Is 'sin' an acceptable HS assignment subject? Opinions requested.

[Captain Colostomy]

A quick back story, that may or may not contribute to my issue at hand...my family moved to North Carolina over the summer, which meant new schools for the snot lickers. My 16 year old, Jack, was assigned to a district school per residential zoning. Jack is well above average, but the school wasn't. We told him that if they gave him fluff classes, or if he hated it, we would transfer him to a 'magnet' school. (Magnet schools are high performing college prep schools, in essence.) Well, he hated it. Luckily, the missus had a free moment and had him transferred last Tuesday. That following Friday, a student at the initial school shot a kid during a fire drill.

So much for quick.

The main point-

Now that he is in a magnet school, with strong AP(honors) classes, an assignment has me a bit ruffled. An English class paper is asking him to point out a 'sin', define it, and speak on it's implications...both on the sinner and on society at large. Furthermore, a second paper is to be written as a plea to our city council to address said sin.
. Now, my hackles are up because of the usage of that word, but to fair, there are complications that may make me just a shit stirrer here. For one, this is based on a reading of The Scarlet Letter. As an extension of a literary work, an assignment...college level...may not be damnable like I think. Also, the teacher mentions explaining in any dissertation why the prevailing attitudes towards sin should change. I'm guessing she is attempting a sympathetic stand here between the character of Hester Prynne and real victims?

I'm on a fence here. I'm not willing to let religion just back door itself unopposed into the classroom, yet a bull headed charge of trampled rights doesn't feel right, either. My son doesn't recognize the term 'sin', so my cautious advice to myself is to to suggest the teacher define sin in secular terms...possibly even have her list off examples. Do y'all have further suggestions for me to entertain, or something else to contemplate?

Thanks!


Oh....the reason for the back story? My wife doesn't want me 'rocking the boat'. New student, new school, blah blah. Also, it seems the students from that first 'gun friendly' campus may be looking to jump ship...and she's worried they may have some sway in priority. She, nor I, wants Jack sent back to that shit hole.

(Pardon any errors...my vision is waaaay off ATM.)

[Esquilax]

I'm not so sure this is really a problem. I mean, for one, there's no religion specifically mentioned; sin is kind of a loaded term, granted, but it could be broadly defined as something that goes against the mores of any religion, or even just society itself. It's entirely possible that the teacher would define it more narrowly, and that'd get my hackles up too, but at the moment it doesn't seem crazy bad, just maybe ill advised in its language.

More importantly, is there any pressure being put on your son in terms of the viewpoint he should espouse regarding whatever sin he opts to discuss? Because if not, there's nothing stopping him from going entirely negative, pointing out how ridiculous religious sin is, and really ripping into the concept. Hell, it's what I did all through my high school english classes, never hiding the fact that I often hated the reading material and some of the concepts in the assignments, and I was a straight A student all year. I think I even ended one essay by quoting the Mighty Boosh.

I dunno how it is wherever you are, though; my teachers appreciated honesty, so long as it was presented in a clear and interesting way. For all I know, your son could run the risk of being marked down for rocking the boat... but he'll have a hell of a time in the process, though.

[Crossless2.0]

More importantly, is there any pressure being put on your son in terms of the viewpoint he should espouse regarding whatever sin he opts to discuss? Because if not, there's nothing stopping him from going entirely negative, pointing out how ridiculous religious sin is, and really ripping into the concept.

I agree that this would be an interesting twist on the assignment and may result in a good grade if the teacher awards points for honesty and thinking outside the box. However, what is he to do about the second assignment? I doubt that a plea to the city council to recognize the absurdity of this or that sin, or sin in general, will pass muster.

[Faith No More]

If the teacher is leaving the definition of 'sin' open-ended like that, it could be interpreted as any affront to your sensibilities. That allows your son some wiggle room and will let him proceed without being constrained by religious implications. For instance, I think it is a 'sin' that people walk around thinking that an all-powerful being is watching over their every move trying to ensure they don't engage in trivial activities like masturbation.

It's fun to exploit loopholes in teacher assignments, and they tend to appreciate out-of-the-box thinking. I say have your son do his best to turn the tables on the apparent implications of the assignment.

[pineapplebunnybounce]

More importantly, is there any pressure being put on your son in terms of the viewpoint he should espouse regarding whatever sin he opts to discuss? Because if not, there's nothing stopping him from going entirely negative, pointing out how ridiculous religious sin is, and really ripping into the concept.

I agree that this would be an interesting twist on the assignment and may result in a good grade if the teacher awards points for honesty and thinking outside the box. However, what is he to do about the second assignment? I doubt that a plea to the city council to recognize the absurdity of this or that sin, or sin in general, will pass muster.

My thoughts as well. My first idea was to go about the assignment as Esquilax suggested, but the 2nd one is a little harder. Maybe go for something like gay marriage and how the only real argument against it is biblical and therefore absurd (what is the current political state of gay marriage in your city?)?

In any case, I don't think you should storm the school, yet. Pick your battles, this isn't exactly forcing religion down people's throat. It can be treated as looking at religion's effect on society.

[Captain Colostomy]

Thanks to everyone above.

Yeah...I'm just going to keep a loose eye on how this progresses. My boy isn't one to pander to the audience, so I'm curious how he plays this hand. I agree twisting this assignment on it's ear would be fun, but I can't write it for him, so time will tell.

FWIW, I have had nothing but bad luck as a student personally when locking horns with professors...my experience seems to indicate educators have no respect for outside the box thinking. As this is a High School project, maybe the teachers aren't so full of themselves. This may be interesting.

[Faith No More]

I found that most of my high school teachers applauded out-of-the-box thinking, especially the English teachers. They get tired of dealing with the mindless drones that are simply trying to please the teacher without putting any real thought into it. They have to go home and read bland assignment after bland assignment, and it pleases them to read one that actually put some sincere effort into the project, instead of the student just regurgitating what they think the teacher wants to hear.

[Chas]

You could suggest that your son lead the paper off with his working definition of 'sin'. Have him define it in secular terms.

[Anomalocaris]

I think sin, provided it is the right sin, is a perfectly acceptable HS assignment.

I remember when I was in 9th grade I had fervent hopes that Miss McDonna, the student math teacher, would make "adultry" my High School sin assingment.

[Angrboda]

It's fun to exploit loopholes in teacher assignments, and they tend to appreciate out-of-the-box thinking.

Few of my teachers appreciated my "thinking outside the box." Granted, my thinking tended to be not only "outside the box," but also, "out of this world," "outside this solar system," and even "out of this universe," but still.

I remember in the fifth grade, we were given one of those 'feel-good' assignments to write a brief sentence or two on what we wanted as goals for our life or some such. It was one of those questions that they don't actually grade, the student writes, "firefighter," "policeman," or "mommy," and everybody gets an easy 'A'. Well, I had been reading up on the science of gerontology and the study of aging, and much of the popular accounts were riddled with hopeful ideas such as doubling or tripling the human lifespan within our lifetime, so I figured that if it was possible that I lived to be 300, by the time I hit my third century, they'd have extended it to a thousand, and by the time I reached a thousand years, to ten thousand, and so on, and by extension I might never face death. So I wrote that my goal was to live forever. The teacher gave me a 'D'.