High School Students Given Survey On How They Lost Their Virginity

Click to read original article from World Net Daily

By Bob Unruh
© 2010 WorldNetDaily

A team of lawyers who advocate for parental rights is working with parents whose children attend Ventura High School in Southern California to raise a formal objection after teachers had students fill out a survey on sex with questions such as "Are you sexually active" and "If not, why not?"
Brad Dacus, president of Pacific Justice Institute, said the first step will be to file an administrative complaint.
"The parents have tried to reason with school officials about this, but so far administrators have failed to grasp that giving the students this survey without prior written notice and consent was illegal," he said.
The survey was reported in the student Cougar Press in December. The report apparently was not included as part of the paper's ordinary online presentation, officials said, but was obtained by a parent who posted the pages only for other parents to see.


The newspaper, in addition to the sex survey results, included a page of photographs of students revealing what songs put them "in the mood," a sex crossword puzzle and other advocacy for being sexually active.
A school spokesman said officials could not comment.

Dacus told WND schools should know that parents need to be able to trust their schools for the education system to work.
"When parental trust is breached, then school districts end up losing that participation," he said. "If school districts … want to be successful, they have to respect the rights of parents and not be caught doing things behind the backs of parents."
He said the primary issue is that a state law forbids such sex surveys without parental knowledge.

He said the problem only was revealed because a student took a copy home, in violation of instructions she was given, and some parents found out.
The questions included:

• What grade were you in when you lost your virginity?
  
  
• What is your overall number of partners you have engaged in sexual activity with?
  
  
• Were you sober the first time you engaged in sexual activity?"
  
  
• Have you or your partner ever had an abortion?"
  
  
• How often do you engage in sexual activity?"
  
  
• Are your parents aware of your sexual activity?

Pacific Justice said that according to the newspaper, the survey was given to 1,000 students in every grade in high school. The organization said it was administered with the knowledge and assistance of the high school during second class period and had no relationship to any subject the students were enrolled in at that time.
"The school allowed the use of instructional time to administer the survey and the teachers then collected it and handed it over to the newspaper," said parent John Silva, who obtained a copy of the newspaper from a concerned student.
"Because the sex survey was given without prior written notice and subsequent written consent by the parents or guardians, the school violated the law," said Kevin Snider, chief counsel of the Pacific Justice Institute.
"By facilitating the newspaper to conduct the survey, we feel the school was complicit in violating the rights of the parents," said Julie Wilson, a parent of a high school student.

Obama Administration To Hold Meeting with Atheist Anti-Religion Hate Groups

Click to read original Article from Christian News Wire

MEDIA ADVISORY, Feb. 26 /Christian Newswire/ -- The advocacy group In God We Trust today ripped the Obama administration for meeting to plot political strategy with 60 atheist activists representing organizations comprising the Secular Coalition of America.

"It is one thing for Administration to meet with groups of varying viewpoints, but it is quite another for a senior official to sit down with activists representing some of the most hate-filled, anti-religious groups in the nation," says In God We Trust's Chairman Bishop Council Nedd.

Tina Tchen, the director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, will meet with representatives from groups that comprise the Coalition. The Coalition's sponsoring organization's include American Atheists, founded by Madalyn Murray O'Hare and the Freedom from Religion Foundation which is campaigning to stop the post office from issuing a stamp honoring Mother Theresa.

"President Obama seems to believe that it is a good idea to have a key senior aide plan political strategy with people who believe faith in God is a disease," Nedd says. "Some of the people in this coalition believe the world would be better off with no Christians and no Jews and they aren't shy about it. The fact that this meeting is happening at all is an affront to the vast majority of people of all faiths who believe in God."

According to the Freedom from Religion Foundation's President Dan Barker, "Christianity is an enemy to humanity, and the antithesis of freedom." (Dan Barker, Freedom from Religion Foundation Co-President in Losing Faith in Faith Page 255) and "Religion also poses a danger to mental health, damaging self-respect, personal responsibility, and clarity of thought." (Losing Faith in Faith Page 217.)

Madalyn Murray OHare declared, "Ours is a time when successful struggle against this reactionary philosophy requires more than a petulant argument over the authorship of the Gospels, more than a negative attack on the totalitarian and monolithic authoritarianism of conventional religion, but rather an aggressive action program to spread the positive philosophy of materialism." (Source: American Atheists website.)

"The President should tell the American people whether he believes these groups' hate-filled views to be 'mainstream' and worthy of his supposedly inclusive administration," Nedd says.

In God We Trust is a national political advocacy organization with over 70,000 supporters of various faiths. Council Nedd is a traditional Episcopal priest and serves as the Bishop of the Chesapeake and Northeast for the Episcopal Missionary Church. On the Internet: www.InGodWeTrustUSA.org.

2 College Students Held at Gun Point While Simulating Homeless Experience

Click to read original Article at WISTV.com

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - Paul Bowers and Matt Wolfer are seniors at the University of South Carolina. The pair wanted to take part in a unique social experiment by becoming homeless for one week.
On Friday night, they tried out a test run. However, they got more than they bargained for on the test.
"One of the guys pulled out a shotgun," said Bowers.
Bowers and Wolfer say they were robbed shortly before dozing off to sleep underneath a gazebo in the park by the corner of Blossom Street and Pickens.
They expected to experience what a night in the cold would feel like, but what they experienced was much more severe.
"These three guys come in through that gate down there," said Bowers. "When they were in a few feet of the gazebo, one of them said something to the effect of 'What you got?'"
"Weren't quite sure what was going on until we saw the guns and realized more of their intent," said Wolfer.
That's when things quickly spiraled.
"He had it pointed at me at my chest," said Bowers, describing the suspect holding a gun to him. "They're asking for cell phones, wallets, we don't have anything."
"I heard Paul get slapped and then shoved," said Wolfer.
"Matt looked over and he got pistol whipped a couple times," said Bowers.
"At that point, they realized we really didn't have anything so they ran off," said Wolfer.
Since they didn't bring cell phones, it took a while before they were able to call police.
"What we experienced Friday night is something that happens all the time to homeless people," said Bowers.

Kentucky Middle School Student Suspended for Saying NO To Drugs!

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from Wave 3.com

JEFFERSONVILLE, IN (WAVE) - The parents of a Kentuckiana seventh grade student say their young daughter was suspended from school for doing exactly what she's been taught to do for years - to just say no to drugs.
The girl did not bring the prescription drug to her Jeffersonville, IN school, nor did she take it, but she admits that she touched it and in Greater Clark County Schools that is drug possession.  
Rachael Greer said it happened on Feb. 23 during fifth period gym class at River Valley Middle School when a girl walked into the locker room with a bag of pills.
"She was talking to another girl and me about them and she put one in my hand and I was like, ‘I don't want this,' so I put it back in the bag and I went to gym class," said Rachael.
The pills were the prescription ADHD drug, Adderall. Patty Greer, Rachael's mother, said she and her husband are proud of their daughter for turning down drugs, just like she's been taught for years by DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) instructors at school.
"I'm proud her conscience kicked in and she said, ‘No, I'm not taking this. Here you can have it back,'" Patty Greer said.
But just saying no didn't end the trouble for Rachael. During the next period, an assistant principal came and took Rachael out of class. It turned out the girl who originally had the pills and a few other students got caught. That's when the assistant principal gave Rachael a decision.
"We're suspending you for five days because it was in your hand," said Rachael.
After hearing the news, Patty Greer went to school officials.
"He said she wrote it down on a witness statement and she had told the truth, he said she was very, very honest and he said he was sorry he had to do it but it was school policy," said Patty Greer.
According to Greater Clark County Schools district policy, even a touch equals drug possession and a one week suspension.
"The fact of the matter is, there were drugs on school campus and it was handled, so there was a violation of our policy," said Martin Bell, COO of Greater Clark County Schools.
We wanted to know what would have happened if Rachael had told a teacher right away. Bell said the punishment would not have been any different. District officials say if they're not strict about drug policies no one will take them seriously.
"That's not a good policy," said Patty Greer. "We're teaching our kids if you say no to drugs you're going to get punished, it's not right."

"Safe School" Czar seeks Transgender School Goals

Click to read original Article from World Net Daily

© 2010 WorldNetDaily

President Obama's 'safe schools' czar, Kevin Jennings, sees his transgender plans for public and private schools within reach in a move developing in the state of Maine.
A hearing is scheduled next week on a proposal before the Maine Human Rights Commission to make allowances statewide for 'transgender' students. An organization founded by Jennings is behind the effort, according to a new report.
The plan essentially would instruct schools to allow boys who say they are transgender to use girls' facilities, such as restrooms and locker rooms, and vice versa.
Mass Resistance, a Massachusetts organization that works to counteract the advance of homosexual activism, has documented in a new report that the Jennings-launched "Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network" "has played a key role in the nightmare plan to transgenderize restrooms in Maine's schools."

The newspaper

report said representatives from several "gay and lesbian" groups were involved in a Dec. 15 workshop with the Human Rights Commission on the guidelines.
"One of them was Peter Rees of the Downeast Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network [GLSEN] based in Ellsworth," the report said. "Rees said people who oppose rights for transgender students – such as allowing them to use locker rooms with people who are biologically of the opposite sex — fear something 'that just isn’t borne out in reality.'"

The Mass Resistance report noted Rees said, "What do they think is going to happen? That boy who is identifying as a girl is not going to be displaying herself in a girls' locker room. She's going to be acting as much like a girl as possible and being very modest."
But Mass Resistance wondered just what that means.
"'She' – meaning a boy – will be 'acting … like a girl … and being very modest.' But wait! We thought we weren’t supposed to stereotype on the basis of gender!? How confusing!" the Mass Resistance report said.
The organization also cited a 2008 report to the governor in Maine from the "LGBT Youth Commission," which cited GLSEN as an authoritative source on "what needs to be done in the schools."
"Maine's 2005 anti-discrimination law – covering the essentially undefined revolutionary concepts 'sexual orientation' and 'gender identity or expression' – has opened the door to the horror of boys using girls' restrooms and locker rooms (and vice versa), and playing on opposite-sex sports teams, in schools," Mass Resistance said.
The report also cited an incident in which a GLSEN-Boston board member talked to a classroom of third-graders about a student transitioning to "become a woman."
"'Safe Schools Czar' Jennings was one of the masterminds of this insanity being foisted upon young children across the country," the Mass Resistance report said. "He founded GLSEN shortly after his participation in the 1987 gay march on Washington. He apparently also participated in the 1993 gay march on the capitol, which was the first big event to push 'gender identity' non-discrimination alongside 'gay and lesbian rights' demands."
Last May, WND broke the news of Jennings' federal appointment to oversee "safety" in the nation's public schools after he had boasted of using the theme to promote homosexuality and other alternative sexual lifestyles to students.

Teen Helps Inspire California To Pass Cuss Free Week in March

Click to read original article from 3 KCRA.com

SACRAMENTO, Calif. --

A South Pasadena teen who inspired a no-cussing measure says he's received bomb and death threats in response to his crusade to clean up dirty mouths.The California Assembly has passed a resolution that would establish the first week of March as Cuss Free Week throughout the state.The resolution by Assemblyman Anthony Portantino, D-La Canada Flintridge, was approved on a voice vote Thursday and will be considered by the state Senate next week.McKay Hatch, who started a No Cussing Club at his junior high school in 2007, a movement that led to similar clubs in every state and 20 countries.Hatch traveled to Sacramento with his family to support the resolution. He sees a link between foul-mouthed incivility and other forms of problem behavior, such as drug use and bullying.However, the teen said that his efforts were received with hostility from the public."One day on Jan. 4, 2009, I think it was, we received 60,000 e-mails. And I was like, 'Sweet, that's pretty cool,'" Hatch said. "But actually what it was was a bunch of death threats of people trying to stop what I was doing and we actually had a couple bomb threats on our house."Hatch said because of those bomb threats, there is now a police car parked in front of his family's house."But I realize now they are bullies, and so I'm not going to let the bullies win," Hatch said.

However, Hatch said he's been getting positive support as well to his no-cussing club."We get a lot more support than we do death threats," Hatch said. "Really wants me to keep going."Hatch brought glass jars to the state Capitol Thursday, which he uses as a receptacles for change as penitence when people swear. He left one of those jars at the governor's office.The teen said he hopes legislatures in other states adopt similar resolutions on cussing.

Rifqa Bary: Reconciliation With Family Not Possible

 Click to read original article from The Chillicothe Gazette

COLUMBUS OHIO -- A teenage runaway who fled Columbus with the alleged help of Christian pastors, claiming she'd be harmed for converting from Islam to Christianity, said a reconciliation with her Muslim parents no longer is possible.
 Efforts by Ohio and Florida courts to reunify Rifqa Bary with her family have failed and she continues to fear being hurt by her parents, according to a court filing by Bary's attorneys.
"Bary continues to refuse any contact with her parents and has made clear that she does not foresee a time when she will agree to have any contact with her parents," Bary's attorneys said in the Monday filing in Franklin County Juvenile Court.
Bary, 17, wants Judge Elizabeth Gill to rule a reunion impossible and that it's not in Bary's best interest to be returned to her native Sri Lanka. A hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.
Bary's parents, Mohamed and Aysha Bary, pulled out of a deal in January that would have included counseling as part of a reunion effort. The parents alleged that the county child welfare agency, which now has custody of the girl and which developed the reconciliation plan, still was allowing her to talk to the Florida pastor and his wife who sheltered Rifqa there.
Police in Columbus are investigating whether anyone broke the law helping Bary leave home for Florida in July.
Bary's father alleges a Columbus minister drove Bary to a Greyhound station where she received a bus ticket and took a bus to Orlando, Fla. There, she stayed with the minister and his wife -- whom she met through Facebook -- for about two weeks before the state of Florida took custody of her.
Monday's filing also alleges Bary would be harmed or killed if she returns to Sri Lanka and raises questions about the girl's legal status in the United States.
The document notes that federal law allows "an undocumented immigrant minor" to receive permanent resident status when placed in long-term foster care by a judge.
Bary's legal status has not previously been an issue in her case. The attorneys who filed the document are under a gag order and can't comment.
The filing alleges Bary has been threatened by Muslim fundamentalists in Sri Lanka and that she could be killed for converting if she returns.
Because of "the death threats from extremists and third parties in Sri Lanka, Ms. Bary legitimately fears being forced to return to her home country," the filing said.
Police in Florida and Columbus found no evidence the girl faced harm in Ohio.

North Carolina Student Refuses to do homework assignment on Selling their Soul to the Devil

Click to Read Original Article From
ABC 11 Eye Witness News

FAYETTEVILLE, NC (WTVD) -- A Cumberland County high school student says a homework assignment violated her Christian beliefs, so she took a stand.

Tieanna Trough is an A-B honor roll student at Gray's Creek High School. The junior potentially sacrificed her good grades over her Christian faith.

Trough refused to write an essay on making a deal with the Devil.

"I believe you don't write about how to sell your soul to the Devil," she said.

Trough's English class was studying the Washington Irving short story "The Devil and Tom Walker" - a miser who makes a get rich deal with the devil, then later tries to back out of the deal.

Trough says when the teacher told students to write an essay on how they would sell their souls - or what trade they would make with the Devil - she refused, saying that compromised her Christian values and her parents agreed.

"We can't allow God into the classrooms, but yet they are going to allow the Devil in the classroom, that's the way I felt," Trough's mother Monice McLean said. "They were told if they didn't do it they would get a zero."

Monice McLean-Trough says an alternate assignment was also unacceptable, so they complained to school officials.

"I think we had a genuine complaint and we just got lip service instead of really getting attention to the subject," father Frank Trough said.

Trough says other classmates also objected to the assignment.

But the school's principal, John Gibbs, says the short story is text-book curriculum and he hasn't heard any other complaints.

"I don't think it's anything wrong," Gibbs said. "I mean parents are going to do what they think is correct and I respect that, we can sit down and talk about what we think is right."

Trough says what's right is not making a deal with the Devil.

Monday, the school gave Trough a third alternate subject, how and why money is important.

Trough and her parents say that is more agreeable - if not a harder subject to explain.

Trough's parents say they wanted to get their story out just to make sure other parents are aware of what - and how - some things are being taught.

All 74 Teachers From one Road Island School To Receive Pink Slips

Click to read original Article from WPRI.com

CENTRAL FALLS, R.I. (WPRI) - All 74 teachers at Central Falls High School are expected to receive their pink slips on Tuesday.

Superintendent Fraces Gallo announced this month she would fire the teachers at the low-performing school for refusing an improvement plan. It includes an extra 25 minutes in the school day, required teachers to offer tutoring to students and forced teachers to get two weeks of summer training.

The teachers' union says it wants more pay for the additional work. Teachers, along with their supporters, are expected to hold a rally at 4 p.m. on Tuesday to protest the decision.

In the meantime, state Education Commissioner Deborah Gist announced Tuesday she has approved the turnaround model Gallo submitted to her office last week.

“I support doing whatever it takes to get the results we need and to do what’s best for the students in Central Falls High School,” Commissioner Gist said. “I know that there are many great teachers in Central Falls High School. Our goal is to ensure that we have highly effective teachers in every classroom in the school."

Under the intervention protocol , Central falls now has 120 days to develop a plan to improve the high school. Once she approves the plan, Gist said it will go into effect in the fall and will be implemented over a three-year span.

15 year old arrested in Connection With Church Shooting in Richmond California

Link to Video with Raw Footage from the church during the shooting

Click to Read Full Article From KTVU.com

RICHMOND, Calif. -- Richmond police Thursday arrested a 15-year-old boy in connection with a brazen shooting at a Richmond Church during a Sunday morning service.The boy is one of three suspects sought by Richmond police. The suspects -- all Richmond residents in their late teens or early 20s – have remained at large, and an intense search has been under way.At least three search warrants were served Thursday, but only one arrest was made around 7 a.m.The boy was charged with conspiracy to commit a crime, but police would not say if he was one of the shooters inside the church.Police said the shooting might be gang-related but no motive had been determined.A portion of the shooting was caught on camera by a church member who was taping the choir at the time of the attack. That chilling video was given to KTVU. The video shows the congregation, including a man with a young child in his lap, clapping their hands as the choir sings. Suddenly, there is gunfire."You just see a bunch of people... when they started running in, all I could do is tell the choir get down!” said choir member Pam Odom. “And we all fell to the floor. And that was it, it happened so fast."Meanwhile, outrage within the community has continued to mount."We have reached a new low in the city of Richmond," said Rev. Andre Shumake, a local anti-violence advocate."Until we start addressing the issues of these young people's pain, we're going to see more of this happening."The drama began Sunday when three male suspects entered the New Gethsemane Church of God In Christ at about 12:30 p.m. where about 100 people were inside attending the service. Witnesses have told police the three young men strolled down the aisles apparently searching for their victims as the services continued undisturbed.One of the suspects then began shooting at several members of the congregation, according to Richmond police Sgt. Bisa French.French said the teens struck by gunfire were believed to have been targeted, but the shooting does not appear to be gang or drug-related.There have been seven homicides in Richmond so far this year. Just last week a mother of two who was six months pregnant was killed as she sat in a car in front of her father’s home. The fatal shooting came on her son’s birthday.