Strollerderby : text messaging

Girl Arrested for Text Messaging in Class

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 20:00:00 GMT

A 14-year-old girl in a Wisconsin high school paid the price for ignoring her teacher with a court date and $298 in bail. The student was reportedly text messaging throughout math class, despite her teacher’s requests to stop texting and to hand over her cellphone.

She was sent to campus security, where she repeatedly stated that she did not have a phone on her. A female police officer was called to arrest the student for disorderly conduct. Upon frisking the student, the officer found the phone hidden in the girl’s “buttocks area.” (That’s certainly all the detail we need on that point.) The girl was barred from school property for a week and has a court date set to answer to the misdemeanor charge against her.

There’s no question that this girl has serious behavioral problems and needs to understand that there are consequences to her actions. But it seems like the school should have other remedial tools in place before getting the police involved. If we called the cops every time a kid ignored a teacher, we’d have one clogged justice system. For instance, if the school had enacted an outright ban on cellphones on school property (as many school districts have already done), the girl would have to deal with peer shaming for her misbehavior, perhaps the most effective disciplinary action for teenagers.

Then again, without knowing the full story, it’s impossible to judge whether or not the girl was so out of line that school officials felt law enforcement was the only option.

What do you think? Does some classroom misbehavior warrant arrest?

Do Cellphones Belong in the Classroom?

Booty Caller Texts When You're Ovulating

JeanneSager — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 17:57:00 GMT

Cervical mucus tests skeev you out? Me too. Don't worry, BabyCenter has stepped in to take the eww out of baby-making with ovulation text alerts sent straight to your cell phone.

The Booty Caller will send three messages your way every month to let you know when it's time to get a little . . . and when it's not.

The service is free (your wireless company's standard texting fees still apply), sponsored by First Response (who, wouldn't you know, make ovulation and pregnancy tests). BabyCenter's building off survey estimates that 19.3 million moms text as it makes the bid for a few more of their mobile minutes.

As one of those one-and-done Moms, I've got to say I can see the booty caller becoming Dad's worst enemy. Sorry honey - checked with my phone, and I'm too fertile for words. On the other hand, they do say you can enter his cell phone number into the mix too - so at least he can be prepared to be jumped when he walks in the door.

At the very least, it's cheaper than calling the psychic hotline again to find out when you're finally going to get that second baby.

Source: BabyCenter via YourTango

Image: First Response

Juno Goes to Washington? Congress' First Unwed Mom

Male Blogger: Laboring Mom Not a 'True Emergency'

No, the Vagina Doesn't 'Heal Up and Close' from Disuse

New Dad Forgives Guy Who Stole Camera With Birth Footage

They Say: Text Messaging Can Fight Childhood Obesity

JeanneSager — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 20:49:00 GMT

So they have a permanent squint from staring at that little screen and they speak in text-message-ese (or is that only in corny wireless commercials?). Texting can be good for your kids. According to a study in this month's issue of the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, obese kids get the same benefits from texting that they would from traditional food diaries.

Researchers at the University of North Carolina broke families into three groups - one with kids reporting back to parents via text message, one with kids filling out paper diaries and a third not monitoring their intake at all. Parents of the texting and paper diary kids were given a series of questions to ask daily: what was the number on your pedometer today?; how many sugar-sweetened beverages did you drink today?; and how many minutes of screen time did you have today? Before letting them loose, researchers led the families in an educational program to help kids learn better eating behaviors. They were encouraged to reduce their sweets and increase their activity levels.

The kids who answered via their cell phone were more than twice as likely as the paper diary keepers to make the effort to answer the questions. Less than half fell back into their poor eating habits. Perhaps playing a role in the results were the positive feedback messages generated when kids sent in their text messages. A little bit of sugar goes a long way - especially for kids on a diet.

There's a certain amount of irony in the researchers' suggestion that kids limit their "screen time," before putting them in front of a tiny screen to monitor their weight. But a little screen they can take anywhere can take them off the couch and out into the fresh air. Turns out kids can walk, talk, chew bubblegum AND text. And maybe, lose weight?

Image: PocketPicks

They Say: Parents Don't Know Kids are Too Fat or Too Thin

They Say: Best Place to Raise Kids is Chicago Suburb

They Say: Short Kids Can Grow With Hormone Therapy

They Say: Our Kids Are Developing a (Legal) Drug Habit

Parent Coaches: Hardest Job They'll Ever Volunteer For?

Gym Teacher Likes Girls A Little Too Much

JeanneSager — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 19:29:00 GMT

Another teacher, another sex scandal. Same unfortunate news, different day. But to make it interesting, Indiana gym teacher Brooke Biggs is accused of seducing a 16-year-old female student.

That I won't have to listen to some nasty radio DJ talking about the hot teacher and the lucky teenage boy is about the only silver lining to this story. Because I don't believe in the double standard for female teachers. Sorry, not even for a hot lesbian teacher.

That Brooke Biggs shares her name with a porn star doesn't make me laugh either (well, not much). The 27-year-old was in a South Bend, Ind. court late last week to answer two felony charges of child seduction. Biggs teaches seventh and eighth grade physical education and coaches at the local high school where the 16-year-old girl is a student. The investigation that led to Biggs' arrest was prompted by the girl's parents who first forbade the teen from having any contact with the teacher then found she was sneaking out anyway. Court documents allege Biggs' bought the girl a cell phone to replace one her parents had taken away, and the two allegedly exchanged hundreds of sexually explicit text messages.

Seems teenage girls do a little more than talk on the phone these days.

Image: WSBT

School Board Member Uses Gay Slur, Says Student Said it First

Teenager Arrested For Kiddie Porn - The Pictures Were of Herself

Don't Pay Child Support? Bid the Gun Rack Bye Bye

Dirty Diaper Thief on the Loose in Upstate New York

Should Computer Technicians be Mandated Reporters for Child Porn?

Mob Mol Who Smuggled Sperm Says Prison System Hates Her Child for Being Born

Five-Year-Old Catches STD From Dad's Towel?