Last Updated on: 19th November 2013, 03:48 pm
When I read this story I can’t help but think that if it was a student that came up with this idea on his own, he’d be hustled into countless meetings and psychiatric assessments with no thought given to what kind of person he is, and there’s definitely no way he’d be able to avoid some sort of suspension.
Teacher Apologizes For Asking Students To Write About Who They Would Kill
ST. JOSEPH, Miss. (AP) – A high-school teacher has apologized for asking students to write about who they would kill and how they would do it, and officials said he will likely keep his job.
Michael Maxwell, who teaches industrial technology at Central High School, said his request that students in his beginning drafting class describe how they would carry out a murder was merely a writing prompt. It was not clear why he asked the drafting class to write fiction.
“I made a horrible mistake that I regret,” Maxwell said. “I want to apologize to my students, my colleagues and to the community.”
The April 21 writing request, which Maxwell said was not a formal assignment, came to the attention of administrators when a parent of one of the students filed a complaint with principal Barton Albright.
Albright expressed regret and apologized for Maxwell’s “lapse of judgment.”
“He’s an exemplary person … this is very out of character,” the principal said.
St. Joseph School District spokesman Steve Huff declined to discuss possible disciplinary measures because the matter is considered a personnel issue. But he said the incident probably isn’t serious enough to cost Maxwell his job.
About 25 to 30 students from ninth through 12th grades were in the class, Albright said.
