Utah Ninth Graders Make ISIS Posters For Class Assignment

Whoever this teacher is needs to seriously have their head examined. In what universe does ANYONE think that this is okay?

(And it had to happen in Utah. What the actual crap, you guys??)

According to this, a teacher at Salem Junior High School in Salem, Utah, assigned a class of ninth graders to create a propaganda poster for ISIS. Understandably, parents are LIVID about this –

Eeesh… anyone else think an ISIS flag with “Join ISIS” in happy little bubble letters drawn in colored pencil above it looks skeevy? I can’t be the only one who’s creeped-out by that.

This was the school district’s response, according to KUTV –

“We’re grateful when parents have a concern, that they will call the school and let the principal know immediately,” Lana Hiskey, a spokeswoman for Utah’s Nebo School District, tells CBS 2. “There were just over 60 students involved in this assignment and we’ve had four phone calls or communication with parents that had concerns.”

 

Of the first-year teacher, Hiskey said, “She was just very enthusiastic and wanted students to understand that propaganda is not good,” adding the assignment was not approved.

Okay – fine. You want to teach kids about propaganda and how it can be used to manipulate people? That’s a great idea. Can’t you come up with something else for them to fake-propagandize about? Maybe something silly, like trying to convince people to join with a group who loves pistachio ice cream?

Or, better yet, use the Hunger Games series as a teaching tool. Propaganda plays a HUGE role in that story. And it’s likely something that most of the students are already familiar with. The promotions for those films relied heavily on propaganda-style advertising that was directly inspired by the books. It’s not like this stuff is difficult to find (especially with the last movie being released today), and it has the added benefit of being fictional. Kids can easily Google that without any red-flags flying. It’s also simple enough to tie it back into current events, like the ISIS attacks, without requiring students to Google “How to join ISIS.” Yeah – THAT’S not a disaster waiting to happen.

(h/t EAG News)