Teacher resigns over Eminem school ban

The school was concerned about Eminem projects

A teacher in Iowa has resigned after being reprimanded for allowing children to carry out a school project on rap star Eminem.

Students at Tipton Community School were asked to research a particular musical group and several chose Eminem as their subject.

The school became concerned that children aged 11 to 12 were visiting "inappropriate" websites to find out information on the artist.

Officials told sixth-grade teacher Cassie Johnson, 24, to cancel the project after complaints from parents.

Elementary school principal Richard Grimoskas said: "It was discussed here and decided the projects should not continue.

"But the teacher decided to go ahead and finish the projects despite being told not to do so.

"The principal decided that he would put a letter of reprimand on the teacher's file, and when being told of this, the teacher said: 'Well, if you are going to do that, I quit'."

The school accepted the resignation.

Mixed feelings

The school reported one formal complaint about the project, concerned with obscene language found on websites.

Mr Grimoskas said: "There are mixed feelings here.

"There's a growing concern about children getting into sites that are not appropriate for them but there's the other side of the coin which defends rights to information and that type of thing."