Protests against radio tracking chips for students
People in San Antonio protested having tracking chips in student ID cards. Administrators sold it as a revenue generator since it WILL increase attendance in first-period classes and schools are paid by the day to teach only students present in the first period. The protests couldn’t stop the RFID chips but people continue to argue against the idea.
The ACLU failed to pass California legislation that would have required parental consent before a student had to carry an RFID-enabled device.
A California pre-school used $50,000 of a $160,000 federal Head Start technology grant to tag students. The chips sit in the pocket of a sweater handed out each day.
Would you believe that millions of sentient beings already wear tracking chips? Sheep and cows and many other animals have been tagged for years. That was allowed to happened so our rulers have moved on to humans.
Libertarian politicians would end the mandatory tax money used to fund government schools and allow parents to send their children to any school or no school. Church and state were separated to prevent government officials from forcing beliefs on citizens. School, rather than church, is where most people now learn and we need to update our core approaches by separating school from state.
We will not only have education freedom, we will have educational diversity, with new, unique schools popping up everywhere, ones with curriculums that change with the needs of the markets.
Scottish teenagers to vote in independence referendum
Scottish 16-year-olds and 17-year-olds can vote in the upcoming referendum on Scotland disbanding from the United Kingdom. The Scottish nationalist leader, Alex Salmond, secured this option, believing 16 and 17-year-olds favor independence. Reuters news reports England considered this a large concession. There were other compromises as well, such as England demanding a single yes/no vote rather than a second question about partial independence, requested by Scotland leaders.
Regardless of the outcome, hopefully the new voters retain their voting rights in future referendums and elections. It appears there’s already a movement to give them this freedom.
In Washington, DC, activists recently demanded a lower voting age and abolishing voter ID laws. At the event, National Youth Rights Association Executive Director Bill Bystricky said, “While no nation has ever been perfect in honoring that democratic ideal, America has a proud history of always moving closer to that goal, enfranchising new groups of Americans and expanding democracy. Today we are here to help move America another step forward.” He means another step closer to Scotland, a new role model for the US.
In the US, things may move in the wrong direction, as President Obama wants to force 16 and 17-year-old to remain in government “schools” until they’re 18 or they graduate. Maybe he’s upset young voters are leaning libertarian.
The Libertarian Party’s platform doesn’t mention the voting age…yet.
Read about the Scottish vote.
UPDATED: Distracting, disruptive, non-traditional hair color leads to suspension threat
Dresden Middle School threatens 7th grader w/ suspension & juvenile court due to “non-traditional” hair color which they consider “distracting & disruptive”.
Principal Pam Harris pulled Talise Bryant away from other students on Friday Aug. 16, 2012 to inform her that if her black & pink hair was not in compliance w/ school policy on Monday that they would separate her from other students & not only suspend her but have her taken the to juvenile court & that because she is over the age of 10, no parent or guardian would be allowed to be w/ her & that she (Mr. Harris) highly suggested that Talise dye her hair over the weekend (no parent was called nor at the school at the time of this threat).
Teenager wins right for solo round-the-world sail
Filed under: Government Schools, Rockstars, Your Rights
Sometime you can’t even escape oppression by boat, as a teenager in the Netherlands learned when she decided she wanted to sail solo round-the-world. Laura Decker filed for permission to miss two years of “school.” The local courts responded by allowing the gestapo child protection services to supervise her, citing that she didn’t have a safety plan and lacked sleep management skills, and-heaven forbid-might not continue her mandatory state-enforced “schooling” during the trip. Evidently sailing round the world and meeting people from different cultures is not worth missing calculus class and the local regime’s version of history.
In 2010, the courts reversed their ruling, potentially Decker’s persistence. Pursuing a court case might be proof that one can indeed sail round-the-world.
Decker recently completed her journey in January 2012, arriving in St. Maarten harbor, one year after leaving.
She battled the seas for one year and the local government for two. She is a libertarian rockstar.
Related articles:
- Dutch girl’s solo voyage banned
- Dutch sailor girl put under care
- Court says Dutch teenager Laura Dekker can set sail
- Teenager Dekker completes around-the-world sail
Obama to require “schooling” until 18 or graduation
In his state of the union address, Obama says he wants states to require people to remain in high school until they graduate or turn 18.
“We also know that when students don’t walk away from their education, more of them walk the stage to get their diploma. When students are not allowed to drop out, they do better. So tonight, I am proposing that every state — every state — requires that all students stay in high school until they graduate or turn 18.” (see entire transcript)
Is this the change people were looking for? Obama not only can imprison people in Guantanamo without a trial, he now wants to tighten the informal prison system known as government schooling.
The federal government cannot require this, so it makes it a condition of federal education funding. Some states may refuse the funding for financial reasons, since the federal grant rarely covers the entire cost and states must provide the rest.
You cannot escape this requirement, but you can reduce your time in this system by passing the General Educational Development tests.
Vote for politicians who will end the government’s involvement in education, which forces people to attend until 16 and possibly now 18, takes their money for tuition, teaches them subjects that many don’t want or need, and makes many of them hate learning.
See transcript of State of the Union.
Suspended for growing hair to help cancer patients
A charter high school suspended a student for his long hair that he wants to donate to cancer victims. J.T. Gaskins survived leukemia as a child. He refused to brush his hair differently to mask the length. He’s missed five days of classes and the school sends his work home.
Much of the focus has been on getting the school to compromise. A better outcome would be for the school to simply scrap a policy that echoes the early 1960s. I thought the Beatles showed that long hair is not a problem, and might even help with the creative process.
Some schools back in the 60s likely forced women to wear skirts and to keep their hair long. Women’s rights have progressed. Now we need freedom for everyone to dress and look as they choose.
J.T. Gaskins is a modern John Lennon. He’s standing firm to assert his right to express himself.
Hopefully other will start to grow their hair long. Or maybe everyone, both male and female students, could tie their hair back to look like a bunch of cut-outs.
See related articles in Google News
Curfew proposal has opponents and alternatives
A curfew proposal in Montgomery County, Maryland, has not been an easy sell. Opponents range from parent-teacher organizations to a town council and alternatives, such as anti-loitering laws, may win out.
The law would prohibit “children” younger than 18 years old from outside areas past 11 p.m. from Sunday to Thursday and past midnight on Friday and Saturday and would last until 5 a.m. the next day.
Politicians suggested the law back in July, following a fight between gangs. A senior politician opposes the law and has been accused of delaying a vote. The politician said the time has given people an opportunity to consider the law, alternatives, and amendments. One amendment would remove the requirement that parents must attend parenting classes if their children violate the curfew.
Teen’s anti-curfew Letter to the Editor appears prominently
A teenager’s anti-curfew letter appeared prominently on the editorial page of a the main newspaper of a county considering a teen curfew. The letter’s title was “A teen’s view on the curfew” and the writer urged politicians to consider alternatives, such as more policing, instead of confining all teenagers to their homes. The letter added that most crime involving teenagers occurs in the afternoon.
Politicians in Montgomery county, Maryland, plan a vote on a teen curfew soon. A fight between youth gangs gave curfew proponents an opportunity to push their law.
Letters do have an impact. Like comments online, other people read them. Letters are an easy way to publish your comments in the paper without having to get a job at a newspaper, though that would be better. Your letter sits right next to valued commentary from the newspaper editors.
Left school at 15, dropped in-to life, now billionaire
Government schooling is not the only road to success. Plenty of people go to non-government schools (aka private schools). Some home school themselves. A few “unschool” via DIY (do-it-yourself) project-based education. The lucky few? They drop in. They drop out of school, and drop in-to working life.
Richard Elman, featured on the cover of Forbes magazine quit left school at age 15 and has earned $2.2 billion through his thriving commodities trading firm.
Elman grew up in Brighton and quit school at 15. His father, a barrister, found him work “as a coolie in a scrap yard,” Elman says. He worked his way up, and within a few years the steel scrap business had taken him to San Francisco, then to Tokyo, then to Thailand and India. Later he became Asian regional director for the renowned commodities trader Philipp Brothers.
Online learning to surpass your “grade”
Government schools differ from the real world in so many ways. There are no grades where you move with your age group to the next level — all 40 year olds are not in the 40th grade. There are not a fixed set of subjects determined by some central planner and whether local teachers know the subjects. Now you can experience some freedom in both areas through the online education website – Khan Academy. Read more
Drowsy at school? Ask for a later start time.
Some  schools have moved their start times to later in the morning and students are now more alert and less prone to arguing.
“In one of the most recent studies, published last month in the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine, Owens and colleagues found that, after a change in start time from 8 to 8:30 a.m., students at a small, private New England high school reported fewer depressed feelings (a shift from 65.8% to 45%), better moods (from 84% reporting irritated and annoyed feelings to 62.6%); and less sleepiness during the day. (Before the shift, 69.1% of students said they rarely or never got a good night’s sleep compared with 33.7% after the shift, for example.)” Read more
Kentucky seeks to raise exodus age from regimentation
Members of the Kentucky mob (aka government) recently sought to increase the exodus age (aka dropout age) from the local regimentation centers (aka public schools). Local press promoted the bill as likely to pass but a procedural vote squashed it. Read more
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