Weekly Daily Brickbats Archive 2012 April 22-31

The French government has barred officials from using the word “mademoiselle” on official forms. They must now refer to all women as “madame.” Documents must also now request someone's “family name” and “name of usage” instead of “maiden name” and “spouse's name.” Feminists have complained that the banned terms were sexist.

In West Virginia, Point Pleasant Intermediate School Principal Cameron C. Moffett has been charged with felony child abuse after being caught on video pushing an 11-year-old special-needs student off a bus. Moffett rolled the boy down the steps of the bus then allegedly pinned him to the ground with his knee. At least three adults saw the incident but did not respond. Students were preparing to go on a field trip when some other students allegedly pushed the boy out of his seat. When the boy refused to get up out of the aisle, a teacher sent for Moffett.

Police in Milledgeville, Georgia, handcuffed 6-year-old Salecia Johnson and hauled her off to a police station after she threw a temper tantrum at kindergarten. Johnson allegedly threw things, tore items off walls and knocked down a shelf, injuring the school's principal. She has been charged with simple assault and damage to property.

Officials in the Greenville County, South Carolina, school system gave Hannah Adams, 13, in-school suspension for dying her hair red. Official says she violated a school policy barring “non-human hair color.” But a photo of Adams with her hair died seems to show a shade of red that's within the norm for natural redheads.

A British judge has let Kathleen Woodward, 64, off with just an admonishment for having an unlicensed firearm. She a faced five years in prison after reporting that an antique pistol owned by her husband had been stolen from a safe in her home.