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Stay Clear of Snowflake University

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November 19,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, in a recent opinion piece for the New York Post ,Dr. Everett Piper suggest ways to keep your college bound kid out of Snowflake University. Piper is the president of Oklahoma Wesleyan University and the author of the book “Not a Day Care: The Devastating Consequences of Abandoning Truth.

Generation Snowflake, or Snowflake Generation, is a neologistic term used to characterize the young adults of the 2010s as being more prone to taking offence and less resilient than previous generations, or as being too emotionally vulnerable to cope with views that challenge their own. The term is considered derogatory

In the Article Piper states , The ugly truth is that colleges around the country have been bowing down to the snowflakes that riot on their campuses. We saw an example of this at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash., last spring.

What we call on the Ridgewood blog : Participatory Fascism , something that seems to have run a muck in the Village in recent years and particularly recent weeks .

“At the University of Missouri, a relatively small group of students held a sit-in at the campus library for two days in the fall of 2015. The demonstrators demanded that all staff, faculty and students go through training that aligned with their myopic and closed political worldview. They actually stipulated that any student who didn’t complete the training couldn’t enroll in any classes. The group didn’t stop there. They demanded the resignation of both the president and the provost and, shockingly, the board of trustees capitulated. By rewarding these rioters and accepting their demands, Evergreen and the University of Missouri did nothing but enable further selfishness and dysfunctional behavior at their respective institutions.”

Piper says these Snowflake schools are about , “Teaching political correctness rather than truth”  he goes on , “Intellectual and moral nihilism serves as their foundation and they actually disparage the idea of absolute truth and right and wrong. Education should not be about celebrating opinions and feelings but rather about pursuing facts.”

A Ridgewood blog reader once said , “American schools are almost communist now. They dole out oppression dressed as education in more ways than one. What once was opinion is now fact and what once was economics and statistics is hate speech.”

Piper states this is a direct result of the snowflake doctrine that there are absolutely no absolutes, and that wrong and right, truth and falsity, everything related to morality is determined by people rather than facts. It is scary to think that a generation that has been taught there are no moral standards will become the judges, lawyers and legislators of the future. How can you govern without understanding the importance of truth?

Pier concludes , “Education should be about the promulgation of the bigger and better ideas. It should be more about Socrates and St. Paul than about self-actualization and social engineering. The best education is one that is grounded in those ideas that are tested by time, defended by reason, validated by experience and confirmed by revelation.”

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Screenwise: Helping Kids Thrive (and Survive) in Their Digital World

cyber

November 19,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ,  Wellbeing Series combines with Tech Nights Series to provide an Important program on digital mindfulness on Nov. 29 with Devorah Heitner, Ph.D. Dr. Heitner’s program, Screenwise: Helping Kids Thrive (and Survive) in Their Digital World, will cover criteria by which parents and guardians may judge the quality of their children’s media experiences and offer tips to help them become tech-positive parents.

Dr. Heitner is an experienced speaker, workshop leader and consultant, and a professional development resource for organizations wishing to cultivate a culture of responsible digital citizenship. She holds a doctorate in Media/Technology and Society from Northwestern University and is the founder of Raising Digital Natives, for parents and educators seeking advice on how to help children thrive in a world of digital connectedness.

The evening with Dr. Heitner will take place from 7-9 p.m. at the George Washington Middle School Auditorium, 155 Washington Place. It is free and open to the adult public.

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Ridgewood Art Institute Annual Members’ Holiday Show and Sale Today at 1pm

Ridgewood Art Institute

November 19,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, The Ridgewood Art Institute is home to many talented artists. We welcome you to visit us and view our Annual Members’ Holiday Show and Sale, usually featuring over 150 pieces of beautiful artwork. In addition, this year we are also including a Small Works Fundraising Exhibition with pieces priced at $150, all proceeds benefit The Ridgewood Art Institute.

What better way to kick off the Holiday Season, than to meet our artists and other art enthusiasts in a festive setting? Please join us for our opening reception on Sunday, November 19th, 2017 from 1-4 pm. Work will be on view daily from 11am-3pm till December 24th, 2017.

Art makes a unique gift that can be treasured for a lifetime. Also, your gift helps support this fine institution, which is a gift to so many.

The Ridgewood Art Institute is a non profit organization providing the finest instruction in Classical Realism in a variety of mediums. Classes are offered on an open enrollment basis, and can be joined at any time. Each student is taught in direct relation to their personal skill level. For more information on class scheduling, this and future events please visit ridgewoodartinstitute.org

Sunday November 19th  1 PM – 4 PM

Ridgewood Art Institute
12 E Glen Ave, Ridgewood, New Jersey 07450

 

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The Ridgewood High School Alumni Association is currently accepting nominations for this year’s Distinguished Alumni event

RHS_theridgewoodblog

November 18,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, The Ridgewood High School Alumni Association is currently accepting nominations for this year’s Distinguished Alumni event. The event will take place on Thursday, March 22, 2018. The deadline for nominations is January 15th, 2018.

Please submit all nominations via the website (RHSalumniassociation.org) under the contact us section. Please make sure to include the full name of graduate, year of graduation and a brief write up detailing the person’s distinguished achievements. Any questions or inquiries can be sent directly to [email protected]

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New Jersey Teachers Union (NJEA) Spent $5.7M of Union Dues on Election Activities in November

Ridgewood Teachers

November 17,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, According to recent filings with the Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) , the New Jersey Education Association spent about $5.7 million in union dues on the recent general election. It did so through Garden State Forward, a Super PAC (political action committee) that the teachers union founded four years ago.

The amount spent was almost seven times more than the NJEA spent from voluntary donations to its regular PAC. NJEA communications director Steve Baker confirmed that all the roughly $5.7 million came from membership dues. Many NJEA members erroneously believe teachers union spent only funds from voluntary donations on recent political battles .

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Reader says Social media is like fuel to a fire

facebook-dislike-theridgewoodblog

The parents are to blame-if my kid got into a fight just a few days prior, you bet they would not be allowed to go out that weekend…I don’t care who started the fight, who won the fight, or who was in the right or wrong-my teen would be sitting at home for the next few weeks to “cool off”, (WITHOUT his/her phone) Social media is like fuel to a fire-shut it off and the fire dies. Maybe the parents didn’t know about the prior fight-that would be a different issue to deal with all together-called communication…

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Lawsuit Accuses Ridgewood Schools of a Cover up and Violating it’s Own “Cyber Bullying” and Social Media Policies

Ridgewood High School theridgewoodblog.net 3

November 17,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, looks like the Ridgewood blog was not the only one with unanswered questions about the fighting incident that took place at Stevens and Brookside fields. We recently observed that the ,

“Ridgewood High School “ANTI BULLYING POLICY” was adapted in 2016 , it has very clear rolls for students , parents and staff, While the kids involved in the incident have gotten all the attention , the little public information that is available about the incident and what led up to the incident would lead anyone to suspect the Ridgewood High School anti bullying policy , despite years of finger wagging was not followed and it appears that not only were students documented to be in violation of the policy but clearly so were some staff and parents .”

https://theridgewoodblog.net/so-the-question-remains-for-the-ridgewood-school-system-who-knew-when-did-they-know-and-why-did-they-not-act/

After an investigation of the incident the Ridgewood Police  charged a 14-year-old with aggravated assault and simple assault. The 16-year-old was charged with simple assault.

Which all let us to ask , “who knew ,when did they know and why did they not act?”

Looks like we were not alone Fort Lee attorney Rosemarie Arnold delivered two notices of intent to Ridgewood High School on Thursday stating that the parents of a 16-year-old boy intend to sue the Board of Education, high school principal Thomas Gorman and superintendent Daniel Fishbein because they allegedly violated their own policies regarding bullying and social media, sounds just like our article .

According to their website the Law Offices Rosemarie Arnold is based in Fort Lee Law and represents clients In New Jersey And New York. On their website they claim , ” we are a strong voice for victims of negligence.”
Aronold seems to go after big cases an is not afraid of a little attention. On her home page it states, “Our law firm receives significant attention in professional publications and major media outlets due to our success in high-profile cases.”

In the notice Arnold claims that the Ridgewood High School “did not implement proper social media and bullying policies and procedures’ .The notice also accuses Ridgewood High School of “not enforcing the meager policies they had in existence — therefore, students knew there were no penalties for violation of the policies, creating a culture of unrelenting bullying and harassment.”

Arnold went even further by accusing the school and district officials of a cover up, “to protect the school’s reputation and the reputation of the child of a teacher in the district.”
Arnold has also filed suit against SNAP Inc., the Delaware-based parent of Snapchat, as well as 47 unidentified students who “instigated, incited, aided or abetted and filmed the beating of the victim.”

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Reader says We’ve had a decade or more of helicopter parents, participation trophies and general coddling of anyone who needs to be considered “special”

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We’ve had a decade or more of helicopter parents, participation trophies and general coddling of anyone who needs to be considered “special”. As a society we have failed these kids by not teaching them how to both win and lose with dignity or to be accountable for their behavior. Once the kid grows beyond his parents’ ability to fix everything for him, the kid is faced with the harsh reality of natural consequences to his actions. The real world is not a kind place and we have raised a generation of kids that are wholly unprepared to face it.

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Reader says the Ridgewood School Board should limit their dreams and focus on a good education

RHS_BEST_theridgewoodblog

If the parents and the School Board would limit their dreams to what is NECESSARY to get a good education, the taxes for schools would be reduced. Kids don’t care about windows (except to look through them when they are bored in class.) nor golden fixtures in their bathrooms. If the fixtures work, leave them until one actually needs fixing. (and the new low-water toilets develop problems much sooner than the older ones did. Particularly in costly water leaks.) The furnaces are obviously not being fed coal, so leave them alone. Small repairs can usually fix anything that is wrong with them. Concentrate on hiring good teachers, not an excess of “support staff”, and all would be well in our system. (Which has fallen from high national ratings to mediocre state ratings in the time we’ve been here and support staff has increased drastically!)

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Reader offers a reminder of the initial demands that were made on posts across multiple groups on Facebook

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A reminder of the initial demands that were made on posts across multiple groups on Facebook. And there is evidence (in the form of Facebook comments) of a LOT of people agreeing with all of this.
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This is the position that should be taken
1. ALL kids that were involved in setting up the fight, especially the one that beat him and the pervert with the pictures, should be expelled immediately, whether they threw a punch or not (only one is known to have hit my nephew on the 27th and 28th, I don’t know if there were other altercations): and
2. ALL who have these/this photo of (this girl) a minor on their phone or other device should also be expelled. There should be ZERO tolerance.
3. ALL who attended either fight, whether friend or foe of my nephew, on Friday or on Saturday must be suspended. There should be ZERO tolerance for this sickening and barbaric behavior of gathering for a fight, if this were an arranged dog or chicken fight, all present would be charged: and,
4. I also believe the RHS wrestling season for 2017 should end today. It does not matter how many are involved, ALL should be disciplined.

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Reader says lynch mob mentality in the Village is a sign of “affluenza”

torchMob

 

What does ‘severity of injury’ have to do with how one side went about riling up a lynch mob to take down half the high school? All because their precious kid voluntarily went into a fight and came off badly from it?
You realize what this kid is learning, right? I can get into a fight any time. If I win – great. If I lose, my extended family will use all their clout to take down any and everyone who did not protect me from my own decision.
There is a well-established term for that kind of situation.
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/ethan-couchs-affluenza-explainer/story?id=36011293

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Readers have some questions about the Ridgewood School Fight “Incident “

Ridgewood Police RHS

file photo by Boyd Loving

Here’s a few questions, presumably germane:
A. If one posseses digitally-stored indecent pictures of an adolescent minor, but that adolescent minor is oneself, is this okay (i.e., does this constitute a legal loophole)?
B. If one **distributes** indecent pictures of an adolescent minor, but that adolescent minor is oneself, is this okay (i.e., does this constitute a legal loophole)?
C. Presuming, solely for the purposes of discussion, that the answer to question B is “yes”, does this additional information change the answer to “no”?: The individuals to whom you distributed the indecent pictures of an adolescent minor are, themselves, minors?
Boys in today’s society were already facing plenty of pits into which to fall. Now they need to contend with this? Talk about instigating absolute chaos.

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So the question remains for the Ridgewood School System ; who knew ,when did they know and why did they not act?

RHS_theridgewoodblog

November 13,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood High School “ANTI BULLYING POLICY” was adapted in 2016 , it has very clear rolls for students , parents and staff, While the kids involved in the incident have gotten all the attention , the little public information that is available about the incident and what led up to the incident would lead anyone to suspect the Ridgewood High School anti bullying policy , despite years of finger wagging was not followed and it appears that not only were students documented to be in violation of the policy but clearly so were some staff and parents .

So the question remains ; who knew ,when did they know and why did they not act?

Roll of the Staff

Staff must promote and reinforce the notions that IT IS SAFE TO TELL and IT IS EASY TO TELL because the school finds bullying behaviour harmful and unacceptable – this message is supported by the high value placed on Children’s Rights and the Anti-bullying pledge. Staff must always listen effectively and non-judgementally when children are trying to communicate about a bullying issue, and through training and support, be fully aware of strategies that might be usefully employed in response.  Senior staff and pastoral staff, have a particular responsibility to support colleagues in dealing with incidents of bullying.  Consideration must also be given to individual needs and circumstances.

Staff are given regular training through whole staff, House and Sharing meetings.  This includes updates in policy, curriculum or legislation.  Specific training information, findings from surveys and work with children is disseminated to staff on Inset days.

Ridgewood High School will support staff’s needs for in-service training to help ensure that anti-bullying strategies are effective, and raise awareness of possible bullying risks and vulnerable groups/individuals.

Staff should always consider their responsibility as role models and subsequently go about their duties in an anti-oppressive manner.

School staff are on duty around the college before school, during break & lunch and after school.  Support and Guidance staff must be informed of bullying incidents or concerns to ensure accurate recording and monitoring.  Support and Guidance staff will work together with form tutors and other relevant staff to ensure effective intervention.

Reporting of incidents should be recorded on SIMS as bullying incidents. A log should also be made on the victims Behaviour log.  The Support and Guidance team, including Heads of House will ensure that form tutors are informed and able to monitor and support children daily. They may also decide that extra support is needed from Heads of House, Support and Guidance or Peer Mentors. However, form tutors are normally the first line of support and daily contact for children experiencing difficulties.

Parents/carers must be informed of their child’s involvement in any incidents of bullying behaviour and strategies put in place by the member of staff dealing with the incident/s.

Bullying of or by school staff whether by children, parents or staff must be reported to the relevant line manager and Head Teacher.  Matters should be dealt in line with relevant discipline policy guidelines.

Roll of the parents or Guardians

The parent/carer is vital in the implementation of this policy.  Sometimes a child will not inform school staff if they are being bullied but will inform their parent or other family member.  When this is done the parent/carer is expected to contact the form tutor or a member of the Support and Guidance team team to discuss the incident to enable staff to deal with the issue.

A parent/carer may also see changes at home that may possibly indicate that bullying is taking place.  It is again vital that the parent communicates with school staff with any concerns.

Anti-bullying information is passed onto parents throughout their child’s time at Ridgewood; general information at induction evening, displays at parent events, newsletter articles and e-safety awareness sessions.

The parent/carer of a student displaying bullying behaviour must be contacted by school staff and then, if necessary invited into the school to discuss the behaviour shown by their child.  It is also essential that the
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parent/carer of the student doesn’t feel isolated and that they are also getting support in ensuring that the behaviour is not repeated.

Parents/carers must be informed of any bullying issues and informed of any interventions.

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Reader asks ,what if it were your Kid?

Ridgewood Police at RHS

file photo by Boyd Loving

These questions from a commenter to an earlier post still seem important:

what if a girl texted naked photos of herself to 2 freshman? What if one of the freshmen was bi-racial and the other was small for his age? What if the girl who texted these naked pictures had a boyfriend in 11th grade, that was REALLY mad that someone had pics of his gal? What if the girls boyfriend, a Junior born and bred in Ridgewood, challenged the small freshman to a fight and taunted him via social media. What if the other freshman, who also received the naked pics from this girl, came to his smaller friends defense because of the disparity in size between the two boys? What if the Junior then called him a Nigger. Over and over again, called him a Nigger and challenged him to a fight, on social media with everyone standing by. What if this freshman accepted, who had been called a Nigger on social media over and over again, accepted the challenge to fight and met the Junior? And what if, when the freshman showed up, not only was the Junior there and ready to fight, but 40 of his closest friends armed with their phones video taping? What if the wrestling team wasn’t there? What if there was a fight and the freshman, the “Nigger” punched twice, and the second punch knocked the Junior flat on his back? What if the Juniors friends were cheering and videotaping? What if the Junior’s friends chased the “nigger” off the field instead of calling 911? What if the Junior came home and was unable to share the truth with his family, because he was ashamed and embarrassed? And what if, he embellished the truth to save face? What if an enraged and upset Aunt posted the Juniors embellished story on Facebook? What if we all believed the “story” because the media picked it up and what if there was a modern day lynching of this so called “brutal animal” on social media because we believe anything that’s posted, must be true? What if the Juniors grandfather misspoke at the BOE meeting indicating the “victim” didn’t know the attacker, but yet a simple Facebook search could indicate otherwise? What if we blamed the BOE for not expelling the brutal animal immediately when quite possibly he could be the victim? What if it were your kid?

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Maker Space Workshops at Ridgewood High School

soldering stations

Maker Space Workshops at RHS

MakerWhat?

What’s in a name? Don’t get hung up on the name, it’s what we all use to call a workshop. It still is a workshop, but now it’s a “community commuter workshop”, where all you have to do is bring your ideas. We have basic tools that you would find in a woodshop, craft shop, your garage and more. If you are still not sure how you can utilize the Ridgewood Makerspace, come on down and see what our members are doing. We have soldering stations, sewing machines, bandsaws, drill press, and if you want to expand your horizons learn how to use a 3D printer.

On Mondays from 4-9 pm in the Ridgewood High School Makerspace (in the Science wing) we hope people of ALL ages will come and work in our Makerspace together.

Questions? Please email [email protected] or [email protected] or visit ridgewoodmaker.wixsite.com/rhsmakerspace.

Please note: RHS Makerspace Open Nights will not happen when the Ridgewood Schools are closed.