Was he amusing himself?

[Mirren]

Teacher apologizes for murder essay request

Monday, May 15, 2006; Posted: 8:11 a.m. EDT (12:11 GMT)
ST. JOSEPH, Missouri (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.

The Associated Press.

[Bondage Clown]

Hey you know.. if he wanted to talk to the kids about it, and let them get their feelings out constructively.. I do not have a problem with it.

[Pull~My~Hair]

i dont think its that big of a deal, kids act all innocent when they dont want to do something, i am sure all of those kids have thought about worse things..Im sure the assignment had some merit, or reason behind it...in any case I agree that he should def. not lose his job over some whiners

[Raven0129]

I remember one time in high school we were asked to write a paper on what we want to do for a living. I said army marksman and explained why. After the teacher read it he gave it back to me and said write a different one, and threatened to pull me to the principal and call my parents. He said it was "unacceptable". I later asked the principal about it and he agreed, saying "that's not a career that's terrorism". I basically didn't speak to another soul for the next 3 years. People can be so stupid sometimes.

[Anarkey]

ok Amry Marksman is a precursor too Sniper ,

and i regret to say is a Career in the millitary...

and they are THE best at what they do ,unfortunately it consist of murdering a millitary target for these guys ,,go after the brains of the target. they after and kill the ones that do the thinking and planing and so on..

back on topic tho, some peeps watch way too much Murder she wrote and other TV programs with violence and murder in them ,then think about or or act out on some of what they seen ,and or read ,or heard .. does just thinking of the act of murder mean you will .who can say, but some people and children are willing to act out on those agressive behavours in a violent and offen teribble out come..

i dont think what he did was wrong ,,but if one of the sudents say 3 weeks down the road kills some one ,,does it mean that that teacher but it in the kids head ??or that the child was acting out on something allready he ,or she was daydreamin about ? or wishfull thinking .

Sure it comes down to Morals ,,,,and scrupples, err hope i said that right
Or the lack of in most case's..
just my 2 cents

[Raven0129]

I don't think he did anything wrong either. Perhaps it wasn't acceptable for that particular age group as that sort of thing could be so easilly misunderstood. That sounds to me more like a wierd thing a twisted university professor would make a project about.

Then again, I was thinking. Maybe, just maybe, there actually was a murder and someone in the class was suspected of having something to do with it. The teacher reads something in the essays that has too many commonalities with the actual crime to be a coincidence and gives it to the police as evidence. Hey it might work. bah I watch too much CSI

[sheramil]

imagine spending ten years perfecting your Army Sniping, or Marksmanship or whatever you want to call it. then someone discovers a chemical they can add to the drinking water that makes everyone peaceful. no more war, no more army budget.

.. sorry, that's all i came up with.

[Anarkey]

im not sayin theres any thing wrong with watchin CSI,NYPD Blue ,ect...
or any of the show based on crime drama ,its just some people take some of it way to far, im sure the shows producers donot in any way want peeps copyin what theve seen on there shows ,,

But people do copy things they find on these shows,and high school may not be the right place for such a medium type discussion
i guess it has to do with the metality of the people haveing the discussion

hopin im not gettin to far off topic

[Rockwulf]

I don't think he did anything wrong either. Perhaps it wasn't acceptable for that particular age group as that sort of thing could be so easilly misunderstood. That sounds to me more like a wierd thing a twisted university professor would make a project about.

Then again, I was thinking. Maybe, just maybe, there actually was a murder and someone in the class was suspected of having something to do with it. The teacher reads something in the essays that has too many commonalities with the actual crime to be a coincidence and gives it to the police as evidence. Hey it might work. bah I watch too much CSI

That's insane. Like somone's gonna write down how they killed someone if they actually did it?

"My Summer Vacation by Jane Doe. First I bought a large hunting knife from Wal-Mart. I paid in cash so it wasn't traceable..."

[Anarkey]

imagine spending ten years perfecting your Army Sniping, or Marksmanship or whatever you want to call it. then someone discovers a chemical they can add to the drinking water that makes everyone peaceful. no more war, no more army budget.

.. sorry, that's all i came up with.

would that be a career ending injury.

[sheramil]

would that be a career ending injury.

actually, there IS a valid peacetime use for snipers: issued with air rifles, they can shoot away small branches and twigs that are growing towards power lines. much safer and cheaper than going up on those cherry-picker things.

SO THERE.

[malcolm]

imagine spending ten years perfecting your Army Sniping, or Marksmanship or whatever you want to call it. then someone discovers a chemical they can add to the drinking water that makes everyone peaceful. no more war, no more army budget.

I'd be in hell lol