School apologies over Manchester Arena bombing essay task

‘This is a disgrace,’ tweets one person

Hashem Abedi, 22, denies all charges (AFP via Getty)

A school in Yorkshire has apologised after setting homework that required children to imagine themselves as the parent of a victim of the Manchester Arena bombing.

The task, given to year eight pupils at Bridlington School as part of a personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE) class, was to write a response to the view that “all terrorists should be forgiven”.

But shortly after the homework was set – via the Showmyhomework app – parents began complaining on Twitter that it was “not acceptable”.

“This is homework set for 12 year old children by some f***ing joke of teacher at Bird secondary school in Bridlington,” wrote one person alongside a screengrab from of the assignment as listed on the app.

“This is a disgrace!” they added. “Shame on you.”

Another person concurred: “This teacher should no longer be employed in the teaching profession, for life!”

However, not everyone was outraged by the assignment, and pointed out that the teacher’s intentions might’ve been misunderstood.

“I’m confused,” tweeted one person. “I don’t see it as the teacher saying they should be forgiven, but to encourage the kids to say how they’d react IF this was put to them.”

Another argued that the homework could be “an opportunity to develop critical thinking”.

The Manchester bombing took place in May 2017, when Salman Abedi killed 22 people ater he detonated a bomb at an Ariana Grande concert. Abedi's brother, Hashem, was charged with murder, attempted murder of others who were injured, and conspiracy to cause an explosion. He is set to go on trial in January 2020.

In response to the backlash over the homework, Bridlington School has issued a statement on Twitter on behalf of the teacher who set it, Kate Parker Rendall.

“Firstly I would like to apologise for any upset that this piece of work may have caused," Rendall's statement begins.

"The essay was set as part of a personal, social, health and economic education lesson which was considering the consequences of crime and the aims of different punishments."

The teacher went on to explain how the assignment "a discussion in class about a newspaper report that the mother of one of the victims of the Manchester Arena attack had forgiven the bomber for killing her son".

The homework was intended to give students a chance to form their own opinions on hate and forgiveness in relation to that report.

Parker-Randall continued: “I would like to reassure parents, pupils and the community that the feelings aired on social media were totally unintentional consequences of setting this homework. However, I do understand that some people may find it difficult to understand why a school would ask students such a challenging question.

“It is important that students should be able to express their own thoughts and give reasons for their feelings. However, having reflected on the matter we would in hindsight have posed the homework question in a different way.”