I wanted people to see this. (my comments are at the bottom)

High school student expelled for short story

February 4, 2008 | 4:34 PM | By Nathan Whitlock

From The Globe and Mail:

A 17-year-old student has been expelled from his Brampton, Ont., high school for a fictional essay he submitted in a creative writing class about a disgruntled student who murders one of her teachers.

Brendan Jones, a Grade 12 student at Heart Lake Secondary School northwest of Toronto, was expelled last week, leaving him facing an uncertain future. Brendan is just three credits shy of graduating from high school and was hoping to study criminology at university next fall. But it is not at all clear whether he will be able to transfer to another high school in the province.

[…]
The five-page, handwritten essay, entitled “School’s Out,” is narrated by an unnamed Grade 10 student who stresses that she likes all of her teachers with the notable exception of Mr. Adams, who teaches science and has an “intoxicating odor.” The controversial part of the story happens near the end when the student manages to trap the teacher in the basement of her house, picks up a bat and gives him “some final words.” It ends ominously with: “Sorry, Mr. Adams, but schools [sic] out!”

Brendan said in an interview that he never imagined the essay would provoke such a reaction. He said there is nothing gory in it and the characters are fictitious. He has also written a letter of apology to both the school and the Peel Board of Education.

As if this weren’t strange enough, here’s the kicker:

The essay is sprinkled with comments from the creative writing teacher, including “show, don’t tell,” and “cliché.” But by the time the teacher got to the end of the essay, alarm bells appear to have gone off. She scrawled “inappropriate subject matter!” but she also tells him to work on his sentence structure and dialogue. There is no grade on the essay.

[Emphasis added.]

*END ARTICLE*


Any thoughts? I think that in today's world, you cannot get away with anything if it makes someone feel uncomfortable. Unless it is nudity, then it is fine, apparently. If this student has a history of violence, or aggression in school, then I understand the concern. BUT, if the teachers are all being hypersensitive and paranoid, they are in the wrong line of work.

Kids have anger and aggression. It is a fact of growing up. 95% of them never act upon what they think, because they know the repercussions. I think a more appropriate response to this essay might have been a sit down with the school psychologist or nurse or ?? to discuss the paper, and talk about why he wrote what he wrote.

Maybe I am blind to what society has become.