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.]
I don’t know where to begin…
What an appalling lack of common sense.
That’ll learn ya to be creative, Brendan!
I think the school has seriously overreacted. Personally I would like to read the essay, however I was lead to believe it was posted on the CityTV website but I have not been able to find it.
Seems to me that people have this paranoia that everyone and their mother are going to walk into a school and just starting shooting people.
It is a shame that we live in a society now where a person’s freedom of speech/expression is now violated.
The expulsion may have been excessive, but if I were a teacher at that school, I’d be a little nervous. A suspension would definitely be appropriate.
As of right now, i’m still sitting at home, with no school to go to tomorrow. They told me that it’s not in my, nor the school’s best interest to have me ever return to Heart Lake. They told us that i’m neither suspended or expelled, but merely “excluded” for a time frame that i’m unaware of.
[...] was threatened with expulsion after writing a violent-themed story as part of a test, has posted a comment on the original Quillblog post about this story to give us an update: “As of right now, im [...]
I’m just reminded of the Virginia Tech Massacre that happened in 2007. Alot of reports mentioned his short stories about grusome murders, and how they should have been a warning signal to the school that the student was a threat. I remember hearing one of his stories and thinking that it wasn’t half as bad as the scripts for any of the SAW movies. Those people are being payed tons of money to write sickening and twisted plots about torture and slow painful deaths. I don’t believe anyone is allowed to judge whether the decision was right or wrong unless they know the student personally and have read the full essay.
i think its really dumb that he got expelled.
like seriously.
(:
that story has no gor in it. and he has the right to say what he wants.
as a former student, i know that at school we cant do anything, so now if we cant alteast how our freedom of speech
without getting into trouble, we have nothing, and that will cause more students to drop out (: i think that
brendan should be allowed to go back , and finish his last year at Heart lake even if it means he has to get talked to by
a counseller .
Yeah so I wrote something like this……. I’m properly gonna get expelled
[...] post info By Don Categories: interesting news and writing Tags: murder, news, school, short story, student expelled, writing. This is a bit old news, but a 17 year old student was expelled for writing a controversial short story where a 10 years old student kills one of her teachers…
Way to go, Toronto. Punishing a boy for writing creatively in a creative writing class.
So congratulations. The capital city in a country that prides itself on tolerance and arts has shown itself up to be completely moronic. An embarrassement to all of Canada.
in my experience, anyone who is going to admit that school frustrates them like this is very unlikely to actually do anything.
if you’re going to shoot up the school, it’s not incredibly likely that you’re going to tell the teacher, /unless/ it’s a cry for help - wanting someone to listen to you.
is it really that hard to figure out?
Canada sucks
I thought the states had this stuff cornered. My girl was expelled and we had cops called on us before we wee asked to leave. This happened at my girl’s private school near buffalo ny over some facebook remarks she and her friends made. They were creeped by the subject’s older sister and brough to schooo be her mommy who’s father oin law is a major donor to the school. Guess where that left us ?
Read it if you have a strong stomach and like satire : justice4claire.blogspot.com
I am currently a university student in my third year, working towards my B.E.D. I came across this story looking for educational websites to use as links on a educational web task page I am creating for a high school English class.
I find this story frustrating, as a person and an up coming educator, I can not believe that a teacher, that should be pushing their students to explore creative writing can take such offense to a piece of writing that fulfilled all of the requested requirements. There was no obscene use of vocabulary, or was the essay directed to one specific person. As a creative writer, and an English teacher you should know some of the best writers in history have created stories that have the power to stir us inside.
I hope this can be resolved, the student being ridiculed sounds full of optimism and the desire to achieve. It saddens me to see the world so full of fear they cant actually open their eyes to talent, and give leeway to what inspires one. I am sure to everyone out there, there is something odd that inspires you, even though you would never attempt the act. This entire ordeal should be taken with a grain of salt. When teaching, one should be prepared to see the results of what is taught, but remember it is the results of what is being taught, that are expressed differently by each individual. When asked to create, the world should not ridicule the creator. Education is a right. The right to create and learn. We hinder that right, when we restrain the multiple types of creativity, and limit what can be created.
They should have learned the first time. There was a case like this years ago, but i think it was a girl in middle school
andi think the school got in a lot of trouble… There’s a documentary about it at the end of a movie called “KIDS IN AMERICA”.
Brendan’s story sounds real interesting though… I’d love to read it.
i know this kid personally and i know hes not a nut job i also know there were other stories written by the kids that
involved killing or harming an individual and the fact that he got expelled for it is a joke! One girl wrote how she
was drugged and kidnapped on a family trip and wrote about how she woke up with sperm everywhere
and she didn’t know if she was raped and stuff like this, and there was nothing done to this girl no one asked
if she was ok and no one thought she was messed up. In the story he writes it from a female point of view and
second the teachers name was not specific and did not describe any of his teachers what so ever this is total
bull shit if you ask me and i think the teachers of that school should feel horriable for the shit they have caused
this kid
[...] 3. High school student expelled for short story [...]
What? As a grade 11 student in Toronto myself I find this just… WTF?
It’s a CREATIVE writing class. CREATIVE. There’s a dictionary to look up the MEANING of that word. I am even more surprised to find that this was done in a NON-CATHOLIC school. I GO to a Catholic school yet I think by my school’s standards having the student “excluded” from school on his final year is over kill. Brendan, I feel for you. I feel affected by this myself.
I mean, isn’t this a country that has its laws based on the foundation of our human rights? We have the freedom of expression! In a high school community its understandable to suppress certain contents from a short story, but teachers should know that there really shouldn’t be barriers set on short stories.
“A student killing a teacher.” Intriguing story, judging by that summary in the article. But if the teacher marking this has any worrisome concerns over the ending (and to think that teacher would have the gall to continue writing remarks on the story structure and what not?!) it should have been checked up on the student!
“I’m a little worried about the ending. What did you feel when you were writing it?” hm… a conversation like that seems logical enough. Student responds. If that response still doesn’t clear suspicion take it up with the student’s records. Does this student have a record in showing signs of mental instability? Has the student had any visits to the guidance counselor concerning any mental break downs and/or disputes that shows any possible signs of reacting in a violent manner? Is the story truly metaphorical for something? Was it just an idea that the student HAD to pitch and holds no other significant meaning other than the fact that it “just makes an interesting basis for a story”
Hm… am I over thinking this? For a grade 11 high school student? What do you think, Brendan? Did you go through this process AT ALL? From where I stand I don’t think so.
This action towards you is totally unfair to you. Something must be done. I really hope that that school will let you back in. I know people in my own school that writes even more disturbing stories than you. I know I’m capable of it too. Yet every sensible student out there knows where to draw the line. You’re one of these students too, Brendan. I’m just hoping your school realizes it’s making a VERY big mistake.
Freedom of expression! Where would all the good books an movies be if it was censored this way, with the writers stripped of their rights to express freely?
Heart Lake Secondary, if you’re reading this, let me tell you this: if you think your actions are justified prove it to me. Tell me that the points I made are illogical or impractical. Tell me that I’M overreacting to it. I’m not a student of your school, so why should I bother? It’s because as a high school student with a love for creative writing, I say that I have a right to have my say in this!
Oh wow, I’m very funny. I’ve rounded up this little comment to involve section 2 of the Canadian Charter of Human Rights subsection (b) where everyone has the right to “freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication.”
Oh yeah, that’s right. I take a law course.
Stay strong, Brendan!
I wrote a story along those lines, and it was even from my point of view, but my teacher was cool with it. Not that I would ever do anything like that, but I wrote basicaly the same thing, only using my name, and my teacher was totally cool with it, I got a 92% on the report.
This is ridiculous, I wrote a story like that, where I said that I even related in some ways to the columbine students, I was very kosher about it, but I brought up a lot of the same Ideas, and my was not written from another characters point of view, but rather as a fictional version of myself.
I got a 98% on that report.
this guy should not be suspended or expelled he was prolly in english class doing an essay wtf does it matter what we wright about as long as it doesent occur days afetr or in the past then he should be good not getting in trouble
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