Education

Teacher Erases Student From Yearbook

By Bryan Toporek — June 18, 2010 1 min read
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A teacher in British Columbia cut a student’s picture out of 149 of his school’s 150 yearbooks after discovering the student made a disparaging comment about the principal. (The only yearbook that still contained his picture ended up being the student’s personal copy.)

The trouble started when Brandon Armstrong, a 15-year-old 10th grader, wrote that his favorite memory of school was when his principal “spent all our money on a new fence instead of new textbooks.” The principal denied the student’s accusation, saying the comment was removed because it was “opinion versus fact.”

The teacher in charge of the yearbook was “really upset that he missed the comment,” and thus, spent an hour hand-cutting the student’s picture and comment out of the 149 yearbooks.

The student wasn’t a fan of the move. “It’s mind boggling,” said Armstrong. “People should be able to state their opinions without having them cut out.”

A version of this news article first appeared in the Teaching Now blog.