by Mary M.
Member since:
May 28, 2006

A for Adultery . . . in High School??

September 22, 2007 07:02 PM EDT
views: 51 | comments: 17

   A co-worker approached me last week and asked me what I would do in her situation.  Apparently, her daughter's Honors English teacher has the class reading "The Scarlet Letter".  For those who haven't read it, it tells the story of Hester Prynne, a Puritan woman whose husband went off to sea and disappeared for years.  In the meantime, she became pregnant to a publicly unknown father (the local Reverend!).  The community forces her to wear a red "A" on her clothing, as was their tradition, for "adultery".

   This English teacher has made the class wear an "A" around school, and has "spies" from other classes going around to make sure they are really wearing them all day.  The spies are to go up and ask them what the "A" is for, and the answer is to be "adultery".  The teacher also told the kids that if their parents ask, they are to say the "A" is for "able" because they are Honors students!

   I'm shocked and angered, and it's not even my kids who have to go through this nonsense.  High schoolers do not need to be branded and ostracized, for one thing -- don't they get that enough as it is, with all the peer pressure?  I realize she is trying to teach them how it felt for Hester, with her whole community against her.  But to make them wear something that indicates adultery to me is morally wrong.  Yes, there are kids who sleep around in high school but I think this is ridiculous.  And then to lie to their parents?

   I told my friend that this made me so mad I'm almost ready to write or call in a complaint to the school myself, and my kids don't even attend there!  I told her I would definitely stand up for what I believed in and let the teacher know I wasn't going to stand for either branding my child in this way or for teaching her to lie to her parents.  At least the kid came to her mom when she felt something wasn't right.

   There are so many good teachers out there.  I think it's a shame when something like this happens.  I hope my friend gets up the pluck to confront the school about her feelings on this issue.

   What do you think about this?

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Comments: 17

Danielle P. Sep 22, 2007, 7:12pm EDT
I could see it in the classroom setting, just as an exercise in humility, but not outside that class. They carry babies around to see if they can take care of them in a lot of schools. I think it is a good exercise, but taken a little too far.
Darla P. Sep 22, 2007, 7:29pm EDT
I don't agree with having to wear the A. First of all this teacher has had them LIE to parents about what this teacher is DOING! Secondly HOW DARE SHE. The Carry a baby thing is for health and social living.. this makes sense to me. Learning how to have that responsibility.. but wearing an A for Adultry.. UMM HELLO they aren't MARRIED and if they are I HIGHLY doubt they are sleeping with others. It's an English class!
Kelly M. Sep 22, 2007, 7:33pm EDT
I don't agree with the lying to parents thing AT ALL!

When we were in high school we read the book and had to wear our own scarlet letter. We chose the letter and the meaning. It was our choice to announce what our letter was. The experience was very strong for me, as I had to admit to some wrong doing publically.
Lune Wolfsong Sep 22, 2007, 7:40pm EDT
Yes, the lying to their parents is what bothered me the most about it, too. The idea of wearing the letter, and the exercise of making the book come alive, sounds like a good intention though badly executed, but the lying to the parents puts it way over the top.
Brenda (square peg in a round hole) H. Sep 22, 2007, 8:16pm EDT
I would be at the school in a flash. That is just wrong.
Bonnie L. Sep 22, 2007, 8:16pm EDT
Mary: I would be standing at the door of the Superintendant of Education Monday morning - with every parent I could muster to join me.

This teacher is WAY over the line!
Eric C. Sep 22, 2007, 8:39pm EDT
The teacher went too far! I love the novel, I'm thrilled they are studying it, but I do not see the value in wearing the A throughout the school. The students have presumably not committed adultery, and they have nothing to gain by being (further) ostracized by their classmates. The lying to the parents bit is icing on the cake!
Bundy P Sep 22, 2007, 9:19pm EDT
Seems a little far out
Allana G. Sep 22, 2007, 10:03pm EDT
It is, indeed, a great novel and the teacher may have just poorly executed a great lesson on the hypocrisy of branding one out of an entire society. But she should NEVER have told the students to lie to their parents.
Nancy O. Sep 22, 2007, 10:15pm EDT
Teachers do some weird things to get kids involved in their subject. It is too bad when teachers fail to use common sense.
denise e Sep 22, 2007, 10:58pm EDT
It's not right. If the teacher believed it was then why lie to the parents. If she was going to do this then it should have been with better judgement. A teacher should never be teaching kids something that they cannot be honest about. And just generally a teacher should not be telling the kids that it is alright to lie. Where are her moral standards and ethics.
Dale C. Sep 23, 2007, 8:48am EDT
Yeah. Telling kids to lie to their parents definitely crosses a line. I'm not sure about the rest. In our society, even in high school the "A" doesn't have the power it did back then in terms of ostracism by others, so I'm not sure it would really convey the experience.
Cynthia W. Sep 23, 2007, 1:05pm EDT
My boyfriend is a high school counselor and I shared your posting with him. He and I both agree with you and how you feel about this. He feels that the Administrator that oversees that department (probably a Co-Principal or Assistant Principal) should be notified. What she is doing is most likely breaking an ethic code. He also said that if this happened at his school, there would definitely be an uproar. If your co-worker doesn't want to contact them, you could contact them as well. You do not have to have a kid in the school to notify them of this. Hope this helps! You will be doing a good thing by letting the school administrators know what's going on! If that doesn't seem to work, be sure to contact the school district of the high school but he's pretty certain just notifying the administrators will do the trick.
Rachel D. Sep 23, 2007, 4:56pm EDT
I'd bitterly complain. And the teacher knows it too, otherwise she wouldn't have told the kids to LIE to their parents!
The students should never have been asked to lie to their parents, and having to wear a scarlett letter outside of the classroom shouldn't have been asked of them, either.
Holly J. Sep 24, 2007, 12:50pm EDT
The only way this would be acceptable is if it were also for a drama class and they were doing it to get into charachtor to do the play or something. Otherwise it's over the top. Maybe, just maybe, it'll be ok if they only wore them in that class, and they chose a letter to admit to something they have done, to help them understand the charachator better. But to have to walk around school all day like that, NO. Go to the school, talk to the teacher, talk to the prinicipil, talk to the superintendent, talk to the local newspaper. The problem isn't with them reading the book ,the problem is with how they're taking the 'learning experence' of the book to far.
Joan M. Sep 28, 2007, 9:28am EDT
This isn't acceptable. There's no need to make the kids "feel the humility". They're kids, I'm positive they've felt humility without this being thrown at them. This behavior is a little disgusting, and I can tell you that if my child were in that class, I would be putting an end to it.

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