I happened to rent both DVDs a week apart and think that Ice Age (2002)really won out. It's made by Fox Home Entertainment, and not Pixar, but they really nailed it on the animation, the sweet story, the subtle adult humor, etc. It has more of a Monsters flair, which was also great. The second DVD, for those into animation, includes multimode cuts of the movie - showing how the animation is framed in before the finished product. I was really impressed and don't think the movie got a fair shake competing with Pixar.
I have always wanted to do something like this myself. I am not sure about the electrical requirement in a foreign country. I thought there was an issue with getting donated computers from say, the USA, and using them where the power is different.
Assuming power is not an issue, then there are many organizations willing to donate older computers. I work in a school system, and we have had to do this ourselves in the past. Today, we are in a good spot, and are now recycling some older computers. If they would run in Uganda, I'm sure I could get you a few. Possibly even an older server, and I know we have some old hubs. They all have network cards in them and a couple may even have modems (dumb question - do modems made for the US work only on US tele systems? - and before anyone think's it is so dumb, I know monitors are calibrated according to whether they are being shipped north or south of the equator)
Then the next problem is shipping - how do these things get there? We don't have the money for that, fund raising would have to happen, and I don't even know how to get these things over. Pardon my ignorance, I am not a foreign traveler or aide, but I often see where donations are made to a country, and then that donation is stolen by gangs and sold on the black market long before it ever gets to the destination. So when I say the proper shipping, I mean the proper channels of security so it will truly arrive safely.
Next up is language. If the primary language is not English, then software licensing takes a whole different turn. If that is a problem, then I would suggest some form of Linux for a more affordable OS. Again, is there a language barrier there?
Since you are in Scouts, then you are in a prime spot to work with a local University and public school system. This is exactly the kind of project a school could get very excited about. Kids, they love to make things and collect things and ship them to soldiers. They collect coats for the homeless, and they really take a lot of pride in doing this. If you don't know anyone, I know a few and would be glad to help. If you are not able to take a qualified network type with you (like me!) then shipping you off prepared with some standard procedures for setting up a simple network should be all you need. If you did have at least one form of Internet access, then email/messaging/chat can talk you through a problem.
One way to approach this is to know what the needs are, then have the entire network mocked up here, then when it is shipped, you basically just need to plug it in.
But a better way, is set it all up there. That way there is the opportunity to train those people on staff there so that they may be able to take care of the system themselves when the job is complete.
Good luck with this - there are way too many old computers and old books (off topic - but did you know that public libraries and schools simply throw their old books away????) that simply go to the landfill because no one knows what to do with them!
I'm a Web Weaver fan (McWeb Software). It only costs around 20 for the standard and 25 for the plus, which I would recommend as you get the extras like JPerk. It's been around for a few years. You work in an HTML environment rather than a visual, HTML blind environment like FrontPage. But there is also Web WeaverEZ, which is for FREE and a great way to get started. It is frequently used in a school lab environment.
And I respond: Fuck you. Yes, I know, classic argument technique, but school shouldn't be about fucking productivity. If you rely on the spell checker to tell you when you make a fucking mistake, what the fuck do you do on paper when you don't have that tool?
Whoa. There are so many holes in this news story, I could probably write a counter article, but you are talking about productivity here, so I will stick to that one point.
If there is any one area where technology has improved schools, it is most certainly in productivity. Why on earth would that be a bad thing? Ppl always think every dollar should go to the classroom, forgetting that there is an enormous administrative function happening in the background of every school district. The ironic twist is that the more productive these processes become, results in more time and energy these folks have to focus on education!
I left the commercial world for school 8 yrs ago, and I can tell you, there is just no comparison between a clerk in one building manually typing a purchase order on 5 part paper, then interoffice mailing, versus being able to enter their POs directly into a district wide financial package running across their LAN. And every teacher I have ever talked to can no longer live without a computer in their classroom. Yes, they get internet and email - which has taken communication between themselves, the district, their principal and the parent (and even some kids) to a whole new level. And attendance. No longer do teachers need to falsely write up a late or skip slip - they can just look at their computer and see little Johnny has been checked into the Nurses office. That few minutes saved is more time spent on instruction - most class periods are only 40 - 45 minutes.
If you ever watched report card and mailing labels being printed on a sprocket dot matrix, you would be glad that the process has gone from two days down to two hours. Yes. That's productivity. Why shouldn't schools be allowed to be just as productive with their time than any other business?
For the rest of the article, I'll just say it is a very narrow view. Clearly there is some poor budgeting and some poor tech integration happening. But there also exists many fine examples of how tech was integrated properly, funded properly, and managed properly.
Very interesting theory to me. As a female who was bullied greatly, I was clearly a 'nobody' surrounded by a lot of Betas. Yeah, there were a couple of Alphas in there, and I did think that they should have defended me somehow. But I have always felt, when I try to describe what happened, that it was some sort of wolf pack mentality. I have said that (mostly to myself) many times.
Actually, I almost dropped out too. That was my plan as soon as I was old enough, I spent all of age 15 just waiting so I could turn 16 and drop out. But my parents begged me to try again. They were going to put me in private school but couldn't afford it. I had asked the guidance counselor if I could transfer to this voc school, and they said, no, my grades weren't good enough. Thank God my dad was smarter than that. He called the voc school himself, and found out, because we lived in the county, and there was only one voc school in the county, any resident was eligible to enroll and the town had no say. Can't believe they lied to me. So that's how I got there. Also, it was just a better school and the teachers were a lot nicer - I think that has an effect on the overall attitude of a school. The first one I went to was just a war zone. I saw fist fights, blood everywhere - and other forms of physical bullying enacted on others, almost every day. I was scared to death most of the time. I'm about to rant here: I developed early (big chest, which is #1 on the list of why girls get bullied) and got attacked in the hallway by 4 boys who went on a boob grabbing spree. I hugged my books as close to my chest as I could, but they kept reaching the sides and snapping my bra - 4 of them. I finally screamed and cried and threw my books - all this while kids where passing and teachers were in the hall! The boys just pointed and laughed (they had just committed sexual assault - that's what we would call it today and they would get arrested for it, but we didn't call it that back then). As I was crying and trying to pick up my books, this guy teacher I didn't know said, ok boys, move on. And then he looked down at me with disgust, and said 'get going' Didn't even ask if I was all right! He rolled his eyes and made me feel like I had it coming (yeah, the girl with big boobs, she must deserve it)
But back to switching schools - there was an article in our local paper about bullying a while back, and a couple of weeks after that some ppl wrote in letters to the editor. They were all about being bullied in school. One was recent, and talked about how she was bullied for two years with kids spreading sexual stories about her that she was sleeping with the Dad of kids she babysat for, and even the teachers were in on it. She then described how the school wouldn't let her switch to a voc school because her grades weren't good enough!!!! It was like my story all over again, only 20 years later - haven't we learned anything????? By the way, they lie, because when a kid leaves for another school, the money follows the kid. And the town now has to take that money and give it to the other school and they don't like to do that. But I believe a students safety should never come down to money or preventing the school from looking bad.
I transfered to a county vocational school (where i was introduced to technology), and yes the bullying and extreme peer pressure stopped cold. I was finally able to fade into the background and go unnoticed. I find it discouraging that the only safe place for a victim is to have to leave, thus causing even more social rejection.
My grades shot up almost immediately - truly a move that saved my life. The bullying sadly did still occur on the street when I hung out with 'friends' on the weekends. It took me way too long to figure out that they were never my friends. Self-esteem and sexual harrassment weren't even terms yet, let alone buzzwords. (late 70's, early 80') My parents went to the principal and the police - boys will be boys they said, and the girls? What's the matter? Can't you just get along? I work in schools now, and what disgusts me, is with all of the new safe school laws and education we have in this area, the bullying hasn't stopped, and with these examples of cyber bullying, only shows how it has only gotten more sophisticated.
That is so old-school - and the reason why bullying still exists today. Violence should never be ignored. It forces the victim to be silent and suffer alone as if they deserved it or did something to cause it (never true), and allows the bullying to continue until it escalates out of control - this is when someone gets hurt - usually the victim again. Trust me, if you have a kid getting bullied in school or on the streets - the very last thing you want to tell them is to ignore it. Hell no. Violence, sexual harrassement, phone stalking, threating emails are all against the law in most states, and if not they are sure to be breaking some type of policy. If the school won't fix it, you can sue the school because schools are federally mandated to provided a SAFE educational environment. Also the police can be called. No - we do not ignore what in reality is a violent crime.
I was bullied greatly in hs and told to ignore it - can you tell?
As another female, I agree with the poster, what he says applies greatly. I would have taken an ass-kicking over what happened to me any day.
It's good that you didn't have to experience bullying in hs. I received tons, and it was the most vicious, demoralizing kind - they'll slut bash you and victimize you verbally, socially ostrasize you, if they can't get you any other way. I did what all bullied kids end up doing, I left that school - a move that saved my life. Also, ANY fight you see is the end result of bullying - it is unresolved conflict that has escalated out of control.
Thank you for that. It is so nice to read about a parent who actually pays attention. I work in schools, and internet safety is so important, yet the numbers of kids getting snatched because they met someone online, just keeps going up. The key point you make is '5 minutes', because that's all it takes. It's not about trusting kids, it's about understanding that without proper adult supervision and guidelines, kids will trip over their own two feet in just five minutes. Making mistakes is part of growing up, most adults understand that. That mistake shouldn't be life endangering or put them on the path to nowhere.
Slashdot Mirror
"Why make laws to fix a problem when it can be fixed with an ON/OFF switch?"
Because, sadly, you are being raised in a world where most parents no longer pay attention. And the ones who think they are, are easily fooled by the kid who hits the 'jump' button on the remote when Mom or Dad comes in at night to check on them, just to jump it back to whatever they were really watching when they leave. You seem to have parents that do pay attention, and have given you a responsible look at your world. Good for you and good for them, really, I mean it. I say, look a little closer. Look hard at the people you go to school with, the kids on the bus. The girl down the street.
Someone below quoted a FoxNews article about teenage sex saying it's no big deal, and it's always been that way. Ummm - no it hasn't. Sure, many teens enter the sexual world sooner than others, but they didn't have orgies the way they do today. Come on, be honest, you are 14 - I'm sure you know of a few. 15 year-old boys didn't try to make 13 year-old girls give them blow jobs on the back of the bus - esp when it's not even their girlfriend. And, not to veer off-topic, but we didn't have to deal with 15 year-olds becoming addicted to heroin and oxycontin (heroin comes in pill form now and costs only 4bucks a pop - easily had and no needles to scare kids away anymore). This is not toking behind the garage or even taking a 'hard' drug like,LCD, which is non-addictive. One could argue the high number of young stars that are always being reported as nonchalantly entering rehab might have something to do with it. The problem? Most teens don't have access to the 30 or 40 grand it will take to get them into rehab the way these rich stars do.
This isn't a lingerie poster were talking about. It's out-right porn for teens on MTV (which the FCC can't do anything about). Orgies in the hot tub on Real World. One girl taking a shower with 3 boys on Road Rules. Teenage parties, that are not shown on TV, where the boys line up and whip it out so they can get sucked off by the row of 13 year-old girls going by. For the parents of teens out there - go ahead - have a very frank talk about this with your kids - you'll find out.
As far as "doesn't the govt have anything better to do?", I say no. Esp not the FCC. It is their job, and it's about time they started doing it. Does the world really need to listen to Stern ask some young model what kind of things she sticks in her vagina, and which one gets her more excited? He knows what he's doing, he does it because it makes him rich. Some people care about others and the world around them, others see them as a potential paycheck.
I was raised on Happy Days and the Waltons, during a time when girls were respected and treated like ladies (except for the creepy boys who always tried to convince you to do something, but somehow girls still knew how to say no). Your generation got Howard Stern and Stringer - and I am sorry for that, because it's my generation that gave you that world.
"I for one am sick of these 'think of the children!!!' laws, which don't help the children at all. Being 14
Being 14, means you are about to inherit the world, or at least this country. Just a couple of more years under the protection of good parents, and you will be walking around in it. I am glad at such a young age you are paying attention, and are mature enough to have a voice. I hope that you will continue to 'pay attention', whether it be against laws that 'think of the children', or for them doesn't matter. As long as you remain aware of the world around you, and let that voice grow stonger.
This back and forth between MPAA and RIAA and their cries over poverty and theft ruining their bottom line - then vehemently debated by many here proclaiming that these movie previews HELP spur more movie sales, not the other way around.
Wouldn't it be interesting if a different boycott could be arranged - one where instead of everyone saying 'don't buy music, don't movies', we just say - for one good movie - Don't record it? Do not let it hit the internet? Not one little copy? If we look back at the Matrix, Spiderman, et al., these were heavily taped and found online, only to have their ticket sales soar into the hundreds of millions. So many here could claim, 'See, it didn't hurt at all - it probably helped as advertising.' It is an argument that I agree with, that the people who take the time to hunt for and download a grainy copy are those who are the movies biggest fans anyway, and they just can't wait to see it. It won't stop them from going to the movie, buying the DVD - they just want to get their hands on all of it.
Soooo - what if? Let's take Spiderman2 about to come out soon. I suppose to prove a theory one way or the other, something needs to give. Otherwise it remains theory. So imagine if not one copy of Spiderman2 were released online? And what if, instead of a blockbuster, the movie only produced a lackluster performance? That could add fuel to the argument that the pre-recording really was helping after all, and the MPAA just shot themselves in foot - again. If sales are about the same, it could prove that the pre-recording didn't make a difference. Does the MPAA really think that they could have earned more than the 300 to 500 million some of these movies make? I know that there are many holes in my idea, and it would be almost impossible to pull together a united, worldwide 'freeze-frame' event. But still, it makes me wonder - what if?
yes, both the Broderbund and Palm are nuts already. I'm in K-12 ed and we have tons of old stuff, and a lot of new, most requiring admin, such an enormous variety between the K-5 grades and higher grades. Some programs put files on the hard drive, and we have to pick those out and give 'Authenticated Users' full control just to get them to run. Even if you went out today and bought a Math Blaster type game, if you looked at the files on the CD, you would see a lot of things dated 1999 or 2001. Scary. But we are forced to rely on these things, and we are at the mercy of the vendors who should be more proactive at keeping their stuff up to date, and MS, who keeps changing the way things run, forcing these vendors to keep going back and fixing things. A vicious cycle, leaving customers like us stuck in work-around mode.
Monopoly indeed. Look at some of the press articles from the DiscLive site. CC and DL have been going to toe to toe for a while with this. Of course, from this one article, it is clear that CC clearly has the upper hand: "But who will have final say over these recordings? Simon says, "As the promoter/venue owner we do not need special permission from the promoter/venue owner to record shows."
I can see CC refusing mechanical licenses to to DL as they are the 'owners' of most of the venues.
Note that DiscLive has applied for a patent too:
"DiscLive has developed a patent pending proprietary technology that enables the mass-production of CDs and DVDs within minutes of the end of a concert."
As a frequent gatherer of legal live recordings, I think the prior art is with the fans, as they are the ones who have been plugging into soundboards and passing out free CDs immediately after a show that allows live recording, since the day laptops came with burners in them. One just need to look at a site like FurthurNet to see the hundreds of legal recordings available for download (their software and registration required to download), many of which were issued immediatley after the show.
Why not here? The fact that running XP realisticly in a real-time environment is a major PITA may not be new news, but it's still news worthy. I'm in education and I have lost track of the number of software apps that XP killed on me. Who cares if they have a compatibility tool kit? Who has time for that?
The point is, the policies are ok if they are an option, note that not too many ppl used them in Win95/98. Now everyone is forced to use them. Mr gates decided how everyone should run their business, school whatever, without really thinking out HOW we use them.
Elem school CDs - those little reader rabbits and what not - all dead! Half our databases needed tweaking. Sure, we have to wait for the software vendors to get up to speed with ms, takes months! In the meantime, you find a reasonable workaround, or you don't use it anymore.
Even something a fairly new and robust as a palm pilot - even the default XP built in ordinary users policies - the users can't install the palm software, requiring an admin to do something they should be able to do for themselves. But as an admin, you can't install an outlook policy for another user!!!!! What to do? We add the user as an admin to local machine, install the palm sw, put the user back to ordinary, log in as us and go to the palm folder, ensure "Authenticated Users" has full control of the palm folder (or minimum of Read/Exe - depends on if the app writes or not)- then everything works!!
We use Authenticated Users added to just about everything to get past our XP annoyances. In NT world it was "Everyone". I found that doesn't work so well. I have managed to add AU to just one file that a program has installed - and in a very weird one, I had to add it the shortcuts with full control - go figure XP - to get things working. I know one guy who allows full access to the C: Drive via group policy, but then hides the C: drive as another solution, but more pop ups that way. My way also doesn't stop most of those little pop-up and malicious web page trojans from coming through! The companies that write that garbage could care less about ms rules, I'm sure they do all they can to get around it.
I did something similar several years ago for a public school district. 9 buildings, each one 1/2 mile to 3 miles apart. We didn't have much of a budget, so we looked at all existing cabling in each building and what was already coming off of the telephone poles. We got lucky, there was a cable coax line going into each building, with two channels. Channel A was used for public television, Channel B was unused. So we spent around 10K in headend equipment and a cable modem for each building, with the exception of finding a few bad taps or splitters on the poles around town, it was really quite simple to set up. You say you use satelite and phone? Figure out where your headend will be, and how each building will connect to the other. Then figure out how to get access to the headend.
"custom software (subject to service occupation tax on the value of tangible personal property transferred with the software)""
I think the word 'custom' is being taken out of context here. They already tax custom, I read this as they mearly want to define custom so it maintains a clear distinction against 'licensed' software - which is currently untaxed.
"...and software licensed or leased by the developer (currently not taxed). "
"Collect sales tax on software packages (currently paid by consumers but not by business) - $64.0 million""
To me the above means, a large corp can go out and purchase one copy of COTS (commercial off the shelf) software, which is taxed, then purchase 1000 software licenses, allowing the use on the one taxed item to be used 1000 more times - which is currently untaxed. So as 'consumer' I go out and buy whatever, and I pay tax at the store. But a 'business' goes out and buys one, pays a tax, but does not pay tax on the legal additional use of the software. I read this as a way of taxing the now untaxed extra licenses, not necessarily 'custom' software.
"This Gestapo crap should not be tolerated."
I agree. There are so many holes with this process, I don't even know where to begin. As an admin of a school system, I am stunned that the feds would even consider going over a supers head and not let them know what was happening. If they are trying to make an example, they really picked the wrong target. A school district is a like a mini city, and it is utterly ignorant of the feds to think they can take their internet/email away and not have an impact on the functioning of the district. The days of losing email access for a day or two in schools is long over. They now run mission critical apps just like everyone else. Imagine if it was payroll day? Most payrolls are electronically submitted to the paying bank. There are several accounts in a district that get updated like this. Due to all the COPA who knows what-the-law-is-named-now crap to protect kids online, just about every school in the country runs a filter or they will lose e-rate money, and as is indicated in the article, the do block downloading sites as best they can. (just another reason why federally forcing schools to run filters doesn't work, because they don't always work right, as indicated). Everyone has a logon so it can be traced? Bah! Not in an open lab. Our own downloading has slowed to a trickle, but it hasn't stopped. Everyone uses home directories, they can't access the C: drive, so we periodically search the server drives for *.mp3, or *.exe, etc. We catch a few that way, and things get deleted. As far as organized crime is concerned, the only way that would play in is if one of their servers was hacked, they didn't know it, and someone out there was streaming music/movies from their server (and stealing their bandwidth to boot) without their knowledge. That is no reason to bust in to a school like they are the bad guys. That actually happened to me once, someone had posted 10+ movies to our ftp site overnight, I hadn't put the MS lockdown tools on yet. But it was found in a couple of days and the movies were deleted. That doesn't make us bad guys, just another business getting caught in the same traps as everyone else out there, correcting it and moving on.
I can't believe they didn't even send a letter with any chance of making right before pulling a 'raid'. In most cases the ISP is the one who sends a letter to suspected pirater, giving them a chance amend. There once was a time when you were innocent until proven guilty, just another reason how the DMCA fails this country so miserably. (off note, we should all remember this one during the next round of DMCA comments in 2+ years)
I can imagine how scared the kids might have been because of it, esp on the heels of the Columbine anniversary. FBI agents just standing around their buildings, gaurding doors and not talking to anyone??? Someone out there blew it politically when they tried to make an example of a school district.
Agriculture and Plant patents make up a huge portion of the whole patent operation. So, yes, there a many apple trees that bear apples that are indeed patented. Go to the uspto.gov site and search for "apple AND tree ANDNOT computer" and see how many hits there are.
h tml
"What is a plant patent?
A plant patent is granted by the Government to an inventor (or the inventor's hiers or assigns) who has invented or discovered and asexually reproduced a distinct and new variety of plant, other than a tuber propagated plant or a plant found in an uncultivated state. The grant, which lasts for 20 years from the date of filing the application, protects the inventor's right to exclude others from asexually reproducing, selling, or using the plant so reproduced. This protection is limited to a plant in its ordinary meaning:" http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/plant/index.
Here's one for an Apple tree named `Lynn`:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Disclosed is a new and distinct variety of apple (Malus pumila, Mill) that was discovered in a cultivated area of the back yard of my residence off Washington State Highway 28, Rock Island, Wash. The seedling apparently germinated in about 1990 and was basically ignored until it fruited in 1999. I noticed the color and quality of this initial fruit. In the Spring of 2000, I grafted budwood from the seedling onto about 100 `Jonagold` (unpatented) trees growing on Malling 7 (unpatented) rootstock. This grafting took place in Rock Island, Wash. Approximately 10 of these grafts produced fruit in 2001. The fruit from these grafts and other characteristics of these grafts were identical to the fruit and other characteristics of the original seeding, thus confirming the stability of this new variety. I decided to call my new variety `LYNN`.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
My new variety is a seedling apple tree with a distinct pink-red blush over about 20 to 80 percent of the fruit surface, which has a glossy yellow ground color. In addition, the fruit size typically is large, the shape conic, and the flesh crisp, juicy, and sweet-tart in flavor. These characteristics make it a clearly distinct new variety.
This apple of my new variety is very distinctive, not sharing a number of external or internal characteristics with any other variety. The apple of my new variety has the pink on yellow coloring similar to `Winter Banana` (not patented), but is much different in shape. `Winter Banana` is more round in shape with a very shallow basin. `Winter Banana` apple ripens in mid-late October and `Lynn` ripens in mid-September.
I left the corp world several years ago for public school education and have never looked back. Much more flex time, lots of vac time, you'll prob get every holiday listed on the calendar - I get Good Friday - who gets that? Of course there are office style politics, but I don't think they are as bad as the commercial world. Look at the other perks - most universities let you take courses for free - that's how a lot PhD types are born. You will be surrounded by smart, creative, academically like minded ppl - most will love their craft. Some private universities and K-12 private schools include free housing - another major perk if you don't own your own home - no rent, no mortage! There is a private school in my area that offers housing to every employee, whether prof or janitor! Also, most universities allow your children to go there for free, for as long as you are employed! Now that is worth the lower pay right there.
Yes, exactly! It was originally designed as an open-ended invitation to let ANYONE compete if they could build a good vehicle. Over 200 teams applied, spent many, many thousands, then DARPA freaked at the response level and said, "oh, we're sorry, but we decided that we will now only allow 25 enties, and they have to meet these standards" Most of the standards were BS govt paper work and forms, with immediate deadlines that basically eliminated all the garage-type engineers that had spent upwards of 50K of their own money. So DARPA only let the big boys in, basically undermining their own orignal plan? What a joke! Now the big boys flop, so they roll over and say, "Um, well, ok, guess we'll let everyone back in?" I'm sure the folks who spents thousands are glad to have another shot, but this whole program has been completely mismanaged from the get-go.
I know I am posting this so late, that no one may ever see it - but I just have to say, after reading through the replies - We were basically asked - what was cool, what do you miss about the dot.com era, and most of the replies are about how easy it was to screw over a vendor!!!! So many ppl found a way to profit over a vendor's attempt to offer a deal to the customer - buying online then selling it for more on eBay, while having the vendor ship for you?? Getting extra checks and just keeping them? Signing up to browse the web then having a mouse emulator do it for you?? The list goes on. Just one more element to add to the long list of failed business practices that led up to a very fateful economical crash. And some of those very same ppl who did the screwing, are now themselves screwed as they are unemployed, etc. Sheesh!!!
If I had to pick which space program to fund, I would choose planning for war in space before I would put a man on Mars. Mars is a big dead rock. It may have held life at some point, maybe not. We can put a robot up there today to help take a peek, 10 years from now, they'll probably be shipping samples back to earth. Having someone bypass our ground/shore weapons and detection systems, by shooting at us from outer space, seems to be a lot more likely than finding someone to talk to on Mars.
The article
"Let's do the math: According to its latest earnings report, Apple averaged $349 in revenue per iPod sold. If prices remain stable, 3 million iPods would generate more than $1 billion in revenue. Four million units could produce $1.4 billion in sales. Apple sold $345 million in iPods during fiscal 2003.
Turning the dial to iTunes, Apple says that more than 30 million songs have been sold to date, with 17 million of those coming during the Christmas quarter. The Pepsi promotion should dramatically increase iTunes traffic. Add in the help from HP and paid downloads could pass 100 million during 2004. At that level, Apple should make a few pennies per song, up from zero now."
I'm a big Pixar/Toy Story fan, and I really liked Nemo too. But I happened to rent both DVDs a week apart and think that Ice Age (2002)really won out. It's made by Fox Home Entertainment, and not Pixar, but they really nailed it on the animation, the sweet story, the subtle adult humor, etc. It has more of a Monsters flair, which was also great. The second DVD, for those into animation, includes multimode cuts of the movie - showing how the animation is framed in before the finished product. I was really impressed and don't think the movie got a fair shake competing with Pixar.
Then find a way to put it into action!
I have always wanted to do something like this myself. I am not sure about the electrical requirement in a foreign country. I thought there was an issue with getting donated computers from say, the USA, and using them where the power is different.
Assuming power is not an issue, then there are many organizations willing to donate older computers. I work in a school system, and we have had to do this ourselves in the past. Today, we are in a good spot, and are now recycling some older computers. If they would run in Uganda, I'm sure I could get you a few. Possibly even an older server, and I know we have some old hubs. They all have network cards in them and a couple may even have modems (dumb question - do modems made for the US work only on US tele systems? - and before anyone think's it is so dumb, I know monitors are calibrated according to whether they are being shipped north or south of the equator)
Then the next problem is shipping - how do these things get there? We don't have the money for that, fund raising would have to happen, and I don't even know how to get these things over. Pardon my ignorance, I am not a foreign traveler or aide, but I often see where donations are made to a country, and then that donation is stolen by gangs and sold on the black market long before it ever gets to the destination. So when I say the proper shipping, I mean the proper channels of security so it will truly arrive safely.
Next up is language. If the primary language is not English, then software licensing takes a whole different turn. If that is a problem, then I would suggest some form of Linux for a more affordable OS. Again, is there a language barrier there?
Since you are in Scouts, then you are in a prime spot to work with a local University and public school system. This is exactly the kind of project a school could get very excited about. Kids, they love to make things and collect things and ship them to soldiers. They collect coats for the homeless, and they really take a lot of pride in doing this. If you don't know anyone, I know a few and would be glad to help. If you are not able to take a qualified network type with you (like me!) then shipping you off prepared with some standard procedures for setting up a simple network should be all you need. If you did have at least one form of Internet access, then email/messaging/chat can talk you through a problem.
One way to approach this is to know what the needs are, then have the entire network mocked up here, then when it is shipped, you basically just need to plug it in.
But a better way, is set it all up there. That way there is the opportunity to train those people on staff there so that they may be able to take care of the system themselves when the job is complete.
Good luck with this - there are way too many old computers and old books (off topic - but did you know that public libraries and schools simply throw their old books away????) that simply go to the landfill because no one knows what to do with them!
Sorry, here's the link:
Web Weaver
I'm a Web Weaver fan (McWeb Software). It only costs around 20 for the standard and 25 for the plus, which I would recommend as you get the extras like JPerk. It's been around for a few years. You work in an HTML environment rather than a visual, HTML blind environment like FrontPage. But there is also Web WeaverEZ, which is for FREE and a great way to get started. It is frequently used in a school lab environment.
And I respond: Fuck you. Yes, I know, classic argument technique, but school shouldn't be about fucking productivity. If you rely on the spell checker to tell you when you make a fucking mistake, what the fuck do you do on paper when you don't have that tool?
Whoa. There are so many holes in this news story, I could probably write a counter article, but you are talking about productivity here, so I will stick to that one point.
If there is any one area where technology has improved schools, it is most certainly in productivity. Why on earth would that be a bad thing? Ppl always think every dollar should go to the classroom, forgetting that there is an enormous administrative function happening in the background of every school district. The ironic twist is that the more productive these processes become, results in more time and energy these folks have to focus on education!
I left the commercial world for school 8 yrs ago, and I can tell you, there is just no comparison between a clerk in one building manually typing a purchase order on 5 part paper, then interoffice mailing, versus being able to enter their POs directly into a district wide financial package running across their LAN. And every teacher I have ever talked to can no longer live without a computer in their classroom. Yes, they get internet and email - which has taken communication between themselves, the district, their principal and the parent (and even some kids) to a whole new level. And attendance. No longer do teachers need to falsely write up a late or skip slip - they can just look at their computer and see little Johnny has been checked into the Nurses office. That few minutes saved is more time spent on instruction - most class periods are only 40 - 45 minutes.
If you ever watched report card and mailing labels being printed on a sprocket dot matrix, you would be glad that the process has gone from two days down to two hours. Yes. That's productivity. Why shouldn't schools be allowed to be just as productive with their time than any other business?
For the rest of the article, I'll just say it is a very narrow view. Clearly there is some poor budgeting and some poor tech integration happening. But there also exists many fine examples of how tech was integrated properly, funded properly, and managed properly.
Very interesting theory to me. As a female who was bullied greatly, I was clearly a 'nobody' surrounded by a lot of Betas. Yeah, there were a couple of Alphas in there, and I did think that they should have defended me somehow. But I have always felt, when I try to describe what happened, that it was some sort of wolf pack mentality. I have said that (mostly to myself) many times.
Actually, I almost dropped out too. That was my plan as soon as I was old enough, I spent all of age 15 just waiting so I could turn 16 and drop out. But my parents begged me to try again. They were going to put me in private school but couldn't afford it. I had asked the guidance counselor if I could transfer to this voc school, and they said, no, my grades weren't good enough. Thank God my dad was smarter than that. He called the voc school himself, and found out, because we lived in the county, and there was only one voc school in the county, any resident was eligible to enroll and the town had no say. Can't believe they lied to me. So that's how I got there. Also, it was just a better school and the teachers were a lot nicer - I think that has an effect on the overall attitude of a school. The first one I went to was just a war zone. I saw fist fights, blood everywhere - and other forms of physical bullying enacted on others, almost every day. I was scared to death most of the time. I'm about to rant here: I developed early (big chest, which is #1 on the list of why girls get bullied) and got attacked in the hallway by 4 boys who went on a boob grabbing spree. I hugged my books as close to my chest as I could, but they kept reaching the sides and snapping my bra - 4 of them. I finally screamed and cried and threw my books - all this while kids where passing and teachers were in the hall! The boys just pointed and laughed (they had just committed sexual assault - that's what we would call it today and they would get arrested for it, but we didn't call it that back then). As I was crying and trying to pick up my books, this guy teacher I didn't know said, ok boys, move on. And then he looked down at me with disgust, and said 'get going' Didn't even ask if I was all right! He rolled his eyes and made me feel like I had it coming (yeah, the girl with big boobs, she must deserve it)
But back to switching schools - there was an article in our local paper about bullying a while back, and a couple of weeks after that some ppl wrote in letters to the editor. They were all about being bullied in school. One was recent, and talked about how she was bullied for two years with kids spreading sexual stories about her that she was sleeping with the Dad of kids she babysat for, and even the teachers were in on it. She then described how the school wouldn't let her switch to a voc school because her grades weren't good enough!!!! It was like my story all over again, only 20 years later - haven't we learned anything????? By the way, they lie, because when a kid leaves for another school, the money follows the kid. And the town now has to take that money and give it to the other school and they don't like to do that. But I believe a students safety should never come down to money or preventing the school from looking bad.
I transfered to a county vocational school (where i was introduced to technology), and yes the bullying and extreme peer pressure stopped cold. I was finally able to fade into the background and go unnoticed. I find it discouraging that the only safe place for a victim is to have to leave, thus causing even more social rejection.
My grades shot up almost immediately - truly a move that saved my life. The bullying sadly did still occur on the street when I hung out with 'friends' on the weekends. It took me way too long to figure out that they were never my friends. Self-esteem and sexual harrassment weren't even terms yet, let alone buzzwords. (late 70's, early 80') My parents went to the principal and the police - boys will be boys they said, and the girls? What's the matter? Can't you just get along? I work in schools now, and what disgusts me, is with all of the new safe school laws and education we have in this area, the bullying hasn't stopped, and with these examples of cyber bullying, only shows how it has only gotten more sophisticated.
That is so old-school - and the reason why bullying still exists today. Violence should never be ignored. It forces the victim to be silent and suffer alone as if they deserved it or did something to cause it (never true), and allows the bullying to continue until it escalates out of control - this is when someone gets hurt - usually the victim again. Trust me, if you have a kid getting bullied in school or on the streets - the very last thing you want to tell them is to ignore it. Hell no. Violence, sexual harrassement, phone stalking, threating emails are all against the law in most states, and if not they are sure to be breaking some type of policy. If the school won't fix it, you can sue the school because schools are federally mandated to provided a SAFE educational environment. Also the police can be called. No - we do not ignore what in reality is a violent crime.
I was bullied greatly in hs and told to ignore it - can you tell?
As another female, I agree with the poster, what he says applies greatly. I would have taken an ass-kicking over what happened to me any day.
It's good that you didn't have to experience bullying in hs. I received tons, and it was the most vicious, demoralizing kind - they'll slut bash you and victimize you verbally, socially ostrasize you, if they can't get you any other way. I did what all bullied kids end up doing, I left that school - a move that saved my life. Also, ANY fight you see is the end result of bullying - it is unresolved conflict that has escalated out of control.
Thank you for that. It is so nice to read about a parent who actually pays attention. I work in schools, and internet safety is so important, yet the numbers of kids getting snatched because they met someone online, just keeps going up. The key point you make is '5 minutes', because that's all it takes. It's not about trusting kids, it's about understanding that without proper adult supervision and guidelines, kids will trip over their own two feet in just five minutes. Making mistakes is part of growing up, most adults understand that. That mistake shouldn't be life endangering or put them on the path to nowhere.