Another one has been caught, when will it stop?

A primary school teacher from North Somerset has filmed himself sexually assaulting his pupils. He even did this while other students were in the classroom. The teacher would go about this by showering his pupils with presents and privileges. This had been going on for about 5 years before one pupil told her mom that her teacher had been touching her. Hours after that he was arrested and hundreds of films were found showing him and the girls, while they touched him and he touched them. He had already been warned back in 2008 about being too tactile with the girls. The deputy head was worried that this might get strange concerns from the parents. However, nothing else was done after this.

I think it’s absolutely horrible. How anyone can even think about touching a child like that and manipulate him or her into doing things that they don’t want? I also think that parents should really pay attention to their kids and ask if anything strange happens at school. Of course, not all men that teach at primary school are like this, but there is always something strange about it. People wouldn’t ask a man to come and babysit their kids very quickly, because it’s considered strange. And that is exactly for this reason. I also think it is strange that this teacher only got a warning about being to touchy-feely with his students instead of asking the pupils about this. This teacher would never admit to doing anything like this, but the children would, if you talked to them.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jun/10/primary-schoolteacher-filmed-himself-abusing

How hard is it to get dressed?

Several schools in Middlesbrough have sent parents a letter asking them not to show up at school wearing pyjamas. They think it shows a lack of respect towards both the teachers and other parents, not to mention the children. A lot of parents agree that parents should set a good example for their children, and getting dresses is one of these examples. This action is initiated because of the action Tesco in Cardiff had the year before. They were forced to put up signs asking customers not to come and shop for cigarettes after they had gotten numerous complaints from fellow customers.

I think it’s really good that they take the initiative to do this. I mean, how long does it take to throw on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt? I do think, however, that this is just part of the lazy community we live in nowadays. You can get your groceries delivered to your house, but there are certain things for which you need to get out of the house. Dropping off your kid to school is one of those. People these days are lazy and don’t even have the decency to dress properly, not even to their children. This way, it’ll only take years before children will not be dressed anymore, but will just be sent to school wearing their pyjamas. Absolutely ridiculous!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/8526732/Schools-ban-parents-from-wearing-pyjamas-at-drop-off.html

From investment banker to teacher at the drop of a hat!

During the recession, many professionals lose their jobs. This is why the government has come up with the idea of a fast-track teacher course in which these professionals get the opportunity of getting a teaching degree in just six months. This to great anger of current teachers who say that teaching is not something you can learn at the drop of a hat. They also say that it is a completely different thing to have knowledge and to teach it. Jim Knight, the schools minister, says that teaching has never been a more attractive career-choice, as it now only takes half the time it used to be to become a teacher.

I am not sure what to think of this initiative. On the one hand I think it is really good that the government is trying to get through the recession as best as they can. However, I totally see the points that the teachers make. It comes across as diminishing. These teachers went to school to become the best teachers they can ever be, and then all these professionals show up and only have to study didactics for six months and with that accomplish the same in a shorter amount of time. I also think the point about the difference in having knowledge and teaching it is something to take into consideration. Not a lot of people have the skills to teach their knowledge to other people.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/mar/10/recession-teacher-training-city-workers?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487

If you need money, get a job!

Schools throughout Britain are being sued for the silliest things. A child who had hot custard spilled on his arm received 750 pounds as compensation. Another child who fell off a chair, received even more, no less than 6,000 pounds. This seems to become a trend in the UK, where schools get a lawsuit for things they can never be responsible for. In Liverpool, 50,000 pounds has already been claimed in a time span of only 2 years. It makes teacher’s jobs not exactly easier. Jim Donnelly says that they would have to put up a sign that says: ‘slippery, be careful’ when it rains, to show what steps the school has taken in the case of a suing.

I think it is absolutely ridiculous that this actually happens. Not even to mention people who sue the school because they spill hot custard. What is even more surprising is that the school loses in this fight. People try to get money from almost anything, but I think this is an actual low. In America, cups even say: ‘be careful, hot content’, so that if anyone burns themselves, the company will not be responsible. I remember an accident with someone who put his cat in the microwave and then sued the company for not warning him that one should not put animals into the microwave. This all is beginning to look very similar.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1387570/Pupil-sues-school-750-custard-spilt-arm-compensation-culture-spreads-classrooms.html

It’s their kid, not just hers

The government has proposed to give dads six weeks off as paternity leave. They can then get two weeks off directly after the birth of their child, and a month extra later on. This way parents can share their time off so that women also get the chance to go back to work in the middle of maternity leave and then take time off again without losing their statutory rights. Mr. Cable, who is a business secretary, said that the way that everything goes at the moment with only women getting time off, is old-fashioned and gender biased. He wants to represent modern Britain, and this is one way of doing so.

I think it is really good that these measures are being taken. Parents choose to have a child together, so why should the mother be the only one to sit at home and take care of the child? I think it is also a good plan because fathers often get less chance to bond with their children seeing as they are the ones that are mostly working and get home late when the child is already asleep. And especially the bond kids have with their dad is really important in my opinion. As Mr. Cable said, the fact that only women have the right to stay at home is completely old-fashioned and gender biased.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3581801/Six-weeks-off-with-pay-for-new-dads.html

Animal welfare above all? Well, think again!

The coalition government has rejected a petition to ban wild animals from circus shows. They did however propose to inspect and license the wild animals to make sure that they get treated to high standards. After a video leaked out a couple of weeks ago which showed a circus elephant getting poked with a pitchfork, the subject got even higher on people’s priority. The RSPCA is absolutely furious at the government’s dismissal of this subject. Their concern is that these animals are put in way too tiny cages and get dragged around from one show to another. Not even to mention the incident with the elephant, who, by the way, got transferred into a wildlife park.

I think it is a real pity that the petition got dismissed. I think it is sad that these animals have to do all kinds of tricks to entertain people. In a world so full of technology and all kinds of other things that we could use to enjoy ourselves, why should we use these innocent animals to do tricks they were never meant to do? For example the bullfights in Spain. These animals are tortured, to great enjoyment of people who come there. Their balls get tied up and they have to run around. And when they get aggressive towards humans they get stabbed down. It is absolutely horrific to me. I would like to see how those men react when their balls get tied up. Disgusting human beings, that is what they are!

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/government-rejects-ban-on-wild-animals-in-circuses-2283730.html

Dropping like flies

After two bodies that were found a while ago, a third one has been found. This one was not too far from where the first crime was committed. Therefore suspicion is apparent about the three murders being linked. Seeing as Tong, the scene of the crime, is a very quiet town, police investigators are hoping that someone has seen someone or something suspicious. This is very unlikely though, seeing as the bodies were found a mile or two from the suburbs of the city, in open countryside. They were found by a motorist who passed by.

I think this is a very sad event. The fact that people take other people’s lives is astounding to me. No one should think that they have the right to do so. It happens anyway, and most of the time there is nothing anyone can do about it. However, I think it is a pity that we just aren’t obligated to give our DNA samples at birth. This way, criminals could be caught more easily and that would make the world ‘a better place’. You might think that this would invade our privacy, but if you have not done anything, there is no need to feel scared.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/third-body-found-near-doublemurder-site-2282851.html

First British Bully To Be Locked Down

Keeley Houghton, an 18 year old girl from Worcestershire, has been put behind bars after posting threats online that she would kill Emily Moore. Moore had been bullied for four years when this incident occurred. She had been physically assaulted and her house had also been damaged. Houghton had previously been convicted of these incident and had also been expelled from school. Houghton says that she posted the threats online at night while being drunk. However, as research showed, the messages were posted at 4 o’clock in the afternoon. Houghton is the first to be locked down in Britain as a result of assaulting someone through a social networking site.

I totally agree with locking Houghton up. The fact that a lot of people can get away with messages like that is astounding to me. However, this post was put online for everyone to see. Think about all the private messages that can be sent to people. Not everything is visible to the eye, which is what makes it so terrifying. And if someone is really after you and you don’t have Facebook or something similar, they’ll get your email-address or your phone number. Bullying doesn’t just happen through the internet, though it is terrifying that it can. However, I am pleased to hear that measures are being taken to go against cyber-bullying.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/aug/21/facebook-bullying-sentence-teenage-girl?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487

Teachers Can Only Go So Far!

Teachers in the UK are getting more and more stressed out by their jobs. This because of the rising targets that have to be met to keep education up to its standards. Almost half of teachers that have been interviewed see themselves as being highly stressed. A lot of them only last 5 years and are definitely not able to keep doing this job until their retirement age, which is 68. There are even a few who have attempted suicide because of stress. This stress doesn’t stay within the boundaries of teachers’ jobs, but follows them home. A 50-hour workweek is no exception.   

I think it’s absolutely ridiculous that so much pressure is put on teachers. When you have a regular office job from 9 to 5, you get to go home and leave your work behind. Teachers, however, have to check tests, prepare lessons, etcetera. And with targets increasing in amount and level, it certainly will not become less stressful. So next to the fact that these people are working their heads off, it’s also not fair to them that they have to work a lot harder than most people and get paid less. However, I do know that a lot of people just don’t have enough self-esteem to stand in front of a class filled with rowdy teenagers.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/apr/25/stress-drives-teachers-out-of-schools

Just Talk, Already!

Two old men in a little town in Mexico are refusing to speak to each other. That’s okay. However, these men are the only two known to speak Ayapaneco. They are not in a fight, they just do not have that much in common. When these men were younger, Ayapeneco was spoken throughout Mexico, but has been dying off in the last couple of decades. One of the men, Manuel, continues to talk to his wife in this rare language, but she is unable to talk back as she only knows a few words. Nevertheless, to keep this language at least in memory, Daniel Suslak, an Indiana University linguistic expert is compiling a dictionary of the language.

I think it’s a shame that these men don’t speak to each other anymore. Especially since there’s a language at stake. However, I can imagine that it isn’t really nice to sit down with someone whom you have no shared interests, and just talk. We don’t like that either. So the only reason to talk is to keep the language alive. However, seeing as there’s little interest in making Ayapeneco mandatory in schools, there really isn’t any need for forcing these men to talk when they really don’t want to. Just let them relax on their old days.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-world/2011/04/15/last-two-speakers-of-native-language-fall-out-and-stop-talking-to-each-other-115875-23061845/

Absolutely Crushed By What Happened

Thomas, a two year old boy, was dragged under a heavy-weight truck, but amazingly survived. The buggy he had been sitting in was also dragged under and ripped to pieces. At the hospital his mother, Laura, was told that even if he survived, he could have brain damage or be partly paralyzed. His mother says she cannot say exactly what happened: “Suddenly the pram ­handles were ripped out of my hands,” she ­said. “I heard a ­horrible crack and it ­disappeared under the wheels.” Luckily, a nurse was nearby and after a quick look at the boy, she knew he was alright. How this terrible event could have occurred is still unsure. Police are researching the event and also if the red light was on.

Even though it is absolutely terrible what happened to the little boy, I cannot wrap my mind across the fact that he got under a truck. I cannot imagine how that could happen with the mother holding onto the handles of the buggy. Maybe the mother was standing too close to the roadside? Nevertheless, it is strange. You would think that the mother would take extra caution and not stand too close to the road. I am not saying that it is her fault, because these things happen too often. However, if it were my child, I would look ten times before crossing the street, just to be sure.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2011/04/24/two-year-old-thomas-wilshaw-has-miraculous-escape-after-his-buggy-is-dragged-under-a-12-ton-truck-115875-23081967/

Judy Murray rails against ‘chip fat’ mentality

Judy Murray, mother of the famous tennis star Andy Murray, is trying to get people, especially children, to exercise more. She plans on doing do by getting schools to double the amount of physical education lessons in schools. As research shows, few children exercise at all. A third of girls who have passed the age of 16 don’t exercise anymore. Moreover, only an astonishing 15% of children between the age of 11 to 15 take regular exercise. Judy states that solutions are easy to come by, they are just plainly ignored.

I think it’s a very good idea to double PE lessons. Children nowadays are lazy. They don’t have to go anywhere. They get picked up from school by car, then go home, watch television, eat and go to sleep. So if parents aren’t taking responsibility for their children’s health, the school should. It’s really the only way. Next to that, food that is given to the children at school should be bettered. There have been several shows on TV that showed us what children are served; hamburgers, fries, even sweetened milk! I think it’s absolutely ridiculous and therefore am more than pleased to hear that at least someone is trying to make a change in this fat-obsessed, lazy world.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/judy-murray-rails-against-lsquochip-fatrsquo-mentality-2267691.html

BritNed power cable boosts hopes for European supergrid

There is going to be a link between the UK and The Netherlands with regard to electricity. The main goal is to try and ‘share’ electricity, so to speak. For example when one country is low on wind, it can import wind energy from another country with which it is connected. This way, there will never be a shortage of energy. Moreover, this will be a way to put renewable energy to work. BritNed has already auctioned off the entire transmission capacity since the auction started on the 31^st of March. Due to high success, the network will be broadened and there are plans for linking the UK and Iceland.

I think this is a very good idea, seeing as this will offer wind energy to the places that need it the most. Currently, this network is only at work in Europe, but think about going worldwide. This will give even the poorest countries energy, which otherwise, they wouldn’t have had. I also like the fact that consumers will have to pay a lower price for their energy as there can never be a lack of wind power when using this system. The downside is that it will take forever to get this network up and running, but that’s the price that has to be paid to realize big ambitions.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/apr/11/uk-netherlands-power-cable-britned/print

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