Young children could be encouraged to join in citizenship ceremonies and swear allegiance to the Queen in an effort to rekindle enthusiasm on "Britishness". Former Attorney General Lord Goldsmith is expected to call for a greater role for children in the citizenship ceremonies to encourage them to understand and embrace their nationality.

Stricter absenteeism rules had little effect on British students after truancy rates rose 33 percent. The British government has spend almost $2 billion to overcome the problem, but 63,000 more British students skipped classes in the '06-'07 school year, compared to '05-'06. Family holidays and ailments topped the list of the reasons why British pupils skipped school. Schools Minister Kevin Brennan said 3. 47 percent of the absences were attributed to illness, especially among female students and poor pupils on free school meals. This was followed by family holidays which accounted for 0. 7 percent of the absences. The family holidays ate up 6. 8 million schools days, although 90 percent of the students who availed of this had the school's permission.

Two teenagers were suspended from school for two days, for wearing homemade shirts with condom packs attached to them. The shirts also had the words "Safe Sex or No Sex" brandished at the front. The students, 14-year old Cheyenne Bird, and 15-year old Victoria Shoemaker, of the Lewis and Clark Junior High School, went to school Monday wearing the shirts, which they said were meant to protest the school's pro-abstinence curriculum.

Teachers and officials at a coed British school were shocked to see a class with an all-boy attendance on the first day of school. For the first time since it opened 30 years ago Bassetts Farm, a primary school with a population equally split between girls and boys, suddenly had a class of 20 4-year old boys, an occurrence that is still puzzling people.

A Manhattan judge threw out a $1 million lawsuit filed by a university student against New York University, after sustaining a hip injury during a Jell-O wrestling match. The incident took place during a dorm party called "Beach Bash," that involved an entire kiddie pool filled with the gelatin. Avram Wisnia, a junior, was pushed, resulting in a shattered hip.