Boy refused to wear cornrow braids by his school is ruled racial discrimination

The boy's family won the case against Harrow college. They said he couldn't wear cornrow braids since they think it was a ''gang-related'' hairstyle. The school's anti-gang ban on unconventional hairstyles led to ''unlawful, indirect racial discrimination which is not justified'' according to the high court. This is a victory for the boy's family, since his hairstyle is part of a family tradition. Mr Justice Collins, sitting in London, claimed that the hair policy was not unlawful itself, ''but if it is applied without any possibility of exception, such as this boy, then it is unlawful''.

Words: 96

Comment:

I do think it is ridiculous to think this hairstyle is a part of a gangster lifestyle. I've seen a lot of people with this hairstyle on many different races. It shouldn't matter how you look like, and these braids don't even look that horrible since it looks very neat with no hair sticking out. I think it is quite poor for the boy, since he's just 13. He was very hurt and doesn't even want to go back to this school. The school didn't come really far though, but still it is ridiculous because they gave this boy a hurtful time.

Words: 102

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jun/17/school-ban-cornrow-braids-discrimination

welfare shakeup could make parents of disabled children lose £1,400

Hundred thousands of disabled children will lose a lot of crucial money since their welfare benefit will get halved under controversial reforms.

Parents are now able to receive £54 a week, which is a maximum. They can get this through tax credits to help with the extra cost of  taking care of a child with disabilities. But because of the welfare reform bill, which has been discussed by the Commons last week, that the parents of disabled children will only get £27 a week instead of £54. According to the Children's Society this is way below the poverty line.

Words: 99

Comment:

I think the government should stay away from the money of disabled children. Life is already quite hard for them since they have to adjust themselves to the world of people who are able to move just fine. The government should take away money from other departments as much as they are able to do. If the money they get is already under the poverty line for normal people, then what about disabled children? It's just something I really wonder. It almost seems they do it on purpose. Who's sick idea was it to take money away from these people...

Words: 100

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/jun/18/disabled-benefits-cut-welfare-reform




http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/jun/18/disabled-benefits-cut-welfare-reform

Primary schoolteacher abuses pupils while filming

A primary schoolteacher, father of two children, showers at least one girl a year with gifts. He filmed himself while he was sexually assaulting his pupils who were as young as six. The sexual assaults went on sometimes when other children where present. The man, 51 years old, afforded a pupil privileges and organised one-on-one teaching sessions with the girl. He also wrote letters to his victims, in which he told them to keep quiet. In these letters he described the pupils what he would want to do to them and ask them to reply him.

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

words: 96

Comment:

I think this man should never work with children again, and he should be locked up in the highest room. I already got sick of this article when I only read the title. Just anything that contains children who are sexually abused make me kind of angry. Of course the police is doing something about this now, but still I think there is no punishment high enough for these kind of things. I think this happens quite much, and I think that schools should really pay attention too. It can be quite hard to find out whether a teacher is guilty or not of doing these things, but at least they should never hire a person who did this before.

Words: 120

3 out of 10 children in the UK ''own no books''

3 out of 10 children in the UK ''own no books''

A recent research reveals that a high number of boys and girl have no books for themselves, which seems to be worrying for their future prospects. 3 out of 10 children within the UK own no single book of their own. This research is done by the National Literacy, who also claims that boys are less likely to have books than girls. The survey also says that 4 in 10 boys do not have any books, and 3 in 10 girls do not own any books either. This survey took place last year around November and December, with children between 11 and 13 years old.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jun/01/three-in-10-uk-children-own-no-books

words: 105

Comment:

I hate reading with a passion, but I do think that everyone needs to read a book once in a while. Especially children need to get used to reading, because it will definitely come back throughout their whole life. There is no way of avoiding it, so best would be to start reading as soon as they can. Therefore I think that having books at home will be better for young children, since I think the beginning stage of reading is most important.

Words: 83