‘Is God real?’: Public School research assignment causing controversy
By Braden Bates
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SKIATOOK, Oklahoma (KJRH) — Skiatook Public Schools is under fire after a parent posted a picture of one of her daughter’s assignments.
The research paper prompted students to answer, “is God real?”
Olivia Gray, who made the post, said, “I fear for the kids here who belong to a different faith.”
That post now has hundreds of shares and reactions from people in and out of Oklahoma.
She’s said the World History assignment was an overall disappointment.
“Being framed as a research paper for opinions and asking for opinions unless it’s single people out is just it’s all around a bad deal,” said Gray.
However, she said she wasn’t surprised to see this happen, especially after recent controversies.
Those controversies include State Superintendent Ryan Walters calling for Bibles in schools.
“I guess just because some things are happening, I didn’t know it was gonna happen this fast, and I didn’t know what would be that in your face. I thought it would be a little sneakier,” said Gray.
Sophomore Nettie Gray first brought the assignment to her parents on July 15.
She said it was confusing and worried what would happen if the teacher didn’t like the answer.
“Weird like if I didn’t give the answer, he wanted to hear. I’m like he might give me a lower grade which I know is kind of like he can’t really do that because of school stuff,” said Nettie.
Nettie said her friends in other World History classes with different teachers didn’t get the same assignment.
Her older sister graduated from Skiatook in 2015. She said the teacher’s assignment of the research paper was out of line.
“Like you go to the end of like the further down on the list you go when you get to, Is God real? Is Satan real? I don’t even know how I would’ve answered that at that age let alone try to cite that and find sources for a paper.
2 News received this statement from Skaitook Public Schools on Aug. 19:
Skiatook Public Schools became aware of the World History assignment in question through a social media post. Once administration reviewed the assignment, it was determined that the presentation of the material was not conducive to our instructional plan. Administration and staff will continue to collaborate on best practices to meet the Oklahoma Academic Standards. Skiatook Public Schools encourages parents concerned about any assignment to contact the site administrator.
“She won’t get assignments like this again. I won’t let her get assignments like this again,” said Gray.
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