Hudson mayor tells school board to resign over sex scene writing assignment
“We did not exercise due diligence when we reviewed this resource and as a result, we overlooked several writing prompts among the 642 that are not appropriate for our high school audience . ... We feel terrible. ”
The Hudson mayor is asking all five school board members to resign or face possible criminal charges over high school course material that he said a judge called “child pornography.”
Mayor Craig Shubert made the statement during Monday night’s board of education meeting after multiple parents complained about the content of some writing prompts contained in a book called “642 Things to Write About” provided to high school juniors and seniors who are taking a college credit course called Writing in the Liberal Arts II.
Brian Wilch High School principal
High school principal Brian Wilch said the class is offered in association with Hiram College but is taught at the high school. He also said the “642 Things” book has been used in the past.
Wilch told the board Monday that he and his administrative team apologized to the students’ parents and are now collecting the books. The school is searching for replacement material that is suitable for high school students, he said.
Wilch said they took action after he was notified on Friday afternoon about “several inappropriate and offensive writing prompts” in the “642 Things” book.
“We did not exercise due diligence when we reviewed this resource and as a result, we overlooked several writing prompts among the 642 that are not appropriate for our high school audience,” Wilch said. “…We feel terrible. At no time were any of these inappropriate prompts selected or discussed, but still they were there and they were viewable, and you can’t unsee them.”
Parents said there was a prompt that asked students to “write a sex scene you wouldn’t show your mom,” and another which said “rewrite the sex scene from above into one that you’d let your mom read.” Another prompt asked students to drink a beer and describe how it tastes. Parents said they felt these writing prompts and others were not appropriate for high school students.
One speaker said he was “appalled” by the content and requested that cameras be put into the classroom so parents could monitor what is being taught to their children. Another speaker said the material was “disgusting” and that it amounted to “grooming.”
Shubert said he had shown some of the writing prompts to a judge, who said the content was “child pornography and that is a felony.”
Shubert on Tuesday said he told the board members “you either resign or you will be charged.”
The mayor said he would like to see all five members resign by the end of the month.
Reporter Phil Keren can be reached at pkeren@thebeaconjournal.com, or on Twitter at @keren_phil.