Better Believe It......Because They Actually Happen(ed) Collection 37

Japan public grade school under fire over Armani uniform



By Mari Yamaguchi


TOKYO (AP) — A Tokyo public school has adopted Giorgio Armani uniforms for students, triggering criticism in a country where hefty school fees are already burdening young parents.

Taimei Elementary School in Tokyo’s upscale Ginza shopping district has announced plans to introduce the new uniform option, which costs more than 80,000 yen ($730) for a full set. A minimum set — a navy-blue jacket and matching trousers or skirt, a long-sleeve shirt and a hat — would be more than twice the price of the current uniforms.

The school’s principal, Toshitsugu Wada, told a news conference Friday that the top fashion brand would fit Taimei’s identity as “a school of Ginza.” He said he chose Armani because its boutique is near the school.

Wada acknowledged the new uniform would cost more, but considered it worth it. He said his decision is unchanged despite the criticism.

“I thought Taimei can use the power of the foreign fashion brand for its identity,” he said.

The Armani uniform, to be launched in April, is recommended but not compulsory.

Full story at AP News (February 2018)



Teacher tried to raise army of jihadist children at school rated as outstanding


Umar Haque was found guilty at the Old Bailey of planning terror attacks with the help from two conspirators. Credit: Elizabeth Cook/PA


By Martin Evans


Ofsted marked a fee-paying Islamic school as outstanding while one of its teachers was trying to raise an “army” of jihadi children, it can be revealed.

Umar Haque, 25, has been convicted of plotting to attack iconic British landmarks such as Big Ben and Heathrow Airport. But police have said he was also aiming to recruit children from the two schools and the mosque where he taught in East London to carry out future jihad in the UK.

Haque was employed as an administrator and Religious Education teacher at the private Lantern of Knowledge Secondary School in Leyton, east London, between September 2015 and September 2016.

During the period he was at the school it received glowing Ofsted reports, with inspectors praising its "strong sense of community, harmony and respect".

Umar Haque, 25, who is facing jail for training an 'army of children' for terrorist attacks on 30 targets across London. Credit: Met Police/PA


Haque also worked at the Ripple Road mosque in Barking - which was attended by London Bridge terrorist, Khurum Butt, as well as the Hafs Academy in Newham.

'Army of children'

Commander Dean Haydon, head of the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command, said: “He abused his position at those venues.

"And he tried - and he did, we believe - radicalise vulnerable children from the ages of 11 to 14.

“His plan was to create an army of children to assist with multiple terrorist attacks throughout London.

“His plans, though ambitious, were aspirational. They were long term attack plans.”

Full story at The Telegraph (March 2018)



Florida students say ‘hero’ teacher Jim Gard was really a coward who left them to die


‘He left 75 per cent of his students out in the hallway to be slaughtered’

Mathematics teacher Jim Gard speaks with reporters at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on February 23. Photo: Reuters


At least two students who survived the chaos and bloodshed of the Florida school shooting last month are challenging the narrative surrounding a teacher hailed as a hero after the rampage.

Maths teacher Jim Gard was credited with protecting students in his classroom in the horrifying moments of February 14 after a teen gunman unleashed a fusillade of bullets at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.



In recent days, however, students Josh Gallagher and Connor Dietrich have expressed contempt at Gard on Twitter. Josh said Gard “called himself a hero, and … the media portrayed him as a hero when in reality he is the opposite.”

Mathematics teacher Jim Gard speaks with reporters at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on February 23. Photo: Reuters


Josh said he was in Gard’s class when the fire alarm went off and the students filed out. When they heard gunshots, about 15 of them froze before racing back to the classroom. Gard, however, had locked the door and refused to let them in.




“We were stuck in the hall for four total minutes, ducking and in fear for our lives” until a teacher Josh didn’t know let them in another classroom, Josh said. He said Gard “left 75 per cent of his students out in the hallway to be slaughtered.”

Gard gave a phone interview to CBS Miami while still holed up in his classroom with some of his students, less than two hours after the shooting spree. The group had been awaiting the all-clear from police officers conducting a classroom-by-classroom search.

Josh noted that Gard was interviewed by media multiple times and has been acclaimed a hero.

“He is nothing but a coward,” Josh said. “He has revictimised the students he left out of his class by calling himself a hero.”

Full story at South China Morning Post (March 2018)



Graduate sues Anglia Ruskin University claiming she ended up with a 'Mickey Mouse' degree


Pok Wong outside Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge Credit: Heathcliff O'Malley for the Telegraph


By Steve Bird


A graduate is suing her university, claiming boasts in its prospectus about high quality teaching and excellent career prospects were fraudulently misleading after she ended up with a “mickey mouse” degree. Pok Wong, 29, is seeking more than £60,000 in damages from Anglia Ruskin University for what she says was a breach of contract and fraudulent misrepresentation.

The International Business Strategy graduate is also claiming she was falsely imprisoned by the institution’s security staff after being “locked” in a room when she tried to protest about the quality of her course during her graduation ceremony.

The legal action, which could set a precedent forcing universities to review the way they promote their courses, shows how students are increasingly seeing themselves as ‘customers’ who demand value for money because they pay thousands of pounds in tuition fees.

In the eyes of the law, universities and other schools and educational establishments are indeed seen as traders and students as consumers.

In documents lodged before Central London County Court, Ms Wong says that “since graduating … it has been proven that the degree … does not play a role to help secure a rewarding job with prospects”.

Full story at The Telegraph (March 2018)

CBHS students suspended after upskirt photo taken and a video of teacher uploaded to porn site


Christchurch Boys' High School. PHOTO: FILE


By Kurt Bayer


Two students at a top Christchurch secondary school have been suspended after one took a photo up a female teacher’s skirt and shared it with his mates, while another took a video of his teacher in the classroom and uploaded it to a porn website.

Police have been called after the recent incident at Christchurch Boys’ High School.

The female worker took leave after learning of the image, the Herald understands.

CBHS headmaster Nic Hill refused to discuss specific allegations when approached by the Herald today.

But he confirmed there had been “more than one incident of undesirable behaviour with cellphones”.

“We are certainly aware of incidents that come under the Harmful Digital Communications Act. Police and Netsafe are involved,” Hill said.

He added: “We have sent boys to the board of trustees for incidents involving cellphones.”

Full story at Star Media (March 2018)



Seaside High teacher accidentally fires gun in class, students injured


Dennis Alexander SOURCE: KSBW


SEASIDE, Calif. — A teacher who also serves as a reserve police officer accidentally fired a gun inside a Seaside High School classroom Tuesday, police said, and three students were injured.

Dennis Alexander was teaching a course about gun safety for his Administration of Justice class when his gun went off at 1:20 p.m.

Alexander was pointing his gun at the ceiling when it fired. Pieces of the ceiling fell to the ground.

A news release from the Seaside Police Department said no one suffered "serious injuries." One 17-year-old boy suffered moderate injuries when fragments from the bullet ricocheted off the ceiling and lodged into his neck, the student's father, Fermin Gonzales, told KSBW.

The teacher had just told the class that he wanted to make sure his gun wasn't loaded, when the gun fired, according to Gonzales. "It's the craziest thing. It could have been very bad," Gonzales said.

The teacher was about to use the gun for a demonstration about how to disarm someone, according to Gonzales.

Full story at KSBW (March 2018)

National School Walkout: Students protest gun violence, call for action one month after Parkland shooting


By Christopher Carbone


Thousands of students walked out of classrooms nationwide Wednesday to protest gun violence and call for new gun control measures on the one month anniversary of the Parkland school shooting that left 17 dead and sparked a grassroots wave of activism.

From Maine to Hawaii, students left school to demonstrate against gun violence in what could be the biggest display yet of the student activism that has emerged in response to last month's massacre at Florida's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

In nearly 3,000 protests nationwide, students from the elementary to college level took up the call in a variety of ways. Some took part in roadside rallies to honor shooting victims and protest violence. Others held demonstrations in school gyms or on football fields. In Massachusetts and Georgia and Ohio, students went to the statehouse to lobby for new gun regulations.

The coordinated walkouts were loosely organized by Empower, the youth wing of the Women's March, which brought hundreds of thousands of demonstrators to Washington, D.C., last year. The group urged students to leave class at 10 a.m. local time for 17 minutes -- one minute for each victim in the Florida shooting -- and suggested demands for lawmakers, including an assault weapons ban and mandatory background checks for all gun sales.

"Our elected officials must do more than tweet thoughts and prayers in response to this violence," the group said on its website.

Students spoke out about why they chose to leave class.


A student protester chants at a rally calling for more gun control three days after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Feb. 17, 2018. (Reuters)


Amanya Paige, 16, a junior at Parkdale High School in Prince George’s County, told the Washington Post that many schools in her district are participating in on-campus walkouts “to pay our respects and to show that the student voice matters and we won’t stand for the lack of gun control when it comes to school safety. This is where we spend the majority of our time and pray that we are safe every day.”

“Seventeen people are dead and I am no longer willing to listen to politicians who deem my life less valuable than a piece of metal.” — Maya Homan, of Palo Alto, Calif., told the New York Times.

In Parkland, a walkout at Stoneman Douglas is expected to remain within the school’s perimeter, in part for safety reasons, Ashley Schulman, a 17-year-old senior, told the Wall Street Journal.



But each community was urged to shape its own protests, and while parents and teachers in many districts worked together to organize age-appropriate activities, school administrators had mixed reactions. Some have applauded students for taking a stand, while others threatened discipline.

Districts in Sayreville, New Jersey, and Maryland's Harford County drew criticism this week when they said students could face punishment for leaving class. In Pensacola, Florida, Superintendent Malcolm Thomas ordered students to hold an in-school assembly instead, telling them they could discuss voting and mental health issues, but not guns, and saying that political banners would not be allowed.

"You can't make political statements, it can't be a pro-gun or anti-gun assembly," Thomas told the Pensacola News-Journal.

Free speech advocates are ready for any confrontations.

Full story at Fox News (March 2018)