Slashdot: Student Suspended Over IM Icon

What is it about 15 year olds hating English teachers? When I turned 15 I absolutely hated my English 9 teacher. In fact all my friends hated him too. We were in the "enriched" English class for eager students, but 1/3 of his class failed the 3rd quarter, including all but one of my friends.

It might have had something to do with the skit we performed in class. We were assigned a short skit, and my friends and I came up with the "House of Horrors" game show. (The teacher's last name was House) House of Horrors was a Q&A game, and Mr. House was the contestant (played by a student of course). He was asked interesting questions like "How hard must one be punched in the stomach to induce vomiting?" and "How many hits does it take to break kneecaps with a baseball bat?". When the contestant answered incorrectly, and he did, a demonstration of the correct technique was applied swiftly and with much vigour.

Other than that, I have no idea why we were failed that quarter. ;-) Lucky me, I had him again for English 10.

It was the only time I ever failed a class during my K-12 schooling. In 2006, it's hardly surprising that things like IM icons and web sites would be used as an outlet by angry teenagers. Grade 9 was the worst year for me, and I've heard the same from so many kids since.