High school teacher 'refused to mark students' assignments because they mentioned guns'



A high school English teacher has refused to grade two students' papers because they mentioned guns.

Marshall Williams and Alex Wright, seniors at Denton High School in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, said the teacher, Dewey Christian, set an assignment to write a report about anything they wanted.

Williams referenced a trip he had taken to the Fort Worth gun show, while Wright recounted a hunting trip, but both said the papers did not describe shooting guns.

Gun lover: High school student Marshall Williams, pictured, has complained that his English teacher refused to mark his paper because it mentioned guns, even though it was not violent

Hobby: Williams said he was told that his paper about visiting the Fort Worth Gun Show would get a zero



' I said, "Me and my mum went to buy a gun" and as soon as he heard the word gun he told me to sit down,' Wright told My Fox Dallas-Fort Worth .

Both boys were told they would get a zero on the assignment because of the topic and were reprimanded in front of their peers, the news channel reported.

After Williams told his mother, Kimberly Williams, about what had happened, she went to the school to meet with the teacher, and recorded their interaction.

The footage apparently shows Christian explaining he refused to grade the papers because of concerns about the recent spate of shootings and violence in schools.

But she argued that her son's report contained no political references and that they had not previously been told which subjects they were allowed to write about.

Spat: Teacher Dewey Christian (left) explained that he did not want to trivialize gun violence in schools, but another student Alex Wright (right), said they were simply writing about enjoyable days out



'If it went against any district policy I would support it completely, but it doesn't,' she said. 'It's just his own moral beliefs trying to be put in his classroom and I disagree with that.'

Her son added: ' I feel like he has just stomped on our right to free speech. He told us we would not be allowed to express ourselves and didn't even consider what we had said.'

The Denton Independent School District said that the teacher has since accepted the paper.



'The teacher's intent was for guns not to be trivialized in any school situation because of recent events,' a statement said.

But Williams said he was not content with the apology he had been given.

Anger: Williams' mother, Kimberly Williams, said she was annoyed the teacher was preaching his own moral beliefs rather than following guidelines set by the school district

Scene: The high school said that Christian has now accepted the paper and apologised to the students

'To date I have not received an apology from him that I think is satisfactory,' he said. 'He told me that was sorry that we misunderstood him and what his intention was.'

A picture on Williams' Facebook shows him holding a gun.

'Today I held both the guns used in Aurora and at Sandy Hook Elementary,' he wrote in a message beneath the photo. 'Contrary to popular belief, everyone in my vicinity did not die. '

See below for video