School Apologizes for Making Pupils Write Suicide Notes
A head teacher was forced to apologize after pupils were tasked to write a suicide note for a school homework project which sparked outrage from parents. More than 60 teens were given the grim project in more than one class at Thomas Tallis School in Kidbrooke, southeast London.
The students were studying "Macbeth," written by William Shakespeare in 1606. In the play, Lady Macbeth killed herself after feeling so much guilt over King Duncan's murder. It is not known which year groups were asked to take part in the English project, but it is believed to involve Year 9 pupils or above, meaning they are at least 13 years old.
One mother spoke out about how the class project affected her daughter who is still receiving counseling after a friend took her own life. "My daughter's friend committed suicide in the last year of sixth from a year or so ago," the mother said. "My daughter has never got over it and is still receiving counseling," she added.
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Another mother couldn't understand why a place of education, where children are supposed to be safe, would do something so insensitive, especially since childhood and teenage anxiety is at an all-time high and since a few of her daughter's classmates are struggling with depression.
A group of parents and at least 13 students protested in front of the school. Head teacher Carolyn Roberts met with the parents last week and assured them that "action had been taken" and that similar projects wouldn't take place again. She said the meeting was cordial and the parents accepted her apology.
According to the Office for National Statistics, almost 100 children, ages 10–14, committed suicide in the U.K. in the past decade. From 2005 to 2014, the records showed that 98 children under 15 took their own lives. Among them, 59 were boys and 39 were girls, the Guardian reported.
