‘Absolutely disgusting’: Parents furious after kids asked ‘should all terrorists be forgiven’ in Manchester bombing essay
Families in Yorkshire, England are incensed after kids were given homework asking them to imagine they were the parents of Manchester suicide bombing victims and to write an essay on whether “all terrorists should be forgiven.”
Twelve-year-old pupils at the Bridlington High School were given an assignment on the school’s online homework app on Friday in which they were asked: “Imagine that you are a parent of one of the Manchester bombing victims. Write a response to the point of view that: ‘All terrorists should be forgiven’.”
The exercise was set following an in-class discussion of the Manchester Arena attack in which Salman Ramadam Abedi detonated an explosive device during an Ariana Grande concert on May 22, 2017 which killed 22 concert-goers, including children.
Also on rt.com ‘Beyond disgusting’: Father of man killed in London Bridge terrorist attack condemns BoJo for using son’s death for political gain“There are children at the school who attended the concert and were there when the attack happened. There is even a cousin of one of the victims at the school,” one mother told Hull Live.
“I think this assignment is absolutely disgusting for all sorts of different reasons,” said Tracey Turner, whose granddaughter studies at the school.
Headteacher Kate Parker-Randall subsequently apologized, but insisted that the exercise was intended to pose a difficult moral question to the children and allow them to decide whether “hate or forgiveness are the best response to such terrible crimes.” The students had discussed an article about a mother of one of the victims who had forgiven the bomber for killing her son.
“However, having reflected on the matter we would in hindsight have posed the homework question in a different way,” Parker-Randall later admitted.
Needless to say, reaction online was far from forgiving, with some even calling for the teacher to be sacked.
The school teacher that set that piece of homework for the Manchester Bombing should never be allowed to go near children again. To ask children what they would do if faced with that situation with a suicide bomber from a teacher is no less than atrocious. He should be sacked.
— PAUL WALES BLUEBIRDS TRUMP BREXIT OZZY IRON MAIDEN (@PaulMer52) December 18, 2019
“Someone should get fired for that. That is disgusting,” echoed another.
“When does it stop? very scary stuff,” wrote one concerned commenter.
Children aged 12 were given homework assignment on the Manchester bombing and whether terrorists should be forgivenThis is absolutely f*cking outrageous The Parents are right to be Furious!! Close Bridlington School down!! 😡🤬 https://t.co/vJVGys3BTy
— ❌Phillip 🏴🇬🇧🎄🎅🏻 (@MrDiddy85) December 17, 2019
The news comes just two months after GCSE students studying English at Cheney School in Oxfordshire were asked to pen a mock suicide note. The children were assigned the creative writing task while studying ‘An Inspector Calls’ by J.B. Priestley, a 1945 play which deals with the aftermath of character Eva Smith’s suicide.
“I genuinely feel it could be done well to raise awareness of teen mental health and suicide, but this was a massive fail,” one concerned mother said at the time.
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