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Group Therapy: Should I Quit or Try to Make It Work?

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 03:00:00 -0700

I have been a preschool teacher for four years. During that time, I have been faced with some challenging behaviors from children - 4- and 5-year-olds. Over this past week, I have experienced some issues with a particular child I just don't know what to do about. This boy gets very agitated easily and becomes very violent. When he was in the younger room, he would assault the kids, destroy the room, and eventually lead the teacher to quit. He split her lip open. Parents were outraged and a couple families even pulled their children from the class.

The director said that she will never kick a child out and wants to help him. I agree he needs help; however, this has been going on for five months and has only slightly improved. Initially due to his parent's split, it looked like he was going to move away, but then my boss informed me that he would be coming back to my class. He started last Monday and the class has been turned upside down. We were not given any instruction on how to deal with his outbursts until after they had already happened. Tuesday, he spit, punched, kicked, and scratched one of my assistants because he didn't want to follow the rules. Wednesday he came after me because he didn't want to put his mat away after nap and punched me from behind.

Yesterday might have been the last straw for me. He was interrupting the entire group and I asked him to stop, which only led to violence. Later in the day he did not want to share his toys, so he threw the tray across the room and then picked up a chair and threw it across the table, almost hitting other kids. My boss says that we have to physically restrain him when he hits, but I am not comfortable with that. He needs help, but I don't think that we are trained for this. My boss is in and out of the classroom to help, but he needs special care. Should I call it quits and protect myself or should I try to make it work?

[EDITOR'S NOTE: To be involved in more GROUP THERAPY, click here]

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Beauty and the Geek: Lawmaker Wants Models Off Tech Visas

LibertySugar — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 03:00:04 -0700

International geeks may be able to thank their beautiful counterparts for freeing up about 1,000 H1-B visas. Congressman Anthony Weiner, from New York, wants to end the practice of making foreign models and foreign hi-tech workers compete with each other for a limited number of work visas.

Rep. Weiner wants Congress to create a separate immigration class for models. Oh, and in case you were wondering - foreign supermodels such as Gisele Bundchen already qualify for super O-1 visas, those reserved for immigrants with extraordinary ability, like Nobel Prize winners.

Of course creating a Beautiful People Visa would not solve the HB-1 visa crunch. The 65,000 H-1B visas granted this year were snatched up in one day. Bill Gates told Congress last March that the tight controls force companies to outsource jobs overseas.

When companies, technology or fashion, set up global businesses they're likely to go where they can hire the best, brightest, and beautifulist. Should America do more to fight the brain and beauty drain?

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Florida County Tells Smoking Job Applicants to Butt Out

LibertySugar — Wed, 21 May 2008 10:00:58 -0700

Sarasota County in Southwest Florida has just announced it will no longer be hiring smokers. In the interest of taxpayers, the county hopes to cultivate a less expensive and more productive work force.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, smoking employees cost an extra $3,400 a year in health care and lost productivity costs.

While it saves resources, Sarasota County doesn't have to worry about being slapped with a discrimination lawsuit - in 1995, Florida's supreme court ruled that smokers are legal victims of employment discrimination. Still, other counties in Florida take a less extreme approach, hiring smokers, while requiring them to pay more for health care, and attend smoking cessation classes.

Is it fair to exclude even super-productive smokers based on a broad statistic? Does the county have an obligation to cut costs, and thus refuse to hire smokers? Will this type of discrimination eventually lead to a smoke free America? Should employers refuse to hire individuals based on other bad habits and health problems?

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Bill Gates: Tight Immigration Leads to Outsourcing

LibertySugar — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 15:00:33 -0700

Allowing more foreigners to work in the US would not steal jobs away from Americans. Instead, it would create more jobs for Americans. That's what Bill Gates told Congress today, when he urged lawmakers to increase the number of visas available for high-skilled immigrants. The 65,000 H-1B visas granted this year were snatched up in one day, and Gates believes that the tight controls force companies to outsource jobs overseas.

Gates told the panel:

Microsoft has found that for every H-1B hire we make, we add on average four additional employees to support them in various capacities.

Are you surprised by the counterintuitive link between importing high-skilled professionals and creating more jobs for Americans? Why do you think America needs more foreign workers to keep its high-tech industry competitive?

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Employee Recognition Program Gets Realistic

GiggleSugar — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 02:00:00 -0700

It's a tough job, but somebody's gotta do it.

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Shelf Stocker Thinks He's Funny

GiggleSugar — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 04:00:00 -0700

And you thought what happened to Bambi's mother was bad?

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How To Score A Job. I Think.

GiggleSugar — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 03:00:00 -0700

For a larger version, go here and then click on the document to magnify it.

Women Who Turned Passions Into Profits

SavvySugar — Tue, 26 May 2009 13:30:12 -0700

Turning a bright idea into a viable business isn't impossible, and to prove it the June issue of Country Living profiled women who turned their passions into profits. The Today Show spoke with the magazine's editor in chief, Sarah Gray Miller, about some of the steps women should take before jumping into self-employment head-first. She says this economy might actually be the best time to think about starting a business; even though layoffs are problematic, it could give women the opportunity to pause and ask themselves if they could make a living doing what they love.

Miller says the first and most important step is to educate yourself about what it takes to run a small business and develop a business plan. The website sba.gov is a user-friendly resource and will answer most of your questions. She recommends finding a mentor who has already started their own business; locate one at score.org. Her final tip is to start small and be prepared to work hard - there will be many late nights, but you're doing what you love. Get inspired by three self-employed women in the video below.

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A High-Tech Way to Prevent Cell Phone Driving Distraction

GeekSugar — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:05:12 -0800

A few months ago, I told you about a new program available for pre-order that turns off your cell phones once the key is in your car's ignition.

Now, there's another similar service to keep you safe and free from distraction while driving. ZoomSafer is a free service that uses your phone's GPS system to monitor your driving speed and prevent you from placing or receiving calls or texts when traveling over 10 miles per hour. The application is programmable to allow exceptions, like calls from certain important numbers. And an added bonus for parents or employers who want to monitor the driving habits of kids or employees on the job: if the system is overridden and a call is placed or text message sent, the account administrator receives an automatically-generated email alerting them to the phone's usage.

Right now, the service is only available for BlackBerrys, but will work with select Windows and Android phones early next year. I think this kind of service is a good idea to prevent distractions, especially for people without the willpower to simply ignore the phone while behind the wheel.

Abortion Coverage: Missing What Many Never Knew They Had

TresSugar — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:00:03 -0800

One of the most convincing arguments for passing the public health plan without abortion coverage is that very few women use insurance to cover abortions to begin with. But if you've heard the statistic that only 13 percent of abortions are billed to insurers, that's not exactly the whole truth.

The Guttmacher Institute, the pro-choice organization responsible for the study the stats were pulled from, contests the 13 percent statistic has been taken out of context and widely used through the media - like, say, in the Wall Street Journal article we linked to yesterday.

While the study does say only 13 percent of first-term abortions are billed to private insurers, that figure is skewed because it looked at all women who had abortions and not just those who had insurance. You can't bill an insurer if you don't have one! The study also did not include women who paid for abortions up front and were later reimbursed.

So what's a realistic number? Nobody really knows because of the private nature of abortions. Another Guttmacher study found that 87 percent of employer-based insurance plans covered abortions, but a Kaiser Family Foundation study found that only 46 percent of covered workers reported coverage. Why such a big a difference? Many women just don't know their insurance covers abortion.

As Congress continues to debate the public health plan, do you care if it includes abortion coverage? Can we miss something so many women never knew they had?

Source: Flickr User amypritchizzle