A grammar assignment handed out to Grade 8 students from Hatzic Middle School is being debated by some parents on Facebook, due to its questionable content.
The assignment contained a paragraph that seems to describe a domestic violence incident.
Angus Wilson, superintendent of Mission Public Schools said the paragraph in question was written by a student, not the teacher.
“As I understand it, it was a student’s writing for an assignment that then was used, along with other students’ writings for grammar work,” said Wilson.
The original assignment was to write as if you lived in the Middle Ages. The teacher then took samples from these writings and re-purposed them to create a grammar work sheet so students could see and correct mistakes.
A section of the paragraph reads “My father was drinking and because of his drinking he hit my mother as she was trying to calm him down. But it didn’t work and he hit my mother so hard she passed out! Me and my brother are crying and my father is yelling as my mother is on the floor. We don’t know what to do.”
It is not known why the teacher decided to use the student’s paragraph that contained domestic violence material as one of the examples on the grammar assignment.
Despite the online debate over the assignment, Wilson said he has not received a single complaint about this issue from any parent. In fact he only heard about it after he received media inquiries on Wednesday.
“No parent had contacted the teacher, the school or the school district to express any concerns,” said Wilson adding the appropriate thing to do if you have concerns about what’s happening at your school is to “call the school.”
An investigation into the incident has begun, but Wilson said he cannot speak about it at this time.
