School Bans Hugging and High-Fives

News from 28th, May

Make sure you undestand all the highlighted words and expressions.

A high school in London has banned students from all forms of physical contact with each other. The Quest Academy has warned students not to hug, shake hands, or give high-fives. The school was briefly the centre of attention a week ago when US president Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron visited it. The two leaders perhaps broke the school rules with their back-slapping and high-fives during a game of table tennis with students. The idea behind the banning is to help prevent bullying, according to school principal Andy Croft. He said: "Physical contact between students is not allowed at the academy because it is often associated with poor behaviour or bullying and can lead to fighting."

Students and parents are up in arms at the new rules. Student Dayna Chong, 15, received detention for cuddling her female friend. She said: "They're trying to turn us into robots." Her mother called the policy “extreme” and “ludicrous”. She said: "If the kids can't even hug each other at school some of them will never learn how to be socially interactive.” She added: “School is supposed to be where we start teaching our children how to be social - shaking hands, hugging, opening up. You need an embrace to comfort you when things go wrong. I've never heard of anything so crazy in my life." Mr Croft disagreed, saying his policy, “creates a disciplined environment which is essential for learning and respect”.


TRUE / FALSE: Read the article. Say if  a-h  below are true (T) or false (F).

a.	A London school said students cannot shake hands with each other.	T / F
b.	Barack Obama visited the school.	T / F
c.	The government put the new law in place.	T / F
d.	The school principal said physical contact led to bullying.	T / F
e.	Parents agree with the new rules.	T / F
f.	A student said the school was trying to turn students into robots.	T / F
g.	A mother said school kids shouldn’t be hugging each other at school.	T / F
h.	The principal thinks the new rules are totally crazy.

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

1.	banned	a.	momentarily
2	warned	b.	stop
3.	briefly	c.	ridiculous
4.	prevent	d.	embracing
5.	lead to	e.	angry
6.	up in arms	f.	prohibited
7.	cuddling	g.	vital
8.	ludicrous	h.	cautioned
9.	comfort	i.	result in
10.	essential	j.	support

YOUR OPINION

1. What do you think of the new physical contact rules at Quest Academy?2. Which is / was your most hated school rule?
3. Were Barack Obama and David Cameron bad role models?
4. How often did / do you break school rules?
5. Can any rules prevent bullying?2.

Healthy news

Some latest news about health and diet.
Check that you know and understand the highlighted words and expressions:

Family Meals Keep Kids Slimmer (3rd May, 2011)

A new study shows that family meals help children stay slim. Researchers from the University of Illinois found that kids who eat at the table with their family are healthier and have a lower risk of obesity. The research team also says that sitting down for breakfast, lunch or dinner teaches children healthy eating habits. Researcher Dr Amber Hammons wrote: “Families that eat five or more meals together have children who are up to 25 per cent less likely to encounter nutritional health issues.”
Family meals also encourage other positive behaviour in children. They learn better manners sitting at the table and are more sociable because they join their parents’ conversation. This is not the case with children who eat alone or who sit in front of the television with their meal. In recent decades, more and more children sit on the sofa watching TV. This can lead to their food going cold and them not eating it. Eating alone also means the child misses out on developing social skills.

Coffee And Cola Can Lead To Strokes (7th May, 2011)

Scientists have discovered various activities that increase the risk of a type of stroke. These include vigorous exercise, drinking coffee and cola, blowing your nose, and even being startled. Researchers at Holland’s University Medical Center in Utrecht looked at 250 patients for three years to identify what starts bleeding in the brain that leads to a stroke. A sudden increase in blood pressure can cause blood vessels to burst, which can result in brain damage or death.
The researchers said drinking coffee was the most common risk factor. The lead researcher, Dr Monique Vlak, said: "All of the triggers [create] a sudden and short increase in blood pressure, which seems a possible cause for [blood vessel] rupture." The study is a reminder to us all to think more about high blood pressure. Doctors call it the “silent killer” because it can kill us before we know we have it. It is essential to have regular health checks to monitor your blood pressure.

Doctors Refusing to Treat Overweight Women (19th May, 2011)

Doctors in Florida are refusing to treat women if they are overweight. A report from the Sun Sentinel newspaper says that 15 out of 105 gynaecology clinics in Florida have a weight limit. Doctors at the clinics will not see new patients if they weigh more than 90kg. This is even if the women have no health problems. One of the excuses they gave reporters is that their medical equipment is difficult to use with obese people. Doctors say it is not against the law to refuse patients.
Many doctors and patients are furious this is happening. People say doctors have to treat anyone who enters their office. They believe any doctor who does not see a patient is letting down the medical profession. Dr Maureen Whelihan of West Palm Beach said: “If I had that policy, I'd lose half my patients.” She has a point. The USA has one of the highest rates of obesity in the world. If doctors put weight limits on patients, much of the country would be sick.

The Scientist

Thanks to this song you can learn the difference between say and tell. Pay attention to the lyrics to find out about the structure.


Coldplay - The Scientist por itami

The EOIs on TV

Talking of media and TV programmes...

Due to the 1OOth Anniversary of the first Official School of Languages, the Spanish TV programme Informe Semanal filmed a short documentary about the history of the schools, with interviews and some curious anecdotes.

Don de lenguas. Click here to watch it.