I have known of abuse that has happened in tennis, but in all of the situations I know about first-hand, the coach was traveling with the minors without parents. I have been shocked at the number of parents who pay to have their teen-age daughter travel with their coach all over the country unsupervised. Obviously, most of the coaches can be trusted, I would never want to take that chance, though.

I agree. I think this is going to have a snowball effect throughout the sports world. I would not be surprised to see more revelations in the sports world, similar to what we saw in Hollywood and journalism.

Good grief. I should not have clicked on the option to view.

Many times, the "easier" AP is going to depend on the student's strengths. There are a handful of colleges that require SAT II exams, although the number of colleges requesting these tests seems to be declining every year. The prevailing wisdom is that the student should take the SAT II when he has completed the highest level in that topic. It is not unusual for kids to take a science subject test at the conclusion of the science AP class. The one exception that I can think of is that the student should take the Math Level II subject test at the conclusion of precalc. Also, the Physics Subject Test used to align pretty well with the AP Physics B syllabus. The Physics Subject Test does not align as well with the new AP Physics syllabus.

The fact that she felt she had to purposely injure herself in order to quit her sport is very sad. However, I am not surprised she felt this was her only out. I see it quite frequently in my kids' sport. The athlete gets burned out and wants to quit the sport, but the parent won't let them because "they have invested too much money in the sport for them to throw it all away." I could see this attitude contributing to the thought that one shouldn't make waves and excusing or brushing inappropriate conduct under the rug.

Wow, I had no idea that these committees had so much power. Gymnastics seems to be more similar to Hollywood than I realized.

I would think it would be easier to punish an athlete by excluding her from team events in figure skating and gymnastics where the "grading" can be subjective. I would think it would be more difficult in a sport like swimming, track and field, or tennis where the outcome does not depend on judges' evaluations.

:iagree: The top coach in my area would swear at and demean 6 year olds while their parents sat and watched. Other parents didn't understand why we refused to let our kids get on the court with him.

THIS. PLEASE STOP.

I wonder how many of us with kids in sports have encountered this issue? I think it is easy for these guys to get away with abusing children. Many times, when an accusation is raised, the creep just picks up and moves to a new area. When he goes to look for another job, the new club will do its due diligence and conduct a background check, but nothing will show up. In other situations, the coach is such a "good coach" who gets such "good results", that the parents will have their kids take lessons with him despite the rumors. In the article that swimmermom linked, that coach was suing the high school because the school took away his ability to use the school pool for private lessons. So even after this coach's abuse was disclosed in a court room, there were still parents who wanted to hire him to teach their kids, otherwise the coach would have had no need to sue to use the pool.

I don't think it is unusual for teams to have a doctor or team of doctors on staff. I am surprised that the girls were required to see him. What would happen if a girl wanted to go to another doctor? How would the girl be "punished?"

My guess is that the only reason he admitted it was because he was caught on video tape.

Wow, Lisa,thanks for posting the link. This article is infuriating. Even with video evidence this guy was acquitted as he was just being "grandfatherly." AND some people wonder why women don't come forward and report the abuse. +By his own admission, King sometimes acts "handsy" toward the girls he coaches. He sometimes pats them on their buttocks and slips his fingers under their swimsuits to get their attention or pull them closer. He has kissed some girls on the cheek or forehead." More from the article: Lake Oswego police interviewed a woman, now in her 40s, who said King sexually abused her when she was a 16-year-old swimmer on his team in Southern California in the early 1980s. She said King increasingly took more liberties while giving her rides home, eventually progressing to oral sex. Cohen said the woman changed her story under questioning and that King was coaching in a different town when the abuse is alleged to have occurred. • In 1999, Bon Appetit, a cafe operator/caterer, fired King after female co-workers complained he groped them at the company's Lewis & Clark College and Intel service locations. One woman said King sneaked up behind her, then stuck his fingers up her shorts and rubbed her buttocks. Another said he pushed his finger through a hole in her jeans and touched her buttocks under her underwear. Cohen said these allegations all involved adults in a workplace -- not a coach and student -- and had nothing to do with King Swimming or King's coaching. • A West Linn High School student told police that King, her swimming instructor, had frequently kissed her on the cheek and forehead -- and once on the lips. She said he often slid his fingers under her swimsuit. On one occasion, she said, he touched her pubic area and pulled away her swimsuit. The girl also said he pinned her against a window with his body while demonstrating the breast stroke. Cohen said Clackamas County prosecutors dismissed their case against King because the West Linn girl's testimony in the earlier Linn County case was weak, inconsistent and appeared to have been coaxed by police.

My oldest's school doesn't accept outside credit for certain classes, but they do let the students take a placement test to see if they can place into the higher level class. I don't know if they are awarded credit for the lower level class if the students test out of it though.

She crossed the line here. She should not be commenting on your D's attire. I agree with the other boardies who have said it is time to have a chat with the teacher, especially since your D is getting tired (as she should) of being singled out.

Loved it. Also love The Tale of Despereaux.

I know that there are different levels of security, but I have no idea the criteria for each level. Are there levels of security that don't consider bankruptcies and foreclosures? Would all the engineering jobs at his (now former)company require a security clearance? What do the various levels of security cleaarance entail?

Could you imagine being on the filming crew going into that house? I have to wonder if the relative knows what he is talking about. I find it hard to believe that someone who is chaining her kids to the furniture wants her life broadcast to the world.

Growing up, the girls couldn't wear dresses to school on gym day at my public school because some style of dresses restrict movement, making it more difficult to participate in gym class. The reason the teacher gave for requesting pants be worn is silly in light of the fact that your D has leggings on under the skirt.

Sorry, for the confusion. I suffered from a reading comprehension problem and completely misread your post. I thought you might at some point reassign 9th grade as 8th grade. This would cause problems with the NCAA. In your case, I would do as someone else mentioned: organize the transcript by subject and graduate her early if she has met all of your requirements and she wants to graduate. Graduating early is not a problem as far as the NCAA goes. Taking more than 4 years to finish high school is a problem with the NCAA. However, the NCAA does permit a gap year or an extra year at a boarding school after high school for some sports. In other sports, your 4 years of eligibility begin the year you graduate from high school, so if you wanted to take a gap year before beginning college, you would only have 3 years to play your sport.

For most NCAA sports, the four year clock starts ticking as soon as you begin 9th grade. In this situation, I would call her an 8th grader and graduate early if you change your mind. The NCAA, at least last I checked, will accept high school credits taken before 9th grade for their core class requirements.

Did you check with the state to see if homeschoolers were excluded? My public school has been great to work with - they proctor AP exams for my kids that aren't offered at the school, let my kids take the PSAT, etc., yet they initially told me that I couldn't register for the SAT because they didn't think this administration of the SAT was open to homeschoolers. Once I pointed out the law to them, they were more than happy to let me register.

The state is paying for every junior in the state of Ohio to take either the SAT or the ACT. Each school district determines which test they will administer to their students. The ACT/SAT is given during the school day. Homeschoolers also have the right to take the test that is being given to the students in your district, free of charge. This is a relatively new law, so your district may initially decline your request because they are unaware of the law. If that happens, don't take "no" for an answer. :-) If you are interested in having your child tested this spring, I would reach out now to your public school.

Wow. Did the school follow its procedures in permitting this teen to return to school?

I also would not want a tax credit for homeschooling families, but I would like to see more homeschoolers have the opportunities that homeschoolers in my district have: the ability to take various classes at the public school while maintaining their homeschooling status. Homeschoolers in my state also have the right to participate in all afterschool activities, including Varsity sports. This law went into effect a few years ago, and despite the concern from certain homeschooling groups, we did not have any change in our homeschooling regulations. I do think that public virtual academies can be very beneficial to low-income families. The school environments in many of our inner-city schools are filled with gangs and drugs. Virtual academies can help families avoid that environment when they can't afford to move into a better school system.