Article here. Excerpt:

'Hundreds of thousands of poor children are growing up with little hope of a good education or career after being raised by families that fail to set proper boundaries or fully understand the difference between right and wrong, Sir Michael Wilshaw warned.

He said problems were particularly acute among disadvantaged white boys who perform worse than almost every other group at the age of 16.

In an interview with the Telegraph, Sir Michael said that old-fashioned values such as “self-help” and support for education had been eroded in many communities, particularly those in post-industrial cities with high levels of unemployment.

He said teachers from the best schools in these areas were now expected to act as “surrogate parents” – escorting pupils to bus stops, helping with homework, providing meals and giving them advice – in place of families “who can’t or won’t support their children”.'

Article here. Excerpt:

Helen Fraser, 63, the chief executive of the Girls' Day School Trust, told its annual conference that girls should learn to be just as "ambitious" in their relationships as they are in their careers.
...
The former managing director of Penguin Books said that girls can have it all - career, marriage and motherhood - but they must learn to pick the right partner to accomplish it.
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"Just as I believe we should always encourage our girls to aspire to the best universities, I believe we should encourage our girls to be ambitious in their relationships," she said.
...

"That what too many women face nowadays isn’t a 'glass ceiling' because of their sex but a 'nappy wall' if they choose to have a child as well as a career?

"That if you want children and a career, a partner who shares the load at home really, really matters?

Article here. Excerpt:

'Jennifer Gonzalez, the Malibu High School teacher accused of slapping a student six times as she cited the movie "Bridesmaids," is being backed by school officials and will not be placed on administrative leave, TMZ reports.

The news comes after the NAACP urged the school to further investigate the incident.

“Where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” NAACP Santa Monica Branch President Darrell Goode told CBS Los Angeles last week. “So we’re pushing the district to do a full-blown administrative investigation.”

According to TMZ, the school's "full-blown" investigation revealed Gonzalez only "pat" the student, and that she didn't mean to hurt her.'

Article here. Except:

'London - Findings from Western University have led researchers to ask questions about adolescent body image issues that are increasingly being traced to unhealthy behaviors and ultimately affecting adolescent male youth’s desire to participate or avoid exercise.

Experts in gender studies and physical education will meet with the London community at Palasad (777 Adelaide Street North) at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, June 13 to address how adolescent boys struggle with body image issues. Parents, students, teachers, school board members and friends are welcome to explore how some boys manage physical education classes that discourage participation.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'New York City health officials proposed on Tuesday that Orthodox Jewish parents be required to sign a consent waiver before they can take part in a circumcision ritual that is believed to have led to the deaths of at least two babies in the city over the past decade.

The proposal, introduced at a Board of Health meeting, represents an escalation of the city’s efforts to curtail the ancient Jewish procedure of metzitzah b’peh, in which an adult male, usually the circumciser, places his mouth directly on the wound created by the removal of the infant’s foreskin to suck away the blood.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Male representatives on the Sormland County Council in Sweden should sit rather than stand while urinating in office restrooms, according to a motion advanced by the local Left Party.

Known as a socialist and feminist organization, the party claims that seated urination is more hygienic for men -- the practice decreases the likelihood of puddles and other unwanted residue forming in the stall -- in addition to being better for a man's health by more effectively emptying one's bladder, The Local reported.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Society puts great importance on the male genitalia. But at birth, the penis faces its first true test: to circumcise or not to circumcise. For generations, the question was a no-brainer because most fathers want their sons to “look like them.” At the peak of its practice in the 1970s, an estimated 80 percent of American parents circumcised their newborn sons, removing what would be nearly four inches in adult foreskin and 20,000 nerve endings.

Like the man in the video, Eddy, 38, is also restoring. He said he suffered from a “growing lack of sensitivity” after being “modified” as a child. ... The men who opt to restore do so because, like women who were circumcised, they didn’t have a choice and feel their bodies have been altered for the worse.

Press release here. Excerpt:

'WASHINGTON, June 14, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Following the release of Brian Banks after 5 years in jail on a false rape conviction, Stop Abusive and Violent Environments is calling on the media to report rape allegations in a responsible and ethical manner. Media accounts of alleged rape cases often highlight the accusation but fail to report exonerations in the same manner, SAVE says.

Brian Banks was a 16-year-old football star with a full scholarship to the University of Southern California when he was accused of rape by Wanetta Gibson. Fearing a life sentence, Banks agreed to a plea bargain, even though there was no medical evidence or witnesses to support her claim.

Banks spent over five years in jail. In the meantime, Gibson received a $750,000 settlement from the school for not defending her from the alleged assault. Recently Gibson admitted during a taped interview that her accusation was fabricated. On May 24, 2012, Banks was exonerated.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'In an interview with Norwegian daily newspaper Dagbladet published today, a representative of Norway's Center Party has argued that circumcising a newborn boy for religious reasons should be made illegal.

Citing how circumcising a girl is already prohibited, justice policy spokeswoman Jenny Klinge and the Center Party — a junior member in Norway's coalition government — reportedly believe it is time to extend this law to include males.

Her comments have already caused quite a stir in Norway and abroad with doctors and politicians coming forward to express their disapproval or support for Klinge's comments.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'ST. PETERSBURG -- Danielle Harkins told the kids they needed to rid their bodies of demons as the group gathered before dusk Saturday around a small fire near the St. Petersburg Pier. They should cut their skin to let the evil spirits out, police said she told the children. Then, they needed to burn the wounds to ensure that those spirits would not return.
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Harkins, 35, a literacy teacher at Lealman and Asian Neighborhood Family Center, was booked in jail Tuesday morning on child abuse charges in connection with the bizarre ritual. She was held in jail Tuesday night on $55,000 bail.

Police said the ritual was attended by seven teenagers, all of Asian ethnic background, whom Harkins had taught a few years ago in her job at the center. At least two were injured, police said.
...

Records show that Harkins was the defendant in a sexual violence injunction that was dismissed in January. In August, she filed a domestic violence injunction against her husband, which was also dismissed.

Article here. Excerpt:

'When it comes to the impact of a father's love versus that of a mother, results from more than 500 studies suggest that while children and adults often experience more or less the same level of acceptance or rejection from each parent, the influence of one parent's rejection -- oftentimes the father's -- can be much greater than the other's. A 13-nation team of psychologists working on the International Father Acceptance Rejection Project has developed at least one explanation for this difference: that children and young adults are likely to pay more attention to whichever parent they perceive to have higher interpersonal power or prestige. So if a child perceives her father as having higher prestige, he may be more influential in her life than the child's mother. Work is ongoing to better understand this potential relationship.

Article here. Excerpt:

'HANDIGARH: The Mewat district in Haryana, where Muslims are in majority and which is also one of the most backward areas of the state, has witnessed a surge in false cases of rapes and molestation, allegedly for settling personal scores.

According to Mewat superintendent of police, Pankaj Nain, police have so far cancelled 32 false FIRs of rape in the last five years while investigations into 19 other cases were presently on. In most cancelled cases, the complainants were Muslim women, he said.

"The cases which have been cancelled by us so far included those registered by vested interests, who wanted to settle scores with their rivals. In some cases, the complainant did not join investigations after registration of case or turned hostile at the time of recording of statements by judicial magistrate," said Nain.

"However, as provided under law, we have started taking action against such complainants, who are misleading police to settle personal scores," he added.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'A young woman was seriously emotionally unstable when she falsely claimed she had been raped, counsel for 20-year-old Sarah Louise Jenkins, unemployed, told the Dunedin District Court yesterday.
...
Mr Miller acknowledged the complaint had been "disturbing". But although it caused difficulties for the young man, it was "at the low end". The defendant was truly sorry for what she had done. She was having ongoing counselling and was stable at present, Mr Miller said.

Judge Michael Crosbie told Jenkins the victim had gone through "a very bad situation" as a result of the false allegation. He had liked her, although he knew she had "issues".

Then it seemed her friends became involved and made threats against him. Although angry and upset about what happened, the victim had since "moved on", the judge said.'

Article here.

'Left Party members of a Swedish county council said they want to encourage men using the council's toilets to sit during urination.

The Left Party in Sormland said it wants the Sormland County Council to pass a motion requiring toilets reserved for stand-up urination to be labeled, Swedish news agency TT reported Monday.

The party said sit-down urination is more hygienic and reduces the risk of bathroom users having to negotiate their way around puddles en route to the toilet.

The supporters of the motion said sitting during urination also has medical benefits, including reducing the risk of prostate problems and leading to a healthier and longer sex life.

Viggo Hansen, a substitute member of the council and author of the motion, said he wants it to eventually lead to sitting-only bathrooms.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'All women of childbearing age could benefit from being routinely screened for intimate partner violence, a government-appointed panel of experts said today.

Whether or not women have any signs or symptoms of abuse, they would be screened under the proposed recommendation released today by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.

An estimated 1.3 to 5.3 million women yearly experience violence at the hands of their partners, though these numbers are likely underestimates, because such violence often goes unreported, according to research cited by the panel.

If a screening test revealed a woman to be the victim of intimate partner violence, she should be referred for an intervention, according to the draft.