A high school English class at York Prep in New York City was instructed to write a "first-person suicide note" according to Fox News. Parents are reportedly outraged at the assignment calling it "inappropriate."
"We were pretty stunned at the scope of the assignment. We thought this was such an outrageous assignment for a 14-year-old to get," said a father of a ninth-grade student at the school.
Jessica Barrish, the teacher who assigned the task, reportedly did so in correlation with the class' current reading material. According to the New York Post, student were to "channel fictitious character May Boatwright by writing in first person- as if they were her - about her legacy and how they wanted to be remembered by her sisters."
Barrish refused to comment. The New York Post reported the teacher has filed a lawsuit in England against her college friend. Barrish accuses the person in question of torturing and killing her cat. She has worked as a private school teacher for three years before being employed with York Post.
Despite the reports made to the media about "inappropriate" homework assignments, Ronald Stewart, Headmaster at York Prep, claims no parent has step forward and filed a complaint with the school.
"I don't see why this is inappropriate at all. If it is, then suicide is a taboo, and I simply think we have to think rationally about our taboos," said Simon Critchley, a philosophy professor at The New School University. "I think It might even help student acquire a more mature and reflective approach to a hugely important topic.
Suicide inspired homework assignments have made headlines in the past. According to reports, a child in England was given a similar assignment and her mother found the note assuming it to be true.
A response from York Prep has not been reported.
