Terror attack assignment lands teacher in hot water

The terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers in New York in 2001 still resonate strongly, almost a decade on. File photo

PERTH - A West Australian high school teacher has sparked controversy after setting her students an assignment to plan a terrorist attack to kill as many innocent people as possible.

The society and environment teacher at the Kalgoorlie-Boulder Community High School asked Year 10 students to pretend they were a terrorist planning a chemical or biological attack on "an unsuspecting Australian community".

"Your goal is to kill the MOST innocent civilians in order to get your message across," the assignment read.

The students had to explain their choice of victims and decide the best time and place to release their weapon.

The assignment was withdrawn and the teacher was counselled when a complaint was made to the school after one 15-year-old student refused to do it, saying she was horrified and disgusted.

The issue ran hot on talkback radio in Perth yesterday with one caller saying he had a son fighting in Afghanistan who he thought would not appreciate the assignment.

Another caller told Fairfax Radio the teacher should be jailed.

But other callers were more supportive of the teacher, saying she was trying to be innovative and the issue had been blown out of proportion.

Principal Terry Martino said he had the task withdrawn as soon as he was aware of its content and he had talked to the teacher.

The teacher was relatively inexperienced and had made a "well-intentioned but misguided attempt to engage the students", he told the West Australian newspaper.

"This is one mistake by a hard-working, keen young teacher who is highly regarded by staff, students and community," Martino said.

Education Minister Liz Constable said she was pleased Martino acted quickly.

"It was certainly an inappropriate method of exploring the issue of conflict and had the potential to offend and disturb parents and impressionable students," she said.

"Schools take the education and teaching of these issues very seriously but this must be done in an appropriate way."

State School Teachers Union president Anne Gisborne said Martino had taken the "appropriate" action under the circumstances.

Gisborne said the objectives of the assignment could have been achieved in a more sensitive manner.

- AAP