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Punishment fits the punch line: Teachers suspended for dirty jokes

Oakwood Collegiate Institute. Courtesy of the Toronto District School Board

There seems to be an absence of judgment and common sense coming out of some teachers these days.

Late last month, for example, teachers in Windsor, Ont., staged a prank in which they convinced students they were going on a field trip to Disney World. They didn’t bother delivering the punch line until Monday, after the students had an entire weekend to get excited about the trip.

Hardy har har. Seems like those teachers could teach a course in comedic timing. Good thing for them, a Toronto school might soon be looking for someone to teach just such a class.

The Toronto Star reports that a drama teacher at Oakwood Collegiate Institute is being reprimanded after distributing violent and sexist jokes as part of a class assignment.

[ Related: Graphic sexual education flipbook angers B.C. mom ]

It is unclear what the assignment was exactly, but it involved a sheet of jokes about blondes, dead babies, and other one-liners of questionable taste.

The kinds of jokes one might expect from teenagers, not their teachers.

One student told the newspaper the lesson was about comedic timing, and that it wasn't a new lesson at all.

The drama teacher, Jeff Jones, was placed on home assignment, basically a paid suspension, as the school board investigates.

Here's the thing, we are all a little too over sensitive about what students are subjected to at school. Sorry parents, they are teenagers. They've been around long enough to hear everything and see everything.

[ More Brew: Toronto school board memo notes need for male teachers ]

That said, they shouldn't be hearing garbage from teachers. Educators should be available to give students the harsh lessons, engage them in difficult debates, but that edge should be saved for valuable moments.

Not sexist or off-colour juvenile jokes. The kids likely have heard them all, but that doesn't make it appropriate for a class project. Even one about comedic timing.