A Middle School Lesson in Black and White
A Mississippi middle school has reversed a law that kept students from running for certain student government positions based on race. The original policy at Nettleton Middle School in Mississippi allegedly was court-ordered in 1969. This year, only white students could run for president in all three middle school grades. If you were black and in seventh grade you could run for vice-president, while the sixth-grade reporter position was open only to people of African-American heritage. The old policy came to light when the sixth-grade daughter of Brandy Springer came home, upset because she couldn’t run for reporter because she wasn’t black. Springer protested, and on Aug. 27, 2010, the district withdrew the longstanding rule. “It is the belief of the current administration that these procedures were implemented to help ensure minority representation and involvement in the student body,” Nettleton Superintendent Russell Taylor said. “Therefore, beginning immediately, student elections at Nettleton School District will no longer have a classification of ethnicity. It is our intent that each student has equal opportunity to seek election for any student office.” (ABC News, USA Today)

When It Comes to Gambling, Teens Go All In
Teens, spurred on by the success of some extraordinarily young poker champions, are honing their card-playing skills online, often winning—or losing—thousands in the process. World Series of Poker champ Joe Cada, 22, says he practiced poker constantly on the Internet, sometimes playing more than 2,000 hands of poker a day. Blaine Brount, a 19-year-old college student, is following Cada’s path—thanks to his mother’s support. When he lost the $100 his mother initially gave the then 18-year-old to gamble online, she gave him more. “She said, ‘try again’ and helped me put more money online, and eventually I paid her back for that,” he says. “I’m proud of him,” Brount’s mother says. “It’s not something everyone can do. I think it’s an honest living. He’s working hard at it.” More than 70 percent of Americans ages 14-19 have gambled in the past year, according to the Institute for Research on Gambling Disorders. (ABC News)

Kindergarten: What’s the Rush?
Some parents, hoping to give their children the best possible start, actually are holding them back—out of kindergarten for a year or more.
 According to 2008 data, about 17 percent of kids were 6 or older when they began kindergarten, with parents often keeping their children out of the classroom until they’re convinced their little darlings can handle the pressure. The practice is so common now—and growing in popularity—that it’s been given its own term: redshirting, riffing on the term used for college athletes sitting on the bench their freshman year to preserve their eligibility. For many parents, redshirting their kindergarteners just makes sense: School districts, under increasing pressure to boost test scores, often are using kindergarten as a great opportunity to push children ahead academically, which means the teaching is much more rigorous than it was even a decade ago. Some children aren’t ready for the rigors of a classroom environment just yet, and the parents of others figure their kids are more likely to excel in class if they’re one of the older students as opposed to one of the younger. “We agonized over it all year,” said Rachel Tayse Baillieul, who decided to redshirt her daughter, Lillian. Her preschool teachers told the mother that it’d be best for the girl, considering she would’ve been one of the youngest in her class. “They said staying in preschool a year longer probably will never hurt and probably always will help, especially with social and emotional development,” Rachel said. (New York Times)

QUOTE:
“Thank you for beginning my reign as Twitter queen. May you always have soft cuticles while tweeting; may you never have carpal tunnel.” —Lady Gaga, in a video, commemorating her status as the world’s most popular celebrity Tweeter. Gaga has collected nearly 6 million followers (and counting). (E Online)