Teachers give 'Most Likely to Become a Terrorist' award to 13-year-old girl

[jdbond592]

Funny 10 years ago. In current climate, especially in Texas, not remotely funny. This kid could get seriously hurt just over rumors.

[Dr Assbandit]

you clearly only like a select branch of dark humor, which is fine, but this is still funny.

No, I'm just mature enough to realize that even the darkest of humor has a time, place, and audience
¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

[De Lupe]

It's not a joke though. That's the fucking point. Just because they call it a joke doesn't make it so.

Yes. It WAS A JOKE. A MOCK award given at a MOCK ceremony MOCKING real ceremonies. What part of that is not a joke? The only people getting upset over this non-issue are the soccer moms (and those who share that viewpoint) who need their little Timmy and Samantha to feel important and special and relevant every second of their lives. We are slowly breeding an entire generation of kids who CAN"T TAKE A GODDAMN FUCKING JOKE!

I had a teacher who openly mocked all of his students for every aspect of their lives. And not just the quiet kids in the back either. He joked about the short cheerleader who compensated by wearing 5 inch heels. He joked about the basketball star who looked like he should have graduated three years earlier. He joked about how I read a dozen books a week. He targeted anyone for any reason. And here's the thing, everyone loved him. He was one of my favorite teachers. No one was bullied, no one was belittled, no one was hurt by him. Then, a few years after I graduated, I found out that he'd been fired for doing exactly what he'd always done; poke fun of the students in his class. Turns out, some soccer mom with a stick so far up her ass you could see it through her mouth got angry over his jokes and raised hell. He didn't do anything wrong, he didn't do anything to deserve termination, he was a nice man who loved his students and enjoyed being with them...but this one woman made it her life goal to get him fired because his words were "mean to the kids."

I am a Southern geek...and I laugh at jokes about Southern people and I laugh at jokes about geeks. Jokes aren't hurtful or mean unless you allow them to be.

And, before someone gets their social movement panties in a knot, I'm not pushing some agenda here. I have no loyalties to any sides. I'm not left wing, or right wing, or conservative, or liberal, or any of those other special little clubs that make you feel important (when in reality, you're just a nobody. Same as me, same as that person you have a crush on, and the same as that celebrity you admire.) I'm just a guy who's tired of seeing people with no ill-intentions being punished because someone else can't take an innocent joke.

[Okacz]

Here's the deal with dark and crude humor: it's like a russian roulette. Most of the time you get away with it, and it can be fun to play, but there's quite a chance you will go too far and get yourself fired instead. With no one to blame but yourself for taking the risk.

Still, this whole situation needs some context. This whole "mock award ceremony" sounds like a risky business, but "Most likely to become a terrorist" award must be tied to something. I don't know, perhaps the girl threw a few firecrackers in school, or caused a fire alarm by mistake, and the "title" was a way to laugh it off. Perhaps it would be a bit more funny if it didn't happen the day after over 20 people died due to a terrorist attack on a concert by an artist quite popular in the "13 years old" group.

[Deleted]

this story reached the dutch national news..

Imagine the holy monumental shitstorm that would've happened if she were from the middle-east.


Anyway, a bad joke is bad.. clearly not meant seriously - imo teacher should get a slap on the wrist and the girl should get a most annoying student to the teacher award.

[apeiron1234]

Oh yeah I read about this today while drinking my morning cup of coffee and nibbling on my blueberry scone.

[Drungan]

so lets say everyone in the class got one like this with random awards ...

most likely to be:

Terrorist
pedo
pyro
suicidal
shoplifter
heart patient
homeless

and so on

naah no still not funny

[namecraft]

wow that's one hell of a funny joke

[GreenJesus]

In a Job interview later on she can say she was given this reward. Quite a high honor depending on the countries.

[truckboattruck]

In a Job interview later on she can say she was given this reward. Quite a high honor depending on the countries.

i wanna be mostly likely to collude with the russians

[TEHPALLYTANK]

I thoroughly disagree with that. Teachers fearing to do mistakes are teachers who sit behind their desks and do a textbook reading with no interaction.

This isn't a simple mistake, it shows a significant lack of judgement. Being fired for a lack of good judgement is completely reasonable in most jobs.

[Okacz]

Pretty much the question I'm waiting for some of the defenders here to answer. What sort of context could exist for this to be appropriate, let alone funny? What could this girl have possibly done to receive such an award? I sort of doubt it was anything you described since it states she's never had any discipline issues. I'm wondering of these people would still be defending it if the ONLY reason she given this "joke" award was because of her skin color or her religion.

Who am I kidding, of course they would still defend it.

If it's her skin color or religion that caused them to give this award, fuck them with barb wire obviously. However, I believe it could be something related to an anecdote when she did something weird, and people had some laugh about it. When it comes to the discipline part, remember that the "she never had any problem with discipline" part came from her mom.

[Dangg]

If it's her skin color or religion that caused them to give this award, fuck them with barb wire obviously.

The joke would actually make at least a tiny bit of sense then though.

[Deleted]

Contrary to popular belief, uttering the phrase "it's a joke" does not automatically absolve someone of blame.

Contrary to popular belif, being offended does not automatically mean you are superior in any given situation.

- - - Updated - - -

possibilities:
-this leaves a paper trail such as being in the news. 10 years from now an employer googles your name, a article mentioning the word terrorist pops up. better hope they read it carefully and not discard your application right away.
-enough keywords in there that a automated surveillance system might tag you incorrectly, which realistically could lead to inconveniences at airports and the like.
-it catches on as a nickname/bullying thing.

sure it's a joke but honestly terrorism is something you shouldn't joke about in this way in todays society. cops can show up on your door if you google a certain combination of things, imagine what "teacher thinks girl might become terrorist" can do.

So if this student were to get into this position at a job interview. Then the news agencies are 100% to blame.
it's a joke. Are all americans really like this, "you can't joke about certain things"

If we cant joke, and make fun of terrorists, that creates even more fear.

If we fear them more, they win.

[TEHPALLYTANK]

So if this student were to get into this position at a job interview. Then the news agencies are 100% to blame.
it's a joke. Are all americans really like this, "you can't joke about certain things"

If we cant joke, and make fun of terrorists, that creates even more fear.

If we fear them more, they win.

This wasn't making fun of terrorists, it was a teacher making fun of a 13-year old girl in a public setting. I don't know about you, but I find that behavior to be disgraceful and highly unprofessional.

[Kyr]

I'd like to know the context of the joke. what other "awards" were handed out? if she was singled out for something like this then that's one thing. but if every kid got something similarly inappropriate then it was just a joke that maybe pushed the line a little far.

[Sunseeker]

To the "It's a joke" people: in this day and age, handing a brown person a card saying they're likely to become a terrorist isn't funny.

[Anjerith]

To the "It's a joke" people: in this day and age, handing a brown person a card saying they're likely to become a terrorist isn't funny.

Yes it is. Grow some skin thicker than a piece of tissue paper.

[l33t]

To be honest, if I had such kind of award, I'd put that in a frame and hang it on a wall in my office.

[Radaney]

The fact she thought it was funny is funny to me.

The actual thing not so much.

Not my sort of humour personally, not because it's crass and slightly offensive but I just don't find it that funny.