End of an era as La Salle Green Hills opens doors to female students in senior high school

MANILA — La Salle Green Hills (LSGH) is opening its doors to female students this year, marking the end of an era for the private Catholic school which has been exclusive for boys since 1959.

LSGH, which offers elementary and secondary education, will go coeducational, specifically in its senior high school, or grades 11-12.

The change is "part of our transition to an integrated school for SY 2020-2021," LSGH president Br. Edmundo Fernandez FSC said in a May 12 letter to the school community.

The first 20 female applicants will be offered a tuition subsidy, LSGH said.

Previously, Ateneo de Manila High School, also once an all-boys school, welcomed female students in 2016 to its inaugural senior high school program.

Most De La Salle Philippines institutions are coeducational, including De La Salle Santiago Zobel School, which similarly offers elementary and high school education.

LSGH's coeducational transition was only one of two major changes detailed in the May 12 announcement.

When classes start on July 20, LSGH will introduce a new, home-based online learning program, which will then transition to "blended" learning (which includes the classroom setup) either in the second or third trimesters, depending on the state of the pandemic.

news.abs-cbn.com

More than 850 million students worldwide not at school because of COVID-19 pandemic: UNESCO

PARIS - More than 850 million young people, or about half the world's student population, are barred from their school and university grounds because of the novel coronavirus pandemic, UNESCO said Wednesday.

Calling it an "unprecedented challenge," UNESCO said schools had been closed in 102 countries, with partial closures in 11 more -- with more closures to come.

"Over 850 million children and youth -- roughly half of the world's student population -- had to stay away from schools and universities," the UN educational organization said in a statement.

"This represents more than a doubling in four days in the number of learners prohibited from going to educational institutions," it added, citing figures from late Tuesday.

"The scale and speed of the school and university closures represents an unprecedented challenge for the education sector," it said.

UNESCO said countries worldwide were rushing to fill the void by offering real-time video classes and other high-tech solutions.

Some countries were offering classes over television or radio.

The organization said it was holding regular virtual meetings with education ministers around the world to find the best solutions and determine priorities.

"The current situation imposes immense challenges for countries to be able to provide uninterrupted learning for all children and youth in an equitable manner," it said.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

290 million students out of school as global virus battle intensifies

ROME, Italy - Almost 300 million students worldwide faced weeks at home on Thursday with Italy the latest country to shut schools over the deadly new coronavirus, as the IMF urged an all-out, global offensive against the epidemic.

More than 95,000 people have been infected and over 3,200 have died worldwide from the virus, which has now reached some 80 countries and territories.

The vast majority of global deaths and infections are in China, where the virus first emerged late last year, prompting the country to quarantine entire cities, temporarily shut factories and close schools indefinitely.

As the virus spread, other countries have also implemented extraordinary measures, with UNESCO saying Wednesday that 13 countries have closed schools, affecting 290.5 million children, while nine others have implemented localized closures.

While temporary school closures during crises are not new, UNESCO chief Audrey Azoulay said, "the global scale and speed of the current educational disruption is unparalleled and, if prolonged, could threaten the right to education."

Italy on Wednesday ordered schools and universities shuttered until March 15, ramping up its response as the national death toll rose to 107, the deadliest outbreak outside China.

South Korea -- the country with the largest number of cases outside China with nearly 6,000 -- has postponed the start of the current term until March 23.

In Japan, nearly all schools are closed after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called for classes to be cancelled through March and spring break, slated for late March through early April.

Some 120 schools closed in France this week in areas with the largest numbers of infections.

ECONOMIC THREAT

The German health minister said the outbreak was now a "global pandemic" -- a term the World Health Organization has stopped short of using, meaning the virus is spreading in several regions through local transmission.

Infections are now rising faster abroad than they are in China, where 31 more deaths and 139 new cases were reported Thursday. China's death toll now stands at 3,012, with over 80,000 infections.

From western Europe to eastern Asia, supermarket shelves have been stripped of supplies in recent weeks, including toilet paper and hand sanitizer. 

American businesses are increasingly concerned over access to goods and the overall economic outlook is more uncertain, the US Federal Reserve said in its beige book survey released on Wednesday.

With the US toll rising to 11 on Wednesday, lawmakers in Congress reached a deal to provide more than $8 billion to fight the outbreak.

The virus impact has spread beyond supply chains -- stock markets have rumbled as warnings from financial bodies mount that countries could be pushed into recession.

The IMF said the epidemic posed a "serious threat" and would slow global growth to below last year's 2.9 percent.

"At a time of uncertainty... it is better to do more than to do not enough," IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said. 

The epidemic "is a global problem calling for global response," she said.

Eurozone ministers agreed after a meeting that they were ready to "use all appropriate policy tools to achieve strong, sustainable growth".

NO KISSING

As the virus continues its march across the world, governments are scrambling to tighten prevention efforts.

Italy has seen its outbreak swell despite tough measures, including a quarantine of 11 towns with 50,000 people.

New measures include a month-long nationwide ban on fan attendance at sports events, as well as advising people to avoid greetings like kissing on the cheek or shaking hands. 

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conti said the country could tackle the outbreak as long as it remained contained. 

"But in case of exponential growth, not just Italy but any other country in the world would not be able to manage the situation," he said. 

In Iran, where 92 people have died from the disease, schools have been shut and major cultural and sporting events suspended.

Saudi Arabia has suspended the year-round "umrah" pilgrimage, an unprecedented move that raises fresh uncertainty over the annual hajj.

Countries also continue to crack down on international travel.

Israel extended its mandatory quarantine measures -- already in place for travelers from Italy and some Asian countries -- to cover people from France, Germany, Spain, Austria and Switzerland.

Even cinemagoers were not immune from the effects of the virus -- the producers of the latest James Bond film pushed back the release of the forthcoming "No Time To Die" from April to November.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Delta jet dumps fuel on California school playground

LOS ANGELES — A Delta airliner experiencing mechanical trouble on Tuesday dumped jet fuel onto a school playground in the Los Angeles area, leaving 20 students and several adults with minor injuries.

Delta Flight 89 took off from Los Angeles en route to Shanghai and was forced to turn back due to engine trouble, a Delta spokesperson said.

The plane landed safely around noon after dumping its fuel, which fell onto a wide area, including Park Avenue Elementary School, located about 16 miles (25 kilometers) east of the airport.

Fire officials said about 20 children and 11 adults complaining of skin irritation or minor respiratory problems at the elementary school were treated on the spot and did not require hospitalization.

In a statement to AFP, a Delta spokesperson said the fuel was released to allow the plane to land safely.

"Shortly after takeoff, Flight 89 from LAX to Shanghai experienced an engine issue requiring the aircraft to return quickly to LAX," Adrian Gee said in the statement. 

"The aircraft landed safely after a release of fuel, which was required as part of normal procedure to reach a safe landing weight," he added.

"We are in touch with Los Angeles World Airports and the LA County Fire Department and share concerns regarding reported minor injuries to adults and children at a school in the area."

The fuel also landed on other schools in south Los Angeles but there were no injuries among students or staff, authorities said.

In a statement, the Los Angeles Unified School District said students and staff were on the playground of the elementary school when the incident happened.

They "may have been sprayed by fuel or inhaled fumes," it said, adding that school officials "immediately called paramedics, who are on the scene and are treating anyone who is complaining of skin irritation or breathing problems."

The Federal Aviation Administration said it was investigating the incident and said there are special fuel-dumping procedures for aircraft operating into and out of major US airports.

"These procedures call for fuel to be dumped over designated unpopulated areas, typically at higher altitudes so the fuel atomizes and disperses before it reaches the ground," the agency said in a statement.

Agence France-Presse 

9-year-old Belgian prodigy set for university degree

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands—Like many other 9-year-olds, Laurent Simons likes TV and his pet dog. But he also wants to make artificial organs, and is about to get the qualifications to set him on his way.

The Belgian boy will in December receive a degree in electrical engineering from Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands, which will make him one of the world's youngest graduates.

Far from being fazed by his achievements, which also saw him complete the course in just 9 months instead of the usual 3 years, Laurent says it's "normal"—although he adds too that it's "cool."

"I'm currently studying electrical engineering. It's about designing circuits and things like that. So chips, actually," the mop-haired youngster told AFP in the Dutch capital Amsterdam.

He adds that "I really like karting. And I like playing with my dog and watching Netflix."

His teachers run out of superlatives to describe him.

"Laurent's qualities are all simply extraordinary," says Sjoerd Hulshof, program director for electrical engineering at the university, a course that itself is considered particularly difficult.

The boy is "the quickest student we've ever seen. And he's not just hyper-intelligent, but very nice," Hulshof told AFP.

'BEING A CHILD'

While Laurent is studying in the labs of the university, his best friends are playing tag in the playground of his old school in the Belgian coastal resort of Ostend.

Laurent, wearing a rollneck jumper, jeans and trainers, himself says that "I don't really miss primary school, but I still have friends there."

He was raised in Ostend by his grandparents until the start of this year, as his parents Alexander and Lydia were "busy with work" in the Netherlands.

Starting school at 4, he completed primary in a year and a half. It has taken him just 5 years to go through primary and secondary school and university.

"In the end, it's about finding a balance for the child so that he enjoys life, being a child and being mischievous," says Alexander, 37, a Belgian dentist who has a practice in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam.

"His grandfather and his grandmother, who raised him, told us already: he is very intelligent, more than the others... Then, when he was old enough to go to school, they kept doing tests on him from higher levels," adds Lydia, 29, who is Dutch and works as a dental assistant for her husband.

'I'VE ONLY JUST STARTED'

They are now selling the Rotterdam surgery so they can "completely dedicate" themselves to Laurent, who must be taken to university every day because he is too young to go by himself.

"He can't take the train himself," says Alexander, whose Amsterdam home features a huge black and white artwork of the faces of himself and his son.

His parents admit they "don't understand at all" the subjects that come so easily to Laurent, whose closest companions apart from his dog are his laptop and a book on integrated circuits.

Laurent says his goal now after receiving his degree in December is to "make artificial organs to prolong life."

The reason? He wants to help heart patients—like his grand-parents.

"I still have to see how I'll do it. I've only just started."

His parents are now already in contact with universities in the United States as they eye another degree for their son.

Aware of the media attention that has recently surrounded his son, Alexander says his son is growing up in a healthy environment unlike "singers and pop stars."

"If, one day, we realize he's becoming big-headed, that he's becoming pretentious or arrogant, we'll put his feet back on the ground."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Teenager kills 1, injures 3 in Russian college

MOSCOW, Russia - A 19-year-old student in Russia's Far East opened fire in his college Thursday morning, killing one classmate and injuring three other people before shooting himself, investigators said.

The male student in a construction college in the town of Blagoveshchensk "murdered his classmate and wounded three using a rifle registered to him," the Investigative Committee of far-eastern Amur region said.

"During (police) attempts to apprehend him, he shot himself dead," investigators said.

The victim was also 19 while the injured students ranged from 17 to 20 years old.

The small college in the town center was surrounded with police cars and some of the streets were closed off Thursday, local website Amur.Info said, adding that the shooter likely used a shotgun in the middle of a lecture attended by 20 people.

Russia has relatively few school shootings due to normally tight security in education facilities and the difficulty of buying firearms legally, but it is possible to register hunting rifles.

Last October a teenage gunman killed 20 people and injured more than 40 at his college in Moscow-annexed Crimea, apparently inspired by the 1999 Columbine high school shooting in the United States.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

US students called suicide hotline but instead got sex line

LOS ANGELES, United States—Officials from a California school district were left red-faced after students who dialed a suicide prevention hotline listed on their ID badges instead stumbled on a sex line.

"I was just kind of flabbergasted. I was very surprised," parent Janene Lavelle told the local ABC station after her daughter, who attends middle school, alerted her to the mix-up.

Lavelle said the teen had dialed the number for kicks and was in disbelief when she got a sex hotline.

"Someone who genuinely needs help like that, they shouldn't hear that kind of thing from what they thought was going to help them," the student was quoted as telling a local CBS affiliate.

"They should fact-check that kind of thing."

The suicide prevention number was in a directory of emergency lines and other resources on the back of badges for students at New Vista Middle School in Lancaster, a 90-minute drive north of downtown Los Angeles.

However, because of a mistake with just a digit, a sex hotline number instead of the correct suicide prevention number was given to students.

"Late yesterday we were made aware that the middle school student ID cards have the wrong phone number listed for the suicide hotline," the Lancaster Unified School district said in a statement on Tuesday.

"The phone numbers have 2 digits transposed and this is a mistake. The number listed on the card is actually a sex line."

School officials said they have collected all the old badges and planned to issue new ones—this time with the correct number.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

2 million children out of school in war-torn Yemen: UN

SANAA, Yemen - Two million children are out of school in war-torn Yemen, a fourth of whom have dropped out since the conflict escalated in March 2015, the United Nations children's agency said Wednesday.

The education of a further 3.7 million children is at risk as teachers' salaries have not been paid in more than two years, UNICEF said in a statement.

"Violence, displacement and attacks on schools are preventing many children from accessing school," said Sara Beysolow Nyanti, UNICEF representative in Yemen.

One in five schools in the country can no longer be used as a direct result of the conflict that has devastated Yemen's already fragile education system, the UN agency says.

"Children out of school face increased risks of all forms of exploitation including being forced to join the fighting, child labor and early marriage," Nyanti said.

"They lose the opportunity to develop and grow in a caring and stimulating environment, ultimately becoming trapped in a life of poverty and hardship."

Tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, have been killed since Saudi Arabia and its allies intervened in March 2015 in support of the beleaguered government after the Iran-aligned Houthi rebels captured the capital Sanaa.

The fighting has displaced millions and left 24.1 million -- more than two-thirds of the population -- in need of aid.

According to UNICEF, 1.8 million children under the age of five are suffering from severe malnutrition.

The United Nations has described Yemen as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

US police officer arrested 2 6-year-olds in Florida school

A police officer who arrested two six-year-old children in a Florida school in the US has been suspended and the incident will be investigated, police said Monday.

The grandmother of one of the children, Kaia Rolle, said she was arrested after she threw a temper tantrum and kicked somebody. 

The incident has revived the debate over the role of police officers in public schools, 46 percent of which have an officer present for at least one day a week.

Reservist police officer Dennis Turner arrested the two children in separate incidents last Thursday, the Orlando police department told AFP in a statement.

Meralyn Kirkland, Kaia Rolle's grandmother, told local media her granddaughter suffered from sleep apnea and was acting up from a lack of sleep. She said a member of staff grabbed the girl by the wrists after she had acted up in class, and that the girl then kicked the person. 

Some media reports had suggested she kicked another student.

She said she was contacted by the school and that she tried in vain to dissuade the police officer from arresting the little African-American girl.

"I said, 'What do you mean, she was arrested?'" she told a local television news channel WKMG-TV. "They say there was an incident and she kicked somebody and she's being charged and she's on her way," 

When she told the police officer the girl suffered from sleep apnea, she said the policeman replied, "Well, I have sleep apnea, and I don't behave like that."

"No six-year-old child should be able to tell somebody that they had handcuffs on them and they were riding in the back of a police car and taken to a juvenile center to be fingerprinted, mug shot," the grandmother said.

Orlando police said the police van had turned back before reaching the juvenile center and the girl returned to school because Turner had not obtained the necessary permission from a supervisor to arrest a child aged less than 12 years.

The other six-year-old, however, was taken to a juvenile center before being released to the child's parents because the driver was not aware that he did not have the green light.

Turner was immediately suspended following the incident, the Orlando police department said. 

"As a grandparent of three children less than 11 years old, this is very concerning to me," police chief Orlando Rolon told the new channel.

Turner, who is also African-American, had served on the Orlando police force for 23 years before retiring last year, the New York Times said. He then joined a program of reservists protecting schools.

According to the Orlando Sentinel newspaper, he was arrested in 1998 for allegedly assaulting his 7-year-old son after the child came home from school with a 'bad report card.'

The Sentinel also reported that the department issued Turner a written reprimand in 2015 for Tasing a suspect five times, including twice while the man lay prone on the ground.

Deadly school shootings, including one in Sandy Hook, Connecticut in 2012, and one in Parkland, Florida, last year, have led to an increase in the number of police officers being assigned to schools, where they are deployed to protect students and prevent violence and drug use.

Their presence, however, has proven controversial, as they can arrest children who would have otherwise been handled by school disciplinary procedures.

The reluctance of the school protection officer to confront the gunman during the Parkland shooting, in which 17 people were killed as the officer remained outside the campus, added to the debate about the merits of having officers in schools.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Florida school shooter wants to donate inheritance to survivors

MIAMI - Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz wants to donate his inheritance -- which could run to hundreds of thousands of dollars or more -- to the bereaved families and survivors of his attack, his lawyers said Wednesday. 

Cruz walked into Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in the south Florida city of Parkland on February 14 and opened fire at students and staff with an AR-15-style semi-automatic weapon.

He stands accused of 17 counts of premeditated murder and 17 counts of attempted murder. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. 

At a court hearing on Wednesday, Broward County Judge Elizabeth Scherer sought to determine whether Cruz -- who has so far been represented by public defenders -- is able to pay for his own defense.

His lawyers said they have not yet been able to determine the value of the inheritance left to him following the death of his mother Lynda Cruz last November -- though local reports quoting the family which took him in following his mother's death have said he could have a trust fund worth $800,000.

But his legal team suggested any wealth that may be discovered should go to Cruz's victims rather than expensive lawyers. 

"Mr. Cruz does not want those funds, whatever money that he is entitled to," said lawyer Melissa McNeill.

"He does not want that money. He would like that money donated to an organization that the victims' family believes would be able to facilitate healing in our community or an opportunity to educate our community about the issues that have ripened over the last four or five months," she added.

Cruz -- who was present for the hearing in Fort Lauderdale, which is near Parkland -- stared blankly at the floor, his hands and feet cuffed. 

"Let it go to those who have been hurt, period," another member of his legal team, Howard Finkelstein, asked the judge.

Cruz's wealth currently consists of 24 Microsoft stocks worth about $2,200 from which he receives dividends, and he is entitled to $25,000 from his mother's life insurance, which he has not yet obtained.

In addition, his mother, who died from a respiratory illness, received an annuity of $3,333 in September to an account she shared with Nikolas. The source of these funds have not been revealed.

But his lawyers have yet to determine whether the installments are paid monthly or yearly and whether Cruz is entitled to it. 

If it is monthly, the defendant could have access to "a million dollars," Finkelstein said. 

But if it is annual, the amount would be insignificant for what "in this moment right now is the highest profile case of America" with costs expected to run into hundreds of thousands dollars, according to his lawyers, excluding civil suits. 

Judge Scherer said she would decide on the matter of Cruz's indigence before April 27, when a hearing is scheduled to set the trial's schedule. 

Cruz had told the couple who took him in following his mother's death he would inherit at least $800,000 from his parents, with most of the funds becoming available when he turned 22, according to local press.

The inheritance has not yet been executed, however, and it is unclear what Cruz and his brother Zachary really have. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

'Shame on you!' student tells Trump at Florida anti-gun rally

FORT LAUDERDALE - A student survivor of the Parkland school shooting called out US President Donald Trump on Saturday over his ties to the powerful National Rifle Association, as hundreds rallied in Florida to demand urgent action on gun control.

Three days after a troubled teen armed with an assault rifle killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, 18-year-old Emma Gonzalez delivered a fiery address to a crowd of students, parents and residents in nearby Ft. Lauderdale.

"To every politician taking donations from the NRA, shame on you!" she thundered, assailing Trump over the multi-million-dollar support his campaign received from the gun lobby -- and prompting the crowd to chant in turn: "Shame on you!"

"We are going to be the last mass shooting," she vowed. "We are going to change the law," she said -- slamming the fact 19-year-old gunman Nikolas Cruz was able to legally buy a semi-automatic firearm despite a history of troubling and violent behavior.

"The question on whether or not people should be allowed to own an automatic weapon is not a political one. It is question of life or death and it needs to stop being a question of politics," Gonzalez told AFP following her speech.

In Washington, the political response has made clear that the powerful NRA pro-gun lobby remains formidable, while Trump himself suggested the root cause of mass shootings was a crisis of mental health -- making no mention of gun control.

"If the president wants to come up to me and tell me to my face that it was a terrible tragedy and... how nothing is going to be done about it, I'm going to happily ask him how much money he received from the National Rifle Association," Gonzalez said in her impassioned address.

"It doesn't matter because I already know. Thirty million," she told the rally attended by fellow students, parents and local officials, citing the sum spent by the NRA to support Trump's election bid and defeat Hillary Clinton.

She then ran through a list of the pro-gun lobby's talking points -- for example, that "a good guy with a gun stops a bad guy with a gun," that no law could ever stop a madman intent on killing -- answering each argument with "We call BS."

The young woman's powerful address immediately went viral, with her name a top trending topic on Twitter.

Trump tweeted a day after the massacre that neighbors and fellow students had failed to flag Cruz to the authorities.

"We did," Gonzalez fired back at Trump, her voice shaking with emotion as she insisted the community had done its best to raise the alarm. "Time and time again. Since he was in middle school. It was no surprise to anyone who knew him to hear that he was the shooter."

MISSED WARNINGS

US authorities have come under mounting scrutiny for failing to act on a series of warning signs.

The FBI admitted Friday it received a chilling warning in January from a tipster who said Cruz could be planning a mass shooting, but that agents failed to follow up.

Cruz was also known to local police after his mother repeatedly reported him for violent outbursts, while records obtained by the South Florida Sun Sentinel show authorities investigated Cruz in 2016 after he cut his arms on messaging app Snapchat and threatened to buy a gun.

The newspaper, citing Department of Children and Family Services documents, said the investigation came four days after Cruz turned 18 -- legally an adult, and thus able to buy a firearm.

Investigators said there were "some implications" for the teen's safety, but concluded that his "final level of risk is low as (he) resides with his mother, attends school and receives counseling" as an outpatient from a mental health center, the Sun Sentinel said.

Cruz later passed a background check, allowing him in February 2017 to buy the AR-15 rifle -- a civilian version of the US military's M16 -- he used in the massacre.

SCHOOL SAFETY

Trump on Friday visited survivors and first responders in the attack, which took place not far from his Mar-a-Lago estate where he was spending the holiday weekend.

Photos posted online showed him smiling at the hospital bedside of a teenage girl, and giving a thumbs-up as he posed with medical workers and law enforcement.

He tweeted Saturday that he and first lady Melania had met "incredible people," and will "never forget them, or the evening!"

Trump is staunchly opposed to additional restrictions on guns or gun ownership, but Vice President Mike Pence said at an event in Dallas the president would make school safety "a top priority" when he meets with governors of US states in the coming days.

"Let's pray for wisdom. For all in positions of authority that we might find a way to come together as a nation to confront and end this evil in our time once and for all," Pence said.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Bullied teens twice as likely to bring weapons to school

One in five teens are victims of bullying, and these adolescents are about twice as likely to bring guns and knives to school than peers who aren’t bullied, a U.S. study suggests.

Researchers examined how high school students answered three survey questions: how often they skipped school because they felt unsafe; how often they got in physical fights at school; and how many times they were threatened with a weapon at school.

“High school students who reported being bullied on school property within the past 12 months were not at increased risk for carrying a weapon to school if they answered ‘no’ to all three of these questions,” said senior study author Dr. Andrew Adesman, a researcher at Steven and Alexandra Cohen Children’s Medical Center of New York in Lake Success.

“Importantly, students who said yes to all three of these physical safety/injury questions were at the greatest risk for carrying a weapon to school,” Adesman said by email.

For the study, researchers analyzed survey responses from a nationally representative sample of more than 15,000 students in grades 9 to 12.

Overall, about 20% of participants reported being victims of bullying at least once in the past year, and about 4% said they had brought a weapon to school in the past month, researchers report online November 27 in Pediatrics.

Only 2.5% of the teens who were not bullied brought weapons to school, the study found.

But about 46% of bullying victims who also reported skipping school, getting in fights and getting threatened by somebody else with a weapon said they had brought a weapon of their own to school.

Victims of bullying were more than four times as likely to skip school as students who weren’t bullied. When bullying victims did skip school, they were about three times more likely to bring weapons to school than teens who weren’t bullied.

Bullying victims were more than twice as likely to get in fights at school, and when they did get in fights they were about five times more likely to carry weapons, the study also found.

Teens who were bullied were more than five times more likely to be threatened with weapons, and when this happened they were almost six times more likely to bring guns or knives to school.

The study wasn’t a controlled experiment designed to prove whether or how being bullied might influence the odds that students would bring weapons to school.

Another limitation is that researchers relied on teens to truthfully report on their experiences with bullying and weapons, and some youth may have been reluctant to admit they carried weapons, the authors note.

It’s also possible that other factors beyond bullying might have influenced teens’ decisions about carrying weapons to school, said Melissa Holt, author of an accompanying commentary and a researcher at the Boston University School of Education.

“Findings from this study do not directly address motivations for weapon carrying,” Holt said by email.

“They do suggest that bullying victimization alone is not necessarily associated with increased risk of weapon carrying, but rather other individual (e.g. peer aggression experiences) and contextual factors should be taken into account,” Holt added.

Still, those three questions about skipping school, fighting or being threatened might be a useful screening tool for finding kids at risk of carrying weapons, Adesman said.

“The three simple screening questions can help us better identify which students are most likely to carry a weapon to school,” Adesman said. “School personnel, parents and healthcare providers need to be attentive to why some students may be reluctant to attend school and we need to evaluate circumstances whenever a child gets into a fight or is threatened or injured at school.”

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Xavier School doesn't welcome Pokemon Go players

MANILA – Heads up, Pokemon Go players! If you happen to be in San Juan, don’t try to go to any Poke Stop at a private school in San Juan City.

In a Facebook post on Sunday, Xavier School reminded its faculty, staff and students that it is implementing a “no gaming policy” inside the campus.

It is also not accepting visitors who want to access Poke Stops inside the campus.

“Visitors in search of Poke Stops are not welcome! Have a great week ahead!” Xavier School said.



Pokemon Go was launched in the Philippines and other Asian countries over the weekend, causing Filipinos to flock to various public places to catch virtual creatures.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Fil-Am reveals secret to getting into Stanford

SAN FRANCISCO – Filipino American Jerold Yu is one of the young emerging leaders to come from the South of Market neighborhood in San Francisco.

As an active member of the community, Yu has been advocating for many issues such as the increase in minimum wage, fair housing, and non-violence.

He says this passion and love for his community was his ticket into one of the best universities in the country, Stanford University.

“I don’t have the highest grades but I tried hard in school,” said Yu. “Fortunately Stanford was able to see that and accept me. So I feel really grateful for that.”

According to a recent report in the Stanford Daily, Stanford received its largest pool of applicants for the 2015-2016 school year with 42,487 applications.

Only 2,144 or 5.05 percent were accepted, making Stanford the hardest school to get into in 2015.

Yu, who came from Quezon City in 2002, was also one of two graduating seniors who received a $2,500 scholarship from the Your Filipino Professional Association (YFPA) to use in his first year of college.

YU nabbed his scholarship with his 3.5 and higher grade point average and an essay on the impact of his extracurricular volunteer work in the Filipino community.

Yu is a part of the South of Market Community Action Network (SOMCAN) and is a core member of the youth-led Youth Organizing Home and Neighborhood Association (YOHANA) which strives to mold future leaders through leadership-building and political awareness.

“The South of Market has really helped me become who I am today and I just feel like I want to give back,” said Yu. “I’m not the most confident public speaker but I’m willing to do it. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to help out my community.”

Yu will be entering Stanford this fall alone without any friends from high school or home but he says he is motivated to study hard and do his best because of the Filipino community he represents.

“I’ve been part of the Filipino community all my life because living here in the South of Market, there’s a lot of Filipino families living here and I just feel very humbled just to have all these other families proud of me and I meant not know them personally but it’s a great feeling to represent other Filipinos out there,” said Yu.

Yu plans to study computer science and ethics in society at Stanford. He hopes to secure a career in technology and to continue to fight injustice in the community that he loves.

Read more on Balitang America.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Masked children steal grade book

Police in Serbia have arrested two schoolboys they accuse of having stormed a Belgrade classroom masked and armed with a plastic pistol and making off with their teacher's grade book.

Police said in a statement on Wednesday they had apprehended two unidentified Grade 7 pupils and seized a replica handgun, a knife, a balaclava cap and pair of sunglasses after the incident on Tuesday during school hours in the Belgrade suburb of Kotez.

School crime and violence have soared in Serbia since the war years of the 1990s when societies across old socialist Yugoslavia frayed under the pressure of gangsterism, corruption and nationalism.

Authorities in Serbia have responded by installing video surveillance and deploying constables at some schools.

"It appears that a third boy agreed with two friends that they would grab the grade book because of his poor grades," a police officer, who asked not to be named, told Reuters.

The pair were charged with violent behavior, jeopardizing public safety and destruction and damage of property, police said.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Why some Korean students don't want to leave school

SEOUL - It's been a year since Seoul media and communications student Lee Woong-hee finished his studies, but the 26-year-old plans to skip his class graduation ceremony in February because he thinks retaining his student status will help him finally land a job.

He's not alone. Youth unemployment hit a 14-year high in South Korea in 2014, and with hiring sluggish amid a weak economy, especially for "good" jobs with permanent status, thousands of students due to graduate in early 2015 are expected to instead remain on campus.

"Job hunting gets harder every year. It was difficult this year and I fear it will get worse next year," said Lee, who should have graduated last February.

In South Korea, many universities allow students to remain enrolled and use college facilities, even if they aren't taking any classes. At others, students deliberately remain one or two credits short of a degree until they find a job.

"I heard from others that employers do not like graduates. They ask at interviews what you did after graduation," Lee said.

Two-thirds of South Koreans aged 25-34 have a college degree, the highest proportion in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a developed nations' club among whom the average is just below 40 percent.

Government efforts in recent years to encourage young people to pursue careers that don't necessarily require a university degree have had limited success in a country obsessed with education. The high rate of graduates means many ambitious young people feel overqualified for the jobs that are available to them, and figure it's better to have no job than one below their expectations.

LABOR MARKET DIVIDE

South Korea's labor market is divided between permanent jobs with a high degree of security and temporary positions that end after two years, a split that makes it harder for young people to get on a career track.

In 2012, 24 percent of workers in South Korea were temporary, double the OECD average.

In November, Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan suggested measures to make the labor market more flexible by easing rules on lay-offs and pay. While employers supported the proposals, labor groups and many students did not.

A hand-written letter to Choi by a group calling itself "the Misfits" took issue with his ideas and went viral on social networks after it was posted on walls at Korea University and Yonsei University, two of the country's top colleges.

"We are not angry because the regular workers are overly protected. We are angry because temporary workers are not ensured the benefits regular workers receive," it said.

Kim Jong-jin, a research fellow at the Korea Labor and Society Institute, said many young people in highly educated South Korea were unwilling to take temporary jobs.

"People in their mid-20s are supposed to be active in the labour market, but the market cannot exploit them as they keep on studying and preparing themselves for more stable jobs."

A government survey of 33 universities last year found the number of students delaying graduation more than doubled in three years, to more than 15,000.

SHORTER CAREERS

Corporate Korea, which makes two big rounds of hiring each year - the next is in March - has just endured its toughest year since the global financial crisis.

"As conditions are difficult for expanding investment, it won't be easy for firms to hire new people," said Lee Cheol-heng, head of the employment and labour policy team at the Federation of Korean Industries.

The unemployment rate for people aged 15-29 hit 10.9 percent in February 2014, just short of the all-time high of 11 percent recorded in January 2000, before easing to 8.0 percent in October. The figure excludes students. The unemployment rate for new graduates in March last year tied 2013's record of 32.2 percent, according to Korea Labor Institute data.

Later entry into the job market accelerates the greying of the workforce in the world's fastest-ageing country.

Last year, the number of South Korean workers in their 50s outnumbered those in their 20s for the first time, which will add pressure to the country's underfunded pension system when those older workers retire.

With young South Korean men required to serve two years in the military, more time on campus means even fewer working years in a country where the retirement age is 60. A later career start often means starting families later, exacerbating a low birth rate.

"With a retirement age, if the youth enter the labour market later, it decreases their entire economic output whereas the education investment increases," said Kim Gwang-suk of the Hyundai Research Center. "It is a serious problem."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

California's biggest college fights to stay open

Main campus has 4,000 Pinoy students

SAN FRANCISCO – San Francisco City College’s fight to keep its accreditation got much-needed support from San Francisco Attorney Dennis Herrera.

Last week, Herrera filed a suit in Superior Court against the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, to stop the agency from revoking the accreditation of the city’s community college on July 31, 2014.

The commission has cited problems with the City College’s governance and fiscal planning. The sanction could shut down California’s largest school, because it would lose access to local, state and federal funding.

The City College of San Francisco has about 85,000 students. In its main campus alone, 4,000 of the 35,000 students are Filipino, the largest population of Filipino students in any school outside the Philippines.

"There’s no question in anyone’s mind that City College is really a piece of the fabric of the City and County of San Francisco. Everywhere I go, everyone I’ve spoken to, have either taken a class, or have a relative taking a class here," said Dr. Robert Agrella, Special Trustee of the school.

In a recent press conference at the New America media, Agrella assured people that the City College of San Francisco continues to operate as it tries to meet the requirements for accreditation.

“We are alive. We are well. We are fully functioning. We are fully accredited, as we go through all these processes leading to the maintenance of our accreditation. We remain an accredited institution,” Agrella stressed.

In fact, City College officials said that the quality of education there has not been sacrificed, despite the crisis it’s going through.

“Our number of sections for the classes that we are offering this year, is actually up, in our credit area in particular. We have not made a big reduction. We are looking to see that the classes meet the demands of our students,” said Joanne Low, Vice-Chancellor of Academic Affairs.

Low added that the school is even hiring more instructors to accommodate more classes.

City College officials hope that the school will show enough progress that the commission could extend its accreditation deadline. But while it’s still open and trying to recover, students are worried about its future. The community college has so far suffered a 10 percent decline in its enrollment for the new semester.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Connecticut school shooting claims nearly 30 lives, source says

Newtown, Connecticut (CNN) -- In one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history, a gunman opened fire Friday in a Connecticut elementary school, killing nearly 30 people -- most of them children, a law enforcement official receiving information from the scene told CNN.

At least 10 of the dead at Sandy Hook Elementary School were students, a different law enforcement source familiar with the investigation said. Among the dead were the school's principal and psychologist, according to a parent who was at the school when the incident happened.

The mother of the suspected gunman was also among the dead at the school, a senior law enforcement official familiar with the investigation told CNN, while the suspect's brother was found dead in a residential location in Hoboken, New Jersey.

"Why? Why?" one woman wailed as she walked up a wooded roadway leading from the school.

At a news conference Friday afternoon, state police Lt. Paul Vance declined to put a number on the deaths. He would say only that there had been "several fatalities." Police were waiting to notify families before releasing details, but he reassured nervous residents that the school was secure, the danger past.

The gunman is dead, his body in a classroom, a source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN. Police have recovered two weapons from the suspect, a Glock and a Sig Sauer, the source said. It's unclear if police killed the suspect.

Police were questioning another man but are not calling him a suspect, a source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN.

President Barack Obama addressed the shooting in an emotional statement Friday afternoon, saying, "Our hearts our broken today." Obama, a father to two girls, wiped away tears as he noted the nation has "endured too many of these tragedies in the past few years."

Despite the danger being past, federal officers in tactical gear were on the scene Friday afternoon, coordinating with state and local authorities. At least four ambulances remained at the school.

'I hope my mom is ok': Tweets from the Connecticut school shooting

Hospital officials in neighboring Danbury said they were treating three people wounded in the shooting. Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton said the victims were in "very serious" condition.

Police and teachers rushed students from the building as police swarmed the area shortly after the first calls came in, around 9:40 a.m. ET. Officials moved students to a nearby firehouse, where parents frantically sought information about their children.

Third-grader Alexis Wasik said police and teachers barged into her classroom and told students to hide in the corner.

"Everybody was crying," she said. "And I just heard the police officers yelling."

Aerial images from CNN affiliate News 12 New Jersey showed police officers armed with rifles following a dog into woods near the school.

Other officers, some in tactical gear, stood around the school with guns drawn, CNN affiliate WFSB reported.

'It doesn't seem possible' -- parents shocked by school shooting

All schools in the city were on lockdown Friday as police assessed the situation, Vance said.

Gov. Dan Malloy is "horrified" by what happened, a spokesman said. Malloy was meeting with families Friday afternoon, the spokesman said.

Obama ordered flags to half-staff nationwide in tribute to the victims.

If the number of fatalities holds up, the Newtown shooting would be the second-deadliest school shooting in U.S. history, behind only the 2007 shooting at Virginia Tech that left 32 people dead.

The 1999 Columbine High shooting in Littleton, Colorado, is the deadliest at a U.S. elementary, junior or high school. In that incident, two students shot 13 people to death before killing themselves.

source: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/12/14/us/connecticut-school-shooting/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Ateneo now against RH Bill ‘in current form’

MANILA, Philippines – Amid threats to strip Catholic schools of their affiliation with the Church, the Ateneo de Manila University said it does not support the passage of Reproductive Health (RH) Bill in its current form.

“Together with our leaders in the Catholic Church, the Ateneo de Manila University does not support the passage of House Bill 4244 (The Responsible Parenthood, Reproductive Health and Population and Development Bill),” Ateneo president Jose Ramon T. Villarin SJ said in a memo dated August 20.

The memo, which is posted on the school’s official Facebook page, was addressed to the Office of the President and the university community.

Ateneo professors previously gave their support to the Reproductive Health Bill, saying in a joint statement with professors from the University of the Philippines that their “studied and collective opinion is that House Bill 4244 is a vital piece of legislation.”

“Our reading of HB 4244 is that it is not a population control bill, nor does it violate any other rights and freedoms. HB 4244 in fact promotes the sexual and reproductive rights, the right to health, and the right to informed decision making of all Filipinos but especially the poor, in fulfillment of the provisions of our Constitution and our obligations under international covenants,” they said early last year.

The memo was released just days after the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) issued a statement that a school may be stripped of its affiliation with the Church if it goes against its teachings.

Archbishop Jose Palma, CBCP president said last week that Catholic schools should "not teach anything contrary to the official teaching of the Church."

In May, the CBCP also encouraged the faithful not to vote for politicians who support the RH Bill in next year's polls.

In Monday's memo, Villarin said the Ateneo community should continue studying the bill and support amendments “to remove provisions that could be ambiguous or inimical from a legal, moral or religious perspective,” as well as be vigilant to ensure that “no coercion takes place in implementation.”

“Catholic tradition has always taught that reason and faith are not enemies but allies in the service of God’s truth. From this tradition, we can draw strength and compassion in our often tortuous journey as persons in community toward the greater glory of God and the service of God’s people,” the statement said.

Ateneo’s memo has received mixed comments from students and alumni.

“If only the CBCP can speak with such empathy, intellectual rigor, open-mindedness, humility and trust,” Felix Sy commented on Facebook.

“Father, thank you for a statement that emphasizes the power and primacy of dialog,” posted Rowie Azada-Palacios.

However, Rye Gaba Del Carmen said, while the memo was unexpected from a Catholic institution, he was disappointed with his alma mater.

"This is the same university who taught me to be a person for others and to have the preferential option for the poor. With these two Christian concepts in mind, I support the RH Bill. And I detest the way the CBCP is lobbying against it," he said.

Ricardo Boncan also said the statement "does nothing to address the issue of abuse and misuse" of Ateneo's "Catholic identity."

source: abs-cbnnews.com

Sending your kid away to college

College-bound teen Shannon Murray — by her mother’s estimation — is “bubbly, trusting, outgoing and befriends absolutely everyone.” As the San Diego high schooler prepared to head off for her freshman year at Arizona State University, her mom, Ann, sat her down for a heart-to-heart.

The topic? The things a college coed never does at a frat party. Rule No. 1: Don’t let friends leave without you.

To make sure the rules stuck, Ann Murray gave her daughter pop quizzes to earn little rewards. “We’d be driving around and I’d say, ‘OK, for a Starbucks latte, what are the five things?’”

Ah, it’s off-to-college time, when parents grapple with a crazy-making mixture of anxiety, fear and excitement. It can all seem overwhelming. Will my son get along with his roommate? Can my daughter still take the placement test she missed? Will my child make new friends?

In the months and weeks leading up to the start of school — when filing deadlines loom and forms pile up on the kitchen table like unpaid bills — moms and dads are often frustrated that “their child is not getting organized,” said Christine Schelhas-Miller, co-author of “Don’t Tell Me What to Do, Just Send Money: The Essential Parenting Guide to College Years” (St. Martin’s Press, 2000).

“The admissions process is over and the child is breathing a sigh of relief. They’re hanging out with their high school friends, acting as though they don’t have a care in the world,” Schelhas-Miller said. Parents can be tempted to micromanage. But it’s a bad idea. Schelhas-Miller said parents should instead be transitioning from the role of “supervisor” to that of their child’s “consultant.”

“It’s passing the baton,” added Karen Levin Coburn, author of “Letting Go: A Parents’ Guide to Understanding the College Years” (HarperCollins, 2009). Children need to be “responsible for their own education. It’s [the] simple things — ‘You’re supposed to fill out your housing form. I’m not going to fill it out for you.’”

Thanks to the Internet, parents have more opportunities to connect with other parents. Many colleges even sponsor online parents’ networks. Suzy Keleher of Garden Grove used Humboldt State’s parents’ network to look for carpooling opportunities to get daughter Kira (and her rather large harp) up to the campus in Arcata.

Colleges also communicate with parents via email. Such online tools “help parents navigate the university from a distance,” said Jennifer Hightower, associate vice president of student services at Arizona State University.

Of course, face-to-face communication is always best. Larry Cohn of Orange, father of Arizona State senior Ben, rounded up a dozen or so fellow ASU parents from Southern California for a pizza one night. “We all had a great time and talked about our experiences. If somebody had a problem, somebody else would come up with a solution,” Cohn said.

Money is also a major stress factor, especially in today’s gloomy economic climate. Parents should realize that college-bound seniors are young adults capable of facing harsh economic realities, experts say, so it’s important to talk openly and honestly about family finances. Coburn suggests being direct, telling kids: “This is what we can afford to pay, how much we can borrow and how much you will have to earn in the summer or at a work-study job.”

Each family has to work out the credit-card question in its own way. But it’s generally a bad idea to hand out plastic with no set limits, Schelhas-Miller noted. A better idea might be a debit card with a certain amount deposited each month, or a credit card that is only for academic expenses, not “pizza on Saturday night,” she added. “It’s a matter of spelling out expectations.”

No matter how much parents gird themselves, it can be emotionally wrenching to send a child away to college. When Keleher dropped off Kira — her youngest of three — at Humboldt State for the first time, she held back the tears because “I wanted her to see me with a smiling face. But once I got out of there, I was wailing.”

It helps if parents realize that they’re not letting go. “They’re just moving to the sidelines and watching a little from afar,” said Penny Rue, vice chancellor of student affairs at UC San Diego. The good news is that research shows that most UCSD students are in daily or weekly contact with their parents, she added.

Connie Cirimeli of Walnut Creek and daughter Micaela, who will be a freshman at UC Davis this fall, are the kind of mother and teen who like to share details of each other’s day.

To keep the communication lines open when Micaela is away at school, the pair has penciled in Skype dates each Sunday at 6 p.m. — a sort of virtual family dinner.

Keeping in close contact is always a good idea, but knowing how to effectively communicate is the key. “The biggest mistake is when parents tell their college student what to do rather than listen and then help figure out how to solve the problem,” Schelhas-Miller said. “Do [the students] need more information? How can they get that? What resources are there on campus? Can they go to an advisor?

“Another issue is kids will often call their parents and do what we call the ‘stress dump’ to unload their frustrations,” Schelhas-Miller added. “They’re upset about things. But parents should not instantly call the school and try to solve the problem. They should be helping the kid figure out how to solve the problem.”

Figuring out what to pack for a dorm or apartment can be a headache. Taking too much is a common mistake. At San Francisco State, students “are coming with Costco-size packages of things. One year we collected 54 boxes of unused Swiffer refills,” said Jim Bolinger, SFSU’s director of school property management.

Before making that trip to the big-box store for school supplies, wait until your child is assigned a roommate, then have the pair decide who brings what.

“You don’t need to bring two televisions and stereos,” Rue said. San Francisco State encourages students to pack sustainable items like reusable water bottles and plastic storage containers instead of cardboard boxes. Or a personal coffee mug that can be refilled for a discount at the campus’ java joint.

And as for Ann Murray’s frat party rules: Shannon got her latte after passing her pop quiz with flying colors.

“It’s like you do your best to give your kid swimming lessons,” Murray said. “But at some point you have to throw them in the water and see if they can swim.”

source: latimes.com