After some high school seniors in Ohio shared stolen tests, school authorities punished the entire class by cancelling graduation. The cheating scandal has left many people arguing over who really flunked Responsibility 101.... Read full article

There’s a “Rent” dispute raging through some unlikely places. It’s not about housing rights, but about a rite of passage—the high school musical—and what constitutes a responsible show for teens to stage. When it comes to responsibility in the arts, who should decide what’s appropriate?... Read full article

In the small farm town of Harrold, Texas, it’s not teacher’s pet that has everyone talking. It’s teacher’s pistol. The local school board recently decreed that teachers could carry concealed weapons at school and in the classrooms. Should armed teachers be responsible for providing school security?... Read full article

Laptops in school are coming unplugged. When used responsibly, they provide valuable educational support. But when used irresponsibly—for watching YouTube, surfing the web, emailing, IM-ing, playing games, checking sports scores, and shopping instead of engaging in class — laptops become the scourge of professors, some of whom are now banning them.... Read full article

When an athlete uses performance enhancement drugs, he or she is likely to be called unethical and dishonest. When a student or professor uses brain enhancement drugs, he or she is likely to be called smart and focused, but is chemically boosting your brain for an unfair advantage the same as chemically boosting your body for an edge? That’s the question at the center of a new debate about drugs and cheating.... Read full article

Fido has a new medicine chest, and it includes medications that were originally developed for humans. Prescription drugs can now treat canine obesity and depression. But those break-throughs have left some people wondering if pets are mimicking their owners’ behavioral and lifestyle problems, and if the drugs might be more for the convenience of owners than for the heath of their pets.... Read full article

A juvenile court judge in Ohio ordered 40 year-old Brian Gegner to make sure his high school dropout daughter earned her GED. But when teenaged Brittney didn’t hit the books hard enough to pass the test, the judge threw the book at Brian Gegner, ordering the father jailed because the daughter failed. Should a father be responsible when his 18 year-old daughter can’t do the math?... Read full article

Education opens many doors. But should the main one be at the bank? School districts throughout the country are increasingly paying students for coming to class, taking tests, and improving their scores as part of controversial incentive programs known as “cash for grades.”... Read full article

The shocking headlines out of Waycross, Georgia— 3rd-graders plotted to attack teacher, brought knife, handcuffs —lowered the bar on school violence and raised the alarm among parents, teachers, psychologists and just about anyone with an opinion about the country’s future.... Read full article

Generations of Americans learned the three R’s in the classroom, while the fourth R—recess—was a stage for life lessons and conflict resolution.

But traditional recess—where kids run around and play kickball, soccer, tag and other games of physical contact—is increasingly being banned across the country by school officials, and not for reasons of injury or litigation. The period of child’s play, they say, has become too competitive and too ego-bruising.... Read full article