Talk about covering the spectrum of creative writing in high school English classes these days.

A creepy homework assignment at a New York City prep school asked young high school students to pen their own suicide notes, and parents were obviously a little freaked out, the New York Post reported.

York Prep English teacher Jessica Barrish had her private school students write “from the perspective of a character who offs herself in “The Secret Life of Bees,” a best-selling book and film,” the article said.

The students were instructed to write their suicide notes in the first-person and answer questions like, “How would you justify ending your life? What reasons would you give?”

Although the Headmaster told the Post “not a single” parent complained about the bizarre assignment, the Post spoke to one father of a ninth-grader who was shocked:

“We were pretty stunned at the scope of the assignment,” said a father of a ninth-grade student at the school.

“We thought this was such an outrageous assignment for a 14-year-old to get,” he added. “We pay a lot of money to send our kids to the school.”

The Post went on to list other examples of schools that had kids write their own suicide notes as writing assignments.

The worst was the case in England where a mom found her teen’s note and thought it was for real. That mom said she wished parents were given a “head’s up” on the project.

Can you even imagine?

Let us know in the comment section if you think this topic is an appropriate writing exercise for high school teenagers.

More from the New York Post.

• Author
• Recent Posts

Janeen Capizola

"And though she be but little, she is fierce." And fun! This conservative-minded political junkie, mom of three, dancer and one-time NFL cheerleader holds a bachelor of arts degree in political science. Janeen@BizPacReview.com. Twitter: @JaneenBPR

Latest posts by Janeen Capizola (see all)

• The joke that may have lost John Kerry all his friends at CNN - March 10, 2014
• ‘What could have been’ reunion pic: Romney, Ryan family bump into each other in airport - March 10, 2014
• GOP battle begins; lawmakers jockey to replace Issa as House Oversight chair - March 10, 2014

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.