2nd grader was instructed to ‘send picture of you doing reading homework in bathtub,’

[GMDino]

Christian school.

Parents questioned it.

School removed the student whose parents questioned it from the their school.

https://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/local/second-grader-was-instructed-send-picture-doing-reading-homework-bathtub-parents-say/BUOBE62MPZBP5B4I3GKBABWXZY/

Quote:JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A second-grade student was removed from the classroom after her parents questioned a homework assignment.


Students at Victory Christian Academy were asked to “send a picture of you doing reading homework in the bathtub.”


“A bathtub is not appropriate for a child to take a picture,” Misty Dunham said.

Misty and her husband, Christopher, were shocked to see this written on their 8-year-old’s homework assignment.

“I emailed the teacher ‘Hey, you may want to explain that. Send something out to the parents. Let them know what the intentions are.’ This just does not sound OK,” Misty Dunham said. “She did send out a message saying, ‘you should be in pajamas, be in your uniform, have fun with it.’ But, it didn’t sit right.”


Misty Dunham reached out to the school administration, and later to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, to document the incident.


In a police report obtained by Action News Jax, it states parents were told by administrators, “we have been sending this homework assignment for years, and you’re the only one complaining about it.” Police advised the parents not to take the photo.


Later, the Dunham family said they got a call from the school.


“(He said) ‘I think you guys should do a parental withdrawal for the child.’ I said, ‘I can’t. I can’t do that. We refuse to withdraw her,’” Misty Dunham said. “He said, ‘OK thank you for saying that,’ and continued on saying that, ‘Well, we’re going to proceed with an administration withdraw.’”


Documentation from the school indicates their daughter is no longer a student at Victory Christian Academy.


“No explanation,” Misty Dunham said.


The family believes this sends the wrong message.


“She did something right by telling mom and dad that she wasn’t comfortable with something, and now she’s no longer in school,” Christopher Dunham said.


The President of Victory Christian Academy, Pastor Jesse Latta, sent us this statement regarding the assignment:

Quote:“There was an assignment given, as I understand you have received a copy. It was taken out of an online teacher resource and has been used in many schools. There were certainly no bad intentions with this assignment. When a parent contacted our teacher with a complaint, our teacher immediately sent out correspondence to all parents in the class to assure them that there were no bad intentions with this assignment and to clarify the guidelines. No additional concerns were presented to the teacher. While the assignment was completely innocent, out of an abundance of caution and for there to be no misunderstandings, our administration has removed this particular assignment for any future use. We value our children and their safety is our top priority. We will continue to serve the children and families in which the Lord has graciously allowed us to have a part in their lives.”
—  Pastor Jesse Latta

We asked about the status of the student and why there was an “administrative withdraw” from the school for this student. We have not heard back.

[*Nately120*]

It's odd for a teacher to request students take pictures of themselves or have pictures of themselves taken, I guess...but is being clothed in a bathtub an overtly sexual or weird thing?  It seems more stupid/silly to me.  I wouldn't tell anyone to do it, especially a kid (actually, I gleefully avoid every kid), but it wouldn't have occurred to me to get weirded out by it either.

Side note, here is an album from 1971 I like quite a lot.  Is this supposed to be sexy?  Maybe?

[CJD]

(09-27-2022, 05:04 PM)Nately120 Wrote: It's odd for a teacher to request students take pictures of themselves or have pictures of themselves taken, I guess...but is being clothed in a bathtub an overtly sexual or weird thing?  It seems more stupid/silly to me.  I wouldn't tell anyone to do it, especially a kid (actually, I gleefully avoid every kid), but it wouldn't have occurred to me to get weirded out by it either.

Side note, here is an album from 1971 I like quite a lot.  Is this supposed to be sexy?  Maybe?

I think it comes down to intention. 

It doesn't seem like the teacher was very explicit about the details of the assignment. If the assignment specifically said "send a picture of the child reading in the bath tub, but not during a bath and while they are fully clothed. This is meant to be a goofy activity, so maybe dress up and have fun with it!" then I agree with you that this assignment isn't a big deal and is more just an eccentricity of the teacher or, perhaps, the school. 

However, if the bolded part above was left out and the instruction left intentionally vague, you start to question whether the teacher was hoping the students would just take pictures of themselves during a typical bath where they're naked. Not every child would do this, since many of them would not be willing to do it. But what if it's just a numbers game?

Let's say this teacher has made this request to 10 separate classes over the years, with each class they teach having 30 children in it.


That means the teacher has requested 300 pictures of children in bath tubs reading. If only 1% of students unquestioningly took naked pictures of themselves, not realizing how creepy that is, then that teacher has received 3 pedophilic nude photos as part of this assignment.

Which would be pretty ****** up.

So, I don't blame any parent for being suspicious and asking "...why do you want this? Are you a creep hoping the children misinterpret the "innocent" context of the request and send you a nude photo without talking to their parents first? What do you gain out of this?"

[BmorePat87]

some people should not be in education