In St. Joseph, Missouri, a high school teacher assigned his students to write an essay about how they would carry out a murder. The weird part of this is that it was in a drafting class. I’d expect an assignment about such a subject might come up in an English or possibly history class.
Parents were outraged by this assignment and later the teacher apologized.
I don’t see the harm in students writing about how they would murder someone. Maybe this topic will spark an interest among students who usually could care less about school related topics.
Another reason I don’t see anything wrong with writing about violence in high school is that students learn about violence all throughout high school, well at least public school. Freshman year I read Romeo and Juliet and had to act out the play. We’re reading about the glorification of suicide, yet parents are upset when the teacher asks them to write a paper on violence. Sophomore year I can remember reading Of Mice and Men. Junior year and Senior are a blank, but I’m sure we read about violence in English classes. On top of English classes, we learn about the violence that takes place in the history of our country.
Having the students write on the topic of how they would kill someone could lead to discussion. Isn’t that what we want for our students? We want them to actually care about something. If anything, it could help students get their anger out by creative writing.
drafting class?! weird
That's what I thought. Maybe the teacher was bored with students who didn't pay attention, so he just wanted to change things up a bit...?
hey it will make them think. Like how to not get caught and so forth. sounds good to me
I can see how this concerned the parents.
My teacher assigned us a topic on our own versions of Hell and apparently this kid wrote an essay discussing torture mechanisms and stuff like that. Mines was less physical, but still... His mom called my teacher and asked him why the hell he was making his kids write that.
I think kids who write about how they'd carry out a murder can really show who they are. Who would they kill? How would they kill the person? Why would they? WHere would they keep the body? Would they cry about it? How would they feel about it? It makes people think about themselves in crazy situations... Hmm, sounds like IMAGINATION! Besides, if any of hte kids becomes a suspect, there's a hardcopy of how they could've killed a person!
Is your school public or private? I don't think a public school teacher should have students writing about a version of hell, sounds like religion in class. I would just turn a blank piece of paper in with my name on it.
I wrote a story filled with violence in junior high and remember the teacher calling me in to ask where I got my ideas, what my parents beliefs were and what church I went to. Sometimes I think we can see what type of a person someone is by their ideas, but other times I think it's just creative writing.
Besides, if any of the kids becomes a suspect, there's a hardcopy of how they could've killed a person!
Ha, that's what happened to the Menedez brothers. They wrote out a play about killing their parents prior to killing them. Idiots.
It's public. My class is science fiction and fantasy and we had a section of fantasy writers that focused on Hell, demons, angels, etc. It wasn't exactly biblically correct but it was more of making the evil look good and the good look evil.
Othello everyone dies, and Hamlet again everyone dies and it ok to read them
Exactly. So if we can read about, why not write about it?
I forgot that I read Othello in high school, can't remember which grade though.
During my freshman year at my high school, a student was expelled for writing a "document" on how to take over the school. He was a brilliant student. The "document" talked about having ninja, plant a bomb, and grow weed in the library. The FBI and police came to our school to search our lockers and interrogate students. It was...stupid.
Personally, I think all humans are capable of gruesome thoughts, and need an outlet somewhere. If parents are worried that their kids will take writing such an essay as a sign that violence is ok or something, they really should re-evaluate their parenting skills. I know my parents would assume that Im not that stupid (of course, this isnt saying that there ARENT stupid kids like that).
it doesnt matter, i wouldnt write the stupid thing anyways
Well, I don't know.
In a drafting class? I might be a little annoyed and confused as to why it had to be done in a drafting class. That's a little strange. I might have gotten upset too unless there was some kind of lesson to be taught that was relative. But in an English class I wouldn't be as upset because it's relative. But in a class like drafting? I might get worried about why such a class needs to involve a paper on murdering people. But that's just me.
"My Shoes Are On The Ground, But My Feet Are In The Air."
-Katt Martin.... whenever... who the crap knows what this girl is talking about anyway?
I have no idea why a teacher would assign that, or even how he came up with that idea, but I'm not totally against it. He could have meant it to be humorous, not intentionally planting psychotic seeds into the kids' minds.
I would only be concerned if the students wrote something truly morbid, or if I was the teacher, something about me.
Besides, its just about the murder. It isnt about who this person is, why you want to kill them, or how you'd cover it up. It's probably just an attention-getter, and there's no need to freak out.