14 year old public school student sells drugs to classmates

Four Ocean Springs Middle School students were taken to the Jackson County Youth Court Monday after one was caught selling a prescription painkiller to three others.

The students were not identified because of their age, but Ocean Springs Detective Matt Hoggatt said a 14-year-old boy is charged with selling a controlled substance on school grounds. He also said the three 13-year-old boys are charged with possession of a controlled substance on school property.

Read more in The Mississippi Press

I Am Going To Be Sick

Worldnet Daily offers numerous examples of teachers having sex with underage students. I think I am going to be sick.

News & Views

Public Schools & Diversity

Some school districts are refusing to allow students to attend neighborhood schools in order to create diversity.

But parents, including some blacks, in both districts sued after their children were denied entry to neighborhood schools or schools they otherwise wanted to attend. They say the districts' policies discriminate on the basis of race, something the 14th Amendment to the Constitution doesn't permit. The parents are supported in both cases by the Bush administration, which has consistently argued that while diversity is a compelling interest, it must be achieved through race-neutral means.

13 Year Old Girl Brings A Gun to School On The Bus

A 13-year-old girl who packed a pistol in her purse Monday and boarded a Harrison County school bus didn't intend to harm anyone, authorities said.The D'Iberville Middle School student also had the clip that holds the 9mm Ruger's bullets, but the gun wasn't loaded, according to the Harrison County Sheriff's Department. The incident marks the fourth report of a gun on a South Mississippi campus since August.

Unhealthy In Mississippi

The report listed Louisiana as the least-healthy state, followed by Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas.

Well at least I don't live in Louisiana.

News & Views

Do Public School Students Have a Right to Free Speech?

"The question comes down to whether a school may, in the absence of concern about disruption of educational activities, punish and censor non-disruptive, off-campus speech by students during school-authorized activities because the speech promotes a social message contrary to the one favored by the school," wrote 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Andrew J. Kleinfeld. "The answer under controlling, long existing precedent is plainly `No.'" The case began in early 2002, when students at Frederick's school were excused from class to watch the Olympic torch pass by on its way to Salt Lake City. As the torch passed, Frederick and some friends revealed a large banner with "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" on it. The banner was caught by television cameras at the event. Morse confronted Frederick, asking him to put down the banner. When he resisted, saying he had a First Amendment right to display the message, she confiscated it and later suspended him for defying her and for having the banner.

Read more in the Sun Herald.

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What's the Fuss About?

When newly elected members of Congress raise their right hands as they take their oaths of office in January, they won't be placing their left hands on the Bible, their high school yearbooks or any religious texts. During official swearing-in ceremonies, elected members don't place their hands on any books. It's up to individual members, however, if they want to carry sacred texts. "Some members carry a Bible. You don't actually put your hand on a Bible. I can't see how anyone would object to carrying a Quran," Senate historian Don Ritchie said.

I agree with Senate Historian Don Ritchie, how can anyone object to the Quran being used. We do have freedom of religion in America don't we?

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Epa Libraries Being Shut Down

As the Environmental Protection Agency closes some scientific libraries around the country, EPA scientists and other environmental advocates worry whether that kind of information could become harder to find. They fear that the agency's plan to save money by replacing printed resources with digitized versions on the Internet could make information less - not more - accessible. "Nobody is against modernization, but we don't see the digitization," said Francesca Grifo, a botanist and the director of scientific integrity at the Union of Concerned Scientists, an advocacy group for the environment and other scientific issues. "We just see the libraries closing. We just see that public access has been cut off."