Parents shocked as UK school asks kids to write ‘SUICIDE LETTER’ as part of English exercise

A school in the UK gave their teenage English students the task of writing a suicide note in the context of an exercise to explore suicidal feelings, prompting one “genuinely shocked” parent to complain.

Pupils aged 15 and 16 studying for their GCSE qualifications at Cheney School in Headington, Oxford, were set the assignment as part of studying the classic English play ‘An Inspector Calls’ by J.B. Priestley. The writing exercise was delivered on ‘World Suicide Day.’

One mother, who asked not to be named, told BBC News that the project was a “massive fail,” revealing that she had been left feeling “genuinely shocked,” after her child informed her about the distressing task.

The actual assignment was ‘Imagine you are a young woman in 1912 writing a suicide letter to those who care about you.’

The parent, who reportedly has a relative who attempted suicide, wrote a letter to the school’s Head of English, adding that there had been “no warning, no support, no encouragement.”

The school has since apologized “for any distress caused” and insisted that the exercise was “delivered sensitively,” claiming that the writing task had been reviewed and “adjusted accordingly.”

It’s not the first time the play in question has been embroiled in the same controversy. In 2015, pupils aged 14 and 15 at Beauchamps High School in Wickford, Essex, were also asked to pen a suicide letter for their English homework.

Set in 1912, the play centers on a mysterious inspector arriving at the home of a mill owner. He questions the wealthy family about the sudden death of Eva Smith, a young working-class woman.

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