Paradise Lost at the University of Virginia
I posed this question to the 12 students in my class on John Milton's epic poem 'Paradise Lost.' Lots of sparkling answers came. It was a wonderful group. At the end, a young woman named Jessica turned to me and asked, 'What about you, sir?' Jessica had a predilection for calling me 'sir'—various valences of irony applied, usually soft. 'What's your idea of paradise?'
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'Above and beyond' - Mum thanks primary school as daughter leaves for secondary
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Teachers Are Sharing The Rise In Misogyny They're Seeing In Young Boys In The Classroom, And It's Terrifying
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"They'd ask fascinating questions about all sorts of things — people they saw online, situations they were in with girls or at home — and it worked really well. My colleagues and I saw a change in them, especially over the years of doing it." "It worked so well that the administration created the equivalent for the girls, and they felt it was successful too. I left after the third year, but heard they continued it until a head of school who felt it opened us up to liability took over and shut it down. Boys need healthy men to be able to talk to and share their thoughts with and learn from. Today's male youth seem to only really have toxic men to learn from. Until there are strong positive male voices equally available to them, the toxic bros are setting the agenda." Another male teacher, Leucippus1, wrote, "I have certainly noticed that the algorithm has been pushing overtly misogynistic content to me; I can only imagine what it does to teenage boys." 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"I see it in some of my first graders," wrote teacher nochickflickmoments, "especially in boys whose dads are clear with me that they voted for Trump. Or when one of the first graders told me 'that women shouldn't be president.'" ABC User Major-Platypus2092 wrote, "I've noticed this quite a bit. I'm one of the only male teachers in my department, and students will often look to me to validate their Andrew Tate bullshit. I've tried correcting them in various different ways, but usually what happens is they just decide I'm a 'simp' or whatever and not worth listening to. I've broken through a few times, but it's pretty horrifying." CBS / Via u/Brothless_Ramen wrote, "Yeah, it's pretty great how quickly a man instantly isn't a man because he doesn't buy into their garbage, it makes it so hard to pull them out. It's like they think there's this global conspiracy where all women and some men are personally against them and trying to make them fail algebra, and if you question that, you're part of the conspiracy." "My daughter just finished fifth grade, and after the election, she had several boys saying things like 'your body, my choice,' which is kind of horrifying," said user -dudess. User BugMillionaire wrote, "It's because the algorithms are designed to feed young boys alt-right/misogyny content. There have been many studies showing how the algorithm changes depending on age and gender, and how hard it is to deviate away from the alt-right info once you get it." "And we know how echo-chambery the internet is. Once they've gotten hooked, that's ALL they get. It's called algorithmic radicalization." "Yes," u/CharmingAmoeba3330 wrote in response, "This is what I was going to say. I saw a post the other day from a doctor and team who have been studying the growing misogyny in young boys. They said they found that if a kid, 17 or younger, made a TikTok account, within the first 17 seconds they would be pushed alt-right/misogyny content." "I also saw another post about the uptick of young teen boys murdering teen girls in the UK." "It's not just the boys," u/Sad-Biscotti-3034 wrote. " I teach senior girls in my government class who truly think that women should never run for office and claim they'd gladly give up their voting rights if they didn't have to work and could be homemakers." "Yes, I live in a very red county. It's scary because many of them are voting age, and I can only teach them so much in the amount of time I have with them." This behavior is so concerning, I want to hear what you have to say. Tell me all your opinions and first-hand stories in the comments — especially if you're a teacher, parent, or student. This is a necessary discussion to have! Or, if you want to write in but prefer to stay anonymous, you can check out the anonymous form below. Who knows — your story could be included in a future BuzzFeed article. Please note: some comments have been edited for length and/or clarity.
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Homeless Student Counts in California Are Up. Some Say That's a Good Thing
This article was originally published in CalMatters. In Kern County, the first rule in counting homeless students is not saying 'homeless.' Instead, school staff use phrases like 'struggling with stable housing' or 'families in transition.' The approach seems to have worked: More families are sharing their housing status with their children's schools, which means more students are getting services. 'There's a lot of stigma attached to the word 'homeless,'' said Curt Williams, director of homeless and foster youth services for the Kern County Office of Education. 'When you remove that word, it all changes.' Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter Largely as a result of better identification methods, Kern County saw its homeless student population jump 10% last year, to 7,200. Those students received transportation to and from school, free school supplies, tutoring and other services intended to help them stay in school. For the purposes of this data, the definition of homelessness is broader than the state's point in time count. The trend is reflected statewide. In the latest state enrollment data released last month, California had 230,443 homeless students — a 9.3% increase from the previous year. Some of the increase is due to the state's ongoing housing shortage, but most of the increase is because of better identification, advocates and school officials said. Homeless students face numerous obstacles in school. They have higher rates of discipline and absenteeism, and fare worse academically. Last year, only 16% of homeless students met the state's math standard, some of the lowest scores of any student group. Related 'Schools can't solve homelessness, but they can ensure the students are safe in the classroom and getting the education they need to get out of homelessness,' said Barbara Duffield, executive director of Schoolhouse Connection, a national homeless youth advocacy group. 'That starts with identifying the child who's homeless.' Challenges of counting homeless students Under the federal McKinney-Vento Act, schools are required to count their homeless students throughout the school year and ensure they receive services. Homeless students also have the right to stay enrolled in their original school even if they move. For many years, schools struggled to identify homeless students. Under state law, schools must distribute forms at the beginning of the school year asking families where they live — in their own homes, in motels, doubled-up with other families, in shelters, cars or outdoors. Some schools were less-than-diligent about collecting the form, or reassuring families understood the importance. Often, homeless families were reluctant to submit the form because they were afraid the school might contact a child welfare agency. Immigrant families sometimes feared the school might notify immigration authorities. And some families didn't realize that sharing quarters with another family — by far the most common living situation among homeless families – is technically defined as homeless, at least under McKinney-Vento. A 2021 bill by former Assemblymember Luz Rivas, a Democrat from Arleta in the San Fernando Valley, sought to fix that problem. The bill requires schools to train everyone who works with students — from bus drivers to cafeteria workers to teachers — on how to recognize potential signs of homelessness. That could include families who move frequently or don't reply to school correspondence. The bill seems to have helped. Last year, the state identified 21,000 more homeless students than it had the previous year, even as overall enrollment dropped. Still, that's probably an undercount, researchers said. The actual homeless student population is probably between 5% and10% of those students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, according to the National Center for Homeless Education. In California, that would be a shortfall of up to 138,713 students. Influx of funding Another boost for identifying homeless students came from the American Rescue Plan, the federal COVID-19 relief package. The plan included $800 million for schools to hire counselors or train existing staff to help homeless students. Nearly all schools in California received some money. About 120 districts in California won grant money through the McKinney-Vento Act, which last year dispersed about $15.9 million in California to pay for things like rides to school, backpacks, staff and other services. Districts are chosen on a competitive basis; not all districts that apply receive funds. But those funding sources are drying up. Most of the pandemic relief money has already been spent, and President Donald Trump's recently approved budget does not include McKinney-Vento funding for 2026-27. The cuts come at a time when advocates expect steep increases in the number of homeless families over the next few years, due in part to national policy changes. Republican budget proposals include cuts to Medicaid, food assistance and other programs aimed at helping low-income families, while the immigration crackdown has left thousands of families afraid to seek assistance. For families living on tight budgets, those cuts could lead to a loss of housing. And in California, the shortage of affordable housing continues to be a hurdle for low-income families. Even Kern County, which has traditionally been a less pricey option for families, has seen a spike in housing costs as more residents move there from Los Angeles. Joseph Bishop, an education professor at UCLA and co-author of a recent report on homeless students nationwide, said the loss of government funding will be devastating for homeless students. 'California is the epicenter of the homeless student crisis, and we need targeted, dedicated support,' Bishop said. 'Folks should be extremely alarmed right now. Will these kids be getting the education they need and deserve?' Better food, cleaner bathrooms In Kern County, identification has only been one part of the effort to help homeless students thrive in school. Schools also try to pair them with tutors and mentors, give them school supplies and laundry tokens, and invite them to join a program called Student Voice Ambassadors. There, students can tour local colleges, learn leadership skills and explore career options. As part of the program, staff ask students what would make school more enticing — and then make sure the suggestions happen. At one school, students said they'd go to class if the bathrooms were cleaner. So staff improved the bathrooms. At another school, students wanted better food. They got it. Williams credits the program with reducing absenteeism among homeless students. Two years ago, 45% of Kern County's homeless students were chronically absent. Last year, the number dropped to 39% – still too high, he said, but a significant improvement. 'Without McKinney-Vento funds, the Student Voice Ambassador program would go away,' Williams said. 'How will we keep it going? I don't know.' This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license. Solve the daily Crossword
