School fires Florida teacher for asking student to write their obituaries

The high school students who filed into psychology teacher Jeffrey Keene’s first-period class on Tuesday were greeted with a striking assignment: “TODAY WAS YOUR ‘LAST DAY’ ALIVE,” Keene’s instructions read in capital letters. “WRITE YOUR OWN OBITUARY.”

The prompt was one of several thoughts on school shootings that Keene gave his 10th, 11th, and 12th-grade students to write. In an interview with The Washington Post, Keene said that the recent school shooting in Nashville and his school's plans to hold an active-shooter practice that day had been on his mind that morning.

“There are mass shootings everywhere, unfortunately,” Keene said. “So being the psychology teacher, I said, ‘I can tie this into a lesson plan.’”

The lesson, which Keene said he came up with that morning, was intended to inspire his kids in Orange County, Florida, to express their opinions on the pervasiveness of gun violence in American classrooms.

Other questions asked students to write “what kind of ‘positive actions’” they could take to prevent mass shootings and how mass shootings “affected you as a person.” A note at the end of the assignment said it was “in no way intended to ‘upset/et al’ you!”

Keene was let go later that day. The following period, he was approached by a school official who informed him that his assignment had led several kids to complain to their counsellors. He was told to stop instructing his lesson on school shootings. Keene claimed that the school administration asked him to quit or be fired at the conclusion of the day. Keene claimed he chose not to step down because he saw no wrongdoing on his part.

Keene, a probationary employee at Dr. Phillips High School, was fired as a result of assigning an "inappropriate assignment about school violence," according to Orange County Public Schools.

The lecture, according to Keene, who started working as a teacher at Dr. Phillips in January, was in line with his general teaching style of urging his pupils to "think for themselves" and "find a good answer" to problems. He claimed that in past courses, encouraging students to write reflections about their use of social media had been successful, and he believed the same method would be appropriate for his lesson plan on school shootings.

“I said, ‘How can we fix this situation? How is it affecting you or isn’t affecting you?’” Keene said. “And that’s how I approached it. And I’m thinking to myself, ‘How in the world could that upset 16-, 17-, 18-year-old students?’”

Keene argued that his high school students should have been prepared to discuss the essay topics he presented, which he introduced at the top of the assignment by writing, “TODAY... WE HAVE AN ‘ACTIVE SHOOTER’ ON OUR CAMPUS.” 

He claimed that he talked to his students about the impending active-shooter simulation and tested them on what to do in such a scenario before giving the prompts.

Keene supported his assignment's phrasing as well. He claimed that after presenting his students with the essay topics, some of them had questions. He responded by clearing up their confusion by informing them that the assignment to write their own obituaries was meant to inspire them to reflect on their lives and accomplishments.

“It can be taken out of context, if you will,” Keene told The Post. “... I didn’t just say, ‘You’re going to die, so write your obituary, you’re going to die from an active shooter.’”

Only one student, according to Keene, complained about the assignment in his first period. But, Keene claimed that the administrator who pulled him aside the following period informed him that his assignment had angered some pupils. Keene claimed that he offered his apologies and changed his lesson plan for the remainder of the day. Keene claimed he was called to the principal's office toward the conclusion of the school day and given his options before Dr. Phillips High School conducted a brief active-shooter drill.

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