Four-year-olds in Montreal will use laptops in kindergarten class
Computer World Canada, By Jennifer Kavur, Sep 02, 2008
A pilot program led by Lester B. Pearson School Board (LBPSB) in Quebec will provide HP 2133 Mini-Note notebook PCs to four-year-old students this fall. The Kindergarten for Four-Year-Olds program will distribute 100 laptops among five Montreal-area schools and the International Language Centre in Pointe-Claire.
Registration is open to local area residents until mid-September, but spaces are limited. LBPSB schools offering the program include: Orchard Elementary, Thorndale Elementary, Mount Pleasant Elementary, Greendale Elementary and Bishop Whelan Elementary.
According Bob Mills, director general of LBPSB, the program will enhance learning opportunities by incorporating technology as part of a total education package. Research has show that the use of technology by three- and four-year-olds develops gain in intelligence, non-verbal skills, structural knowledge such as long-term memory and manual dexterity, he said.
"One of the reasons we went with the one-on-one approach was that the child will have ownership of that unit for the time that they are with us," said Mills. Students won't be allowed to take the units home.
"Studies have shown that one-to-one notebook programs really have an impact in terms of student motivation, engagement with the material that they're learning, it helps develop a community environment and collaboration and it also improves personal responsibility because they're responsible for these pieces of technology and also their attitudes towards school," said Derek Merilees, HP Canada's national marketing manager for education.
Portable models with Wi-Fi capabilities were selected so teachers could use the units with children in seated positions or in learning circles on the floor, said Mills. "The small laptops will be able to be moved from the desk to the carpet."
Exactly how the notebooks will be used is left to the discretion of the teachers. "It will depend on how the teacher in the classroom decides to integrate the technology into the learning process of these children. It's not going to be considered a separate entity," said Mills.
LBPSB selected the HP 2133 model after performing field
tests this summer, said Mills. Parents who used the
notebooks at home with their four-year-old children found
the battery life met their needs for thirty or forty minute
sessions. Children could manipulate the on/off switch and
the keyboard was large enough for their fingers.
"HP2133 mini-note was designed with educational input. At
less than 3 pounds and with the small form factor, it really
lends itself nicely to students at this young age," said
Merilees.
Child-friendly features include HP's 3D DriveGuard, a three-axis digital accelerometer chip that shuts down the hard drive when it detects sudden movements or shock. The scratch-resistant display and magnesium hinge bracket provide additional durability.
With pricing starting at $500, the notebook is also targeted to business users. Darren Leroux, product manager of commercial notebooks for HP Canada, explained how a notebook designed for the K-12 education market can also meet business needs.
"Special focus was placed on a mini-note PC that could deliver ease-of-use, true mobility, and reliability; all at an affordable price point that would not break the shrinking budgets of many education institutions. Also, because of the features previously mentioned, the HP 2133 has attracted a lot of attention from highly mobile professionals from other market sectors who are looking for a second PC as their travel companion," said Leroux.
Angry scenes as nursery worker appears in court on sexual assault charges
Vanessa George remanded in custody after crowds jeer from public gallery and throw missiles outside court
The Guardian, UK
June 11, 2009
A nursery school worker was jeered and spat at when she appeared in court today, charged with sexual assault and making and distributing child abuse images.
Vanessa George, 39, who worked at the Little Ted's nursery in Plymouth, was remanded in custody amid angry scenes in and outside the city's magistrates court.
George, of Plymouth, faces three counts of sexual assault on girls and one on a boy. She is also accused of making, possessing and distributing indecent images of children. Read More ..
BBC, UK TV
Programme - 1997
The sexual abuse by women of children and teenager
A surprising 86% of survivors of sexual abuse were not believed when they said the abuser was a woman.
Many myths were exposed, such as the one that women only sexually abused when coerced by men - they in fact played the lead part. Also the myth that women are incapable of cruelty - what was shown was beyond belief.
Women commit 25% of all child sexual abuse
250,000 children in UK have been sexually abused by women
Women in our society have been portrayed as victims, but somewhere within their victimisation they have learned that to abuse children gave them a sense of power, control, agency, and therefore they use the abuse of children to gain those things.
Jacqui Saradjiam: (clinical psychologist)
I think people find it so difficult to see that women sexually abuse children
because the whole view of women is of nurturers, carers, protectors - people
who do anything to look after children - and they see the women as victims
rather than enemies or perpetrators of any abuse.
Michelle Elliott: (Director - children's charity Kidscape)
I think the issue strikes at the core of what we perceive ourselves as women
to be. I think that it's easier to think that it's men - men the enemy,
somehow - but it can't be women - it's one thing women can't do. Women can
be equal, we can be free, we can be in charge of companies, but we can't
sexually abuse children - That's a load of rubbish.
Female Teacher jailed for sex with boy
The Guardian, UK
August 16, 2005
A married primary schoolteacher was jailed for 15 months yesterday after admitting having sex with an underage teenage boy.
Hannah Grice, 32, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to two counts of indecent assault on the boy, who was aged 14 and 15 at the time of the offences.
Sentencing her at Stafford crown court, Judge John Shand told Grice, from Cannock, Staffordshire, she had abused her position of trust.
"Cases such as this are, of course, made worse by the fact that you were a member of the teaching profession," he told her. "You should have been very sensitive indeed to child welfare issues." Grice was also ordered to register as a sex offender for 10 years. Read More ..
Health Canada Publication
The Invisible Boy: Revisioning the Victimization of Male Children and Teens
"... the existence of a double standard in the care and treatment of male victims, and the invisibility and normalization of violence and abuse toward boys and young men in our society.
Despite the fact that over 300 books and articles on male victims have been published in the last 25 to 30 years, boys and teen males remain on the periphery of the discourse on child abuse.
Few workshops about males can be found at most child abuse conferences and there are no specialized training programs for clinicians. Male-centred assessment is all but non-existent and treatment programs are rare. If we are talking about adult males, the problem is even greater. A sad example of this was witnessed recently in Toronto. After a broadcast of The Boys of St. Vincent, a film about the abuse of boys in a church-run orphanage, the Kids' Help Phone received over 1,000 calls from distraught adult male survivors of childhood sexual abuse. It is tragic in a way no words can capture that these men had no place to turn to other than a children's crisis line."
Female Teacher Accused of Sex Abuse
The Braxton County teacher admitted having sex with three middle school students, State Police said. U.S.A.
March 3, 2005
A Braxton County middle school teacher is in police custody after allegedly confessing to sexual misconduct with five of her students.
Toni Lynn Woods, 37, of Strange Creek was arrested Wednesday on eight counts of sexual assault. Read More ..