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Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Outrage as pupils in school near 'suicide hotspot' Bridgend are told to write imaginary suicide notes

A school near Bridgend has sparked outrage after pupils were ordered to write imaginary suicide notes in class, it emerged today.

Students aged just 13 were told to carry out the exercise in an English lesson in order to "get into the mind of a troubled teenager".

The school is situated just a few miles from the South Wales borough of Bridgend, an area which has been struck by a string of apparent hangings by young people.

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Outrage: Pupils at Radyr Comprehensive School were asked to write suicide notes in a lesson

Today the grieving mother of one of the victims said the task showed a "disgusting" lack of sensitivity in the wake of the tragedies.

And parents of the children who were asked to perform the "literary" exercise said it was inappropriate to ask young children to imagine having suicidal thoughts.

Year Nine pupils at Radyr Comprehensive School, in the outskirts of Cardiff are studying a book in which the main character finds his sister dead with a suicide note next to her body.

The children were asked to write their own version of the letter which features in Noughts and Crosses, by Malorie Blackman.

One parent said: "It's dreadful they were asked to do this at such a sensitive time.

"All the children are aware what is going on in Bridgend - what was this teacher thinking of?

"The pupils are being asked to express suicidal thoughts that they don't have - but who knows what that could lead to?

"My daughter said the book is making her depressed."

The headteacher of the 1,400-pupil school yesterday said their English teacher did not associate the class project with the Bridgend suicides - even though it is just 12 miles away.

A mother of one of the 17 suicide cases yesterday condemned the suicide notes class exercise as "disgusting".

Tracey Roberts, whose son Anthony Martin, 19, hanged himself almost a year ago, said: 'I find this very, very disturbing.

"The worst thing any parent can ever do is read a suicide note from your own child.

"It is a sick world when the schools are telling kids to do it.

"Quite honestly, it is disgusting. They should not be putting these ideas into the minds of 13-year-old children."

The 42-year-old added: "Discussing a proper suicide strategy for schools is a good idea - but getting these children writing suicide notes is just so wrong.

"This school is so close to Bridgend that all the children must be aware of what is going on. I think they should stop it immediately - they are playing with fire."

Mrs Roberts' son who was the fifth out of 17 young people to be found hanged in the Bridgend area since the start of last year.

Noughts and Crosses is not on the curriculum for all schools - but has been used as a text by Radyr Comprehensive for two years.

Headteacher Steve Fowler said today: "Noughts and Crosses is a well-known book by a highly regarded author, commonly read in schools.

"The suicide is a relatively small sub-plot in a book that deals with many weighty topics such as racism, terrorism and the death penalty.

"One of the main characters learns of the death of his sister and finds an envelope from her addressed to him."

Mr Fowler said the task was a 'spontaneous piece of writing' where children were asked not to turn over the page to find out what the letter said - but to write their own version of the suicide note.

He added: "Such predictive tasks are commonly set as activities in the study of any text.

"There are clearly grave sensibilities in South Wales at the moment about young people taking their own lives.

"However, the teacher setting the text did not associate the task with news stories but rather considered it part of the textual study of a serious book dealing with serious issues in a serious way.

"Any offence caused is completely unintentional."

A Cardiff council spokesman said: "Schools are expected to cover a range of sensitive issues with young people via the curriculum.

"This book was selected for study some time ago and we have no reason to doubt the ability of teachers at Radyr to deal with such matters in an appropriate manner."

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