Long Island, New York – Fifth grade children at a middle school received what their principal called a “deeply inappropriate” assignment on Monday, the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
WABC-TV reported that Mandy Bieder, a health teacher at Howard B. Matlin Middle School in the Plainview-Old Bethpage Central School District, gave the little children a worksheet which posed a hypothetical scenario to students – asking them to choose six individuals to accompany them to a “fall-out shelter” in the event of a nuclear attack on Long Island.
Here were the options:
1. A 16-year-old pregnant girl.
2. A police officer with multiple charges of brutality pending against him, he has his gun.
3. A 38-year-old retired prostitute.
4. A 75-year-old priest.
5. A 35-year-old sterile female doctor.
6 and 7. A husband and wife. They refuse to be separated. He is a lawyer. She is an alcoholic.
8. A 31-year-old homosexual architect.
9. A 50-year-old musician, previously addicted to cocaine.
10. A 28-year-old drifter with no apparent skills.
Here’s the full assignment:
Principal Joseph Coladonato released a statement to WABC-TV condemning the assignment as “age-inappropriate” and “outside of New York State standards.”
Our school, and our district as a whole, do not approve nor support assignments that are age-inappropriate, out of alignment with the curriculum, and fall outside of New York State standards. This assignment violated all of these criteria, and has no place in our classrooms. We condemn this type of material in the strongest possible terms.
He also said they have launched an investigation into the “deeply inappropriate” assignment which includes the Central Office Administration and revealed that Bieder has been removed from the classroom. A substitute teacher will fill in until the investigation has concluded.
Here is a video report regarding this insane assignment:
Astoundingly, there are actually some individuals who believe this woke teacher deserves a second chance. Retired New York City schoolteacher Sally Pollack told WNBC-TV that while she does not condone the assignment, the principal caved over one “poor decision” by Bieder.
I don’t think this is an appropriate topic for fifth graders to be doing. Maybe a college class would be better. We are both retired teachers so we certainly wouldn’t want somebody to get fired over making a poor decision one time.
The principal was under a lot of pressure and he yielded to the pressure.
