Who is to blame for this mistake?

[sk!mom]

It's a shame that you couldn't find value in the creative aspect. I like that my kids have a well-rounded education, which includes academic assignments incorporating music, art, video, acting, and yes, even "fashion."

As a parent (one in middle and one in high) and a teacher (older elementary aged students), I believe that it is important for teachers to allow for both the academic stars to shine as well as the creative stars. It also exposes kids to areas that they may not have tried before, and it calls on different skills that they may not use in writing a report, often skills that are more applicable to "real" life than writing 2-page essays.

As kids get older and the projects get more in-depth, we've seen most teachers offer choices, so kids can not only learn the material but present it in a way that appeals to them. For example, for one assignment in sixth grade on the ancient Egyptians, my son had about ten different topics to choose from, and students had to write a report and do a "creative" piece. They could also design, with their teacher's approval, their own project, which my son did. He chose to research ancient burial practices, and he created a stop-motion animation movie to demonstrate the mummification process. He's now heavily involved with his high school's television station and interested in studying film / TV in college.

I guess my point is that, as a parent, it's our job to help our kids find something of value in their assignments. Sometimes it's really hard - ask me how I felt about DD's weekly word search spelling assignments in third grade! But for those larger projects, I guess I'm a glass-half-full type of person and can usually find something to appreciate.

As a matter of fact my DD17 is extremely creative. She has studied classical ballet since age 7. In high school she has taken several different art classes as electives. I have several pieces hanging in my home from last year's drawing class and have added many pieces this year from ceramics class. Next year, she will be studying Fashion Design in college. I embrace creativity. What I dislike is lame projects that require a parent to spend money so that a child can somehow demonstrate understanding of a literary work or historical period.

 

[Alsobrook]

For such a glaring and hysterical mistake who do you blame? The parents... who obviously had to provide the clothing, the kids for doing lazy research...or the teacher for not overseeing the research properly? I literally would mortified if I sent my 11 year old to school in such incorrect attire. I can't imagine blaming the teacher.

This is one of the most awesome things I've ever read. I blame no one because in comedy, there is no blame. I would have laughed until I cried.