California's Children

ADD drugs have no long-term positive effects, cd professor says

January 31, 2012:  If ADD (attention-deficit disorder) is the result of environmental, rather than biological origins, the use of drugs -- increased twenty-fold over the last three decades -- are not as effective as we think.

So says professor emeritus L. Alan Sroufe, at left, of the University of Minnesota’s Institute of Child Development, writing in the Sunday New York Times (January 29) on "Ritalin Gone Wrong."

Stroufe makes the case that there are no studies showing long-term benefits of ADD medication, such as Ritalin and Adderall:

Attention-deficit drugs increase concentration in the short term... But when given to children over long periods of time, they neither improve school achievement nor reduce behavior problems. The drugs can also have serious side effects, including stunting growth.

Ritalin and Adderall, a combination of dextroamphetamine and amphetamine, are stimulants. So why do they appear to calm children down? Some experts argued that because the brains of children with attention problems were different, the drugs had a mysterious paradoxical effect on them.

But in fact, the effects on behavior..

Brown budget cuts pre-req of 2nd science yr to graduate high school

One barely noticed item in Governor Jerry Brown's proposed budget for 2012-'13 is the reduction of the high school graduation requirements to one year for science, reports Kerry Benefield for the Press Democrat.

The California Department of Finance (CDF) says the purpose of eliminating the2-year science mandate is to provide schools more flexibility:

H.D. Palmer, at left, deputy director for external affairs and spokesperson for the CDF, said the item is part of a larger push by the Brown administration to lift state requirements....“This is being put forward as a part of a broader proposal to provide school districts with greater flexibility and greater local control,” he said. It gives “greater empowerment to local school districts to make local decisions.”

The move comes as a shock to educators across California who hear the Obama administration calling for more scientists and more science teachers, yet know full well that once a program is no longer mandated, the funding is often redirected towards others that are considered more necessary.

DARPA funds CA companies to pilot tech programs in high schools

January 31, 2012: The US Dept. of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the institution to which we owe the development of the internet, has awarded two California-based companies $2 million to create a program to build robots, drones and other low- and medium-tech gadgets ... in high schools.

The awardees are planning to implement the program in high schools in Oakland, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and elsewhere, reports Andrew Becker of California Watch.

The team has two years to reach the initial goal of 10 schools, then two more years to expand first to 100 schools then 1,000. The Defense Department wants unlimited rights to everything the students build, including all algorithms, source code, equipment and test use cases.

The two firms awarded the DARPA contracts are a San Francisco-based design team Otherlab, co-founded by Saul Griffith, above left;  and MAKE magazine, edited and published by Dale Dougherty, below left.

DeLeon may reintroduce pellet/BB gun "toy ID" laws

January 31, 2011: A 10-year-old boy in Burbank was arrested for knocking on a woman's door and pointing a (toy) gun at her in retaliation for her grandson beating up his friend at school.

January 17, 2012: The January 4 fatal shooting of a Texas middle school student carrying a BB gun has reopened Californias's debate on how to regulate imitation guns and guns that don't shoot bullets.

Caylee's Law clears Ass'bly

January 30, 2012: A bill, AB 1432 -- "Caylee's Law", so-named after 2-year-old Caylee Anthony, later found dead, wasn't reported missing for 31 days -- passed the Assembly 67-3 last Thursday (January 26) and is now headed for the state Senate, reports Jim Sanders for the Sacramento Bee's "Capitol Alert".

The bill, introduced by Assembly member Holly Mitchell (D-Culver City), at left, would require parents or guardians to report a missing child under the age of 14 within 24 hours; if it passes the Senate by a 2/3 majority, it will immediately become law.

Parents would be charged with a misdemeanor but maximum penalties would vary: