Education is GOLDEN.

You’re going to hit me after reading this, and then reading the title again. It’s ok though, I understand. And you know me, so you’ll undertand that I could not resist. I COULD NOT. Of course, I also didn’t try too hard either, but, well.. that’s me!

So the general gist of the below video is this: Teacher of Senior English (that’s 12 grade, 17 and 18 year olds, keep that in mind) slips in an essay question that has parents, teachers and the school board in an uproar. The question?

If you pushed your brother down, would you urinate in his mouth?

(And now the title makes sense…)
(Waits for jaws to be picked up…)

Here’s the story:

Alright, so – here’s the thing. The interview didn’t say anything about the teacher or her reasoning behind the question as it didn’t have to do with the book they were reading, only that the teacher was trying to stimulate the students into thinking creatively – and of course that there are more appropriate ways to stimulate the creativeness of students.

Me, I’d really like to know what the teacher has to say about the question, especially since she has a track record of encouraging her students to think outside the box creatively.

Don’t get me wrong – I can see why folks are upset, but as Walter Croncrite always said – we need to know the rest of the story before we get all judgy and jump to conclusions. Of all the comments on this page – only ONE approaches it intellectually:

Do you really think that this question is some sort of ridiculous, tourettic yelp from the “living hellscape that is [this teacher’s] mind?” It seems kind of obvious that this question has to be some sort of reference to an off-the-cuff remark a student made in class one day. That seems much more plausible to me than a teacher pulling a question like that out of nowhere. -J

Bravo, J, for thinking outside the box there! See, these are Seniors in high school – these aren’t elementary kids. These are students that can make up their own minds, yet still think farts are funny. (Because, you know, farts ARE funny – especially in the middle of the class when it’s not you, but the uber-prep cheerleader girl – preferably in the middle of her speech!) I’d be willing to bet at least one of the kids at some point has threatened about some poor schlub they felt wasn’t worth it, that they “wouldn’t pee on’em if they were on fire!”

My point is this: it had to come from somewhere, and I highly doubt it was just something random that the teacher threw in “From the hellscape of her mind” as the article writer states. The majority of her kids, it would seem, didn’t even blink – only one went to another teacher for help, and THAT teacher reported it. Now, should we be worried about the kids that didn’t blink? Or are then on to some inside classroom joke, that the other one missed? Doesn’t this teacher’s track record of having classrooms of excited and creative kids that know more than txt speak and LOLcat-isms mean more than one question that raises the brows?

There’s more to the story, but I doubt we’ll ever get to hear it. So chime in! What do you think of this, the question, the teacher, and what would you have done? Keep in mind that these aren’t kindergartners, these are seniors who have talked about bodily functions in great detail since they were like, four. And likely have siblings they’ve fartbombed and beat up and done things we as parents really wouldn’t care to know about, too. So setting your visions of MAH PRESHUSH INNOCENT BABIES aside – what do YOU think?