Free Republic

Urine tests can detect tobacco byproduct for up to 10 days ASSOCIATED PRESS VESTAVIA HILLS, Ala., Oct. 7 — Breath mints won’t cut it anymore for students who have been smoking in the bathroom — some schools around the country are administering urine tests to teenagers to find out whether they have been using tobacco. OPPONENTS say such testing violates students’ rights and can keep them out of the extracurricular activities they need to stay on track. But some advocates say smoking in the boys’ room is a ticket to more serious drug use. “Some addicted drug users look back...

Academics defend children's right to play video game nasties A group of academics is urging a US appeals court to strike down a law restricting children's access to violent video games. The 33 scholars, from institutions including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of California at Los Angeles and the University of London, have described the law as misguided. "Most studies and experiments on video games containing violent content have not found adverse effects," a brief lodged with the court said. "Researchers who do report positive results have generally relied on small statistical differences and used dubious 'proxies' for...

The games playing habits of 700 7- to 16-year-olds is the subject of new research carried out by directors, Professor Angela McFarlane, who holds a Chair in Education at Bristol University, Ysanne Heald and Anne Sparrowhawk, of Teachers Evaluating Educational Multimedia (TEEM) on behalf of the DfES. The report reveals the many important benefits that children acquire as a result of playing computer games. The research, which gathered information from teachers, parents and pupils, shows that children learn a range of strategic thinking and planning skills that teachers find beneficial to their pupils' learning. Rather than games playing being a...