Bullying is one type of violence that threatens a youth's well-being in schools and neighborhoods. The impacts of bullying are felt by individuals, families, schools, and society and may result in youths feeling powerless, intimidated, and humiliated by the aggressive acts of other youth(s). This document is designed as a tool to help…

Public Law 94-142 provides safeguards to assure that materials and procedures utilized for the purposes of evaluation and placement of handicapped children be selected and administered so as to avoid racial and cultural discrimination. This publication is designed to provide the educational community with information to assist them in bringing…

Raising academic standards and eliminating achievement gaps between advantaged and disadvantaged students are America's prime national educational goals. Current federal and state policies, however, largely ignore the fact that the childhood poverty rate in the United States is 21%, the highest in the industrialized world, and that poverty…

This article discusses the steady stream of litigation that emerged shortly after the Pledge of Allegiance was introduced in 1892. The constitutionality of requiring students to take part in its daily recitation in schools continues to be challenged. Parents who objected to the statute and the words "under God" in the pledge filed suit, alleging…

A recent judgement in February 2005 by the Lord Chief Justice in Northern Ireland that a Health and Social Services Trust had breached a parent's Article 8 Right to Family Life in the process used to take a young child into care has stimulated major debate about the interface between the Human Rights Act (1998) and professional decision-making in…

Universities have responded to disruptive disturbances and to the underlying student unrest in various ways. Internal disciplinary actions, the use of police or national guard, the use of court injunctions and criminal prosecutions have been used by various institutions at different times. The purpose of this report is to develop principles and…

Discusses the constitutional protection of individual rights, particularly how they relate to the conduct of law enforcement. Summarizes a number of Supreme Court decisions and the legal precedents they established. Considers the various jurisdictions and duties of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. (MJP)

The purpose of this guidebook is to give Minnesota legislators an overview of all laws affecting young people in order to have a reference aid on current state policies toward youth. State statutes and cases that provide rights, responsibilities, and protections for young people under age 18 are described. Part 1 of this guide, "The…

Designed to assist charter school developers and operators, this question-and-answer publication provides general information that covers a broad range of federal civil rights issues related to public charter schools. Sections of the document discuss: (1) the growth of public charter schools and federal agencies that oversee charter schools; (2)…

In this paper, the author examines how colonial racist policies and western-bound post-colonial educational practices have contributed to the recurring ethnic conflicts in the Great Lakes region of Africa. After defining democracy and reflective citizenship within the African context, she discusses how teachers' roles should be redefined and…

The obligations of colleges and universities under existing laws prohibiting sex discrimination against employees and students are summarized. Principal federal sources of legal obligation regarding employees are the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Equal Pay Act of 1963, and…

Public schools have transformed significantly over the past several decades in response to broad concerns about rising school violence. Today's public schools are high security environments employing tactics commonly found in jails and prisons such as police officers, security cameras, identification systems, and secure building strategies.…

This pamphlet was developed to inform teenagers of their civil rights and to encourage them to organize in order to seek more equitable rights. The book is not recommended for classroom use, but rather is written as resource material for young people avidly interested in their rights and in the discrimination against young people by the legal…

This resource guide describes one state's statutes and cases so as to profile those rights, responsibilities, and protections for young people which are different from those applicable to adults. The purpose of this guidebook is to give legislators an overview of all laws affecting young people in order to have a reference aid on current state…

This abridged version of the Secretary-General's report to the United Nations General Assembly's Special Session on Children details the achievements of the 1990 World Summit for Children. Nearly 150 countries provided national progress reports of their implementation of goals set forth in the Summit and the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the…