A high school teacher in Kentucky assigned his students to watch one of three presidential debates between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. The students were supposed to discuss the moderation, primary issues discussed, and candidates’ performance.
Halfway through Sunday night’s tirade of insults and accusations, he realized he made a terrible mistake.
Trent Ashcroft, who teaches history, government, and economics, tweeted an apology to his students.
I formally apologize for assigning the debate as homework for my CP Govt students. I should have known better. We'll discuss on Wednesday.
— Trent Ashcraft (@AshcraftSpeaks) October 10, 2016
One of his students, Jake, took his own screenshot and shared the image on Twitter, where it was retweeted nearly 3,000 times.
“It was mostly as a joke, but there was a lot of truth to it,” Ashcraft told New York magazine. “I’ve always had students watch debates for president, senator, governor, et cetera, because they are wonderful learning experiences. There was very little educational about tonight’s display. Rather than learning about important issues, students got to see a man who wants to be president behave in a fashion that would have had him sent to the principal’s office.”
At least there was a teachable lesson:
Kids, be careful what you tweet. You may end up being interviewed by NY Magazine at 1:00 AM like I was last night. https://t.co/Klm8b4KNPp
— Trent Ashcraft (@AshcraftSpeaks) October 10, 2016
H/T New York magazine