Mankato East High School is facing criticism after social media posts alleged that freshman students were asked to complete a disturbing “morality test.”
The test provides respondents with a series of scenarios and then asks them to rate each scenario on a scale of “not OK” to “OK.”
“Using both a condom and the pill, a brother and a sister decide that they want to sleep together — just once, to see what it would be like,” one prompt says.
“A man orders a custom-built sex doll designed to look just like his niece,” says another.
Other questions deal with students inflating condoms with their mouths during a sex-ed class, a woman getting drunk at a bar and “making out with two strangers at once,” people killing puppies “with a stone to the head” and eating dog meat, and a guy who cheats on his girlfriend frequently.
The quiz, which doesn’t says if answers are right or wrong, then uses the results to tell respondents if they are liberal, conservative or libertarian.
The school did not respond to an email seeking comment, but Mankato East High School Principal Akram Osman seemingly acknowledged the concerns in an internal email to parents and families.
“We are aware of and are investigating allegations of inappropriate classroom materials that have been used in an East High School classroom last week,” Osman said in a Sept. 15 email, according to a screenshot of the email posted online. “Our administration is committed to getting this concerning matter addressed and appropriate action will be taken at the conclusion of the investigation.”
Mankato East High School is taking heat for subjecting freshman to an ill conceived morality test, asking how they feel about three dozen strange situations in an effort to judge the child's morality and to tell them what political party they belong to. More offensive than the… pic.twitter.com/JtYEnE3pJX
— Jeremy Munson (@jeremymunson) September 16, 2023
An Ohio teacher was placed on leave in 2018 for assigning the same quiz to her English students. The Hilliard School District, where the teacher worked, reportedly said the quiz should “never have been given.”
The quiz was created by an organization called Individual Differences Research (IDR) Labs, whose website states that its content is not intended for children.
“The content on this website is not intended for children and is not published with the intention of appealing to children,” a privacy policy reads. “Parents should monitor their children’s online activity and prevent them from accessing sites that are not suitable for their level of maturity.”
A parent of a child at the school spoke at a Sept. 18 school board meeting. Brittany Rose explained to the board that she had concerns over certain materials being presented to minors.
“I suggest that there would be an opportunity to bring together the community and the board to discuss education and curriculum that’s being presented to our minors that are not accredited curriculum. And the use of quizzes that are actually designed for adults that are being presented to minor children,” Rose said.
She went on to explain that she’s asked for ways to get more involved as a parent of a student but “no one has any answers for me.”
Rose called the material in the quiz “vastly concerning.”
Hayley Feland
Hayley Feland previously worked as a journalist with The Minnesota Sun, The Wisconsin Daily Star, and The College Fix. She is a Minnesota native with a passion for politics and journalism.
