Quote:

A high school teacher in Australia who assigned her class to plan a terrorist attack that would kill as many innocent people as possible had no intent to promote terrorism, the school principal said. The Year 10 students at Kalgoorlie-Boulder Community High School in the state of Western Australia were given the assignment last week in a class on contemporary conflict and terrorism. They were asked to pretend they were terrorists making a political statement by releasing a chemical or biological agent on "an unsuspecting Australian community", according to a copy of the assignment received by the West Australian newspaper. The task included choosing the best time to attack and explaining their choice of victims and what effects the attack would have on a human body. "Your goal is to kill the MOST innocent civilians in order to get your message across," the assignment read. Principal Terry Martino said he withdrew the assignment as soon as he heard of it. "The teacher, who is relatively inexperienced, made a well-intentioned but misguided attempt to engage the students in an assignment on contemporary conflict and how beliefs and values influence the behaviours and motives of individuals," Mr Martino said in comments provided by the state Education Department. Mr Martino said the highly regarded teacher was not promoting terrorism but just made a mistake. He said she was remorseful and understood the topic was inappropriate. The school declined to identify the teacher, citing her privacy, and her name also was not given in the newspaper report. The Education Department's director requested a full report on the incident, which was revealed in a front-page article in the West Australian newspaper today. Student Sarah Gilbert, 15, told the newspaper she was horrified by the assignment. "I was shocked and quite offended," she said. "I'm offended that it's Australia but I'm disgusted because it doesn't matter where it is, it's still not something you ask someone to do or think about. ... There is a difference between being a terrorist and learning about terrorism." Sarah - whose mother lost a relative in the 2002 Bali bombings - wrote a letter to her teacher refusing to do the assignment. "Even though it may seem petty, to me my beliefs are more important than an A stating I am smart," Sarah wrote. A copy of her letter was published by the newspaper.

Oh don't worry, it doesn't seem petty. It seems like you're a prissy, self-satisfied little douche.

God forbid we should try to understand our enemies. That might lead to *shock horror* improved defensive strategies.

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Yep, I agree with the douche comment. Especially given the comment about Australia and the idiotic contradiction between learning about terrorism and learning about terrorist tactics and strategies.

I'd have thought that we have plenty of people whose job it is to think things like that up and try and design a defensive tactic...

So, to summarise, in my opinion, this girl is unlikely to ever get confused with a smart A-student.

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Quote:

God forbid we should try to understand our enemies. That might lead to *shock horror* improved defensive strategies.

Those who have the talent to peer deep into the human heart find not wisdom and goodness but often, discouragingly, a black hole:

most likely an unimaginative domestic terrorist seeking free plans to wreak havoc......

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Originally Posted by PostmodernProphet

most likely an unimaginative domestic terrorist seeking free plans to wreak havoc......

That's possible too. The phrasing of the question seemed a bit off to be a really good "what if" scenario analysis.

Still... The student is dumb.

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Quote:

"I was shocked and quite offended," she said. "I'm offended that it's Australia but I'm disgusted because it doesn't matter where it is, it's still not something you ask someone to do or think about. ... There is a difference between being a terrorist and learning about terrorism."

WTF?!?!

Obviously this person doesn't read fiction or watch movie thrillers much either.

F

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"Inter arma silent Musae"--when the weapons speak, the muses fall silent.

An't nanum hearm deth, doth hwaet ye willath.

It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished
unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets. -Voltaire

Economic Left/Right: -3.88
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Originally Posted by Gilles de Rais

Still... The student is dumb.

???...why?.....nothing she said sounded dumb to me.....I thought she articulated her reasons quite well for a high school student....

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Originally Posted by FredFredson

WTF?!?! Obviously this person doesn't read fiction or watch movie thrillers much either. F

or perhaps she merely thought it insensitive....
Sarah - whose mother lost a relative in the 2002 Bali bombings - wrote a letter to her teacher refusing to do the assignment.

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Some people might suggest that if you don't want to have to think about terrorism, you might want to avoid taking a class on it...

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I also have to say that it's pretty low down of her to try to screw up her teacher's career by sending a letter to the newspapers wherein she does her best to make an interesting and useful exercise in strategic thinking (I've done similar stuff frequently - if she thinks that's fucked up I'd invite her to try nuclear strategy games) seem like the end of civilisation as we know it.

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