It seems Lil Wayne lyrics can tarnish the record of even the best of teachers. A three day suspension has been deemed the appropriate punishment for a middle school teacher in a Tampa, Florida community after asking students to analyze Lil Wayne lyrics as homework. The eighth grade English teacher reportedly assigned students a reading assignment that included explicit lyrics from the album Tha Carter IV, released by Lil Wayne in 2011.
Lil Wayne is a popular rap artist known for his explicit lyrics. His YouTube video for “6 Foot 7 Foot” has gained more than 75 million views since early February, and this is a strong indicator of his popularity in the pop culture marketplace.
The Lil Wayne lyrics to “6 Foot 7 Foot” were presented to the class as a device to learn to identify literary devices. The class had already been exposed to classics from authors including Edgar Allen Poe and Shakespeare, but some students were having a hard time with a few literary devices, and so, the teacher decided to use more modern materials. Students were asked to underline examples of figurative language in the lyrics in an effort to get them to better understand devices such as pun, simile and metaphor.
Parents of the eighth grades students, including Vanessa Guzman, mother of one of the students at The Charter Schools of Boyton Beach, felt that presenting students with an assignment that included explicit Lil Wayne lyrics was crazy and inappropriate for school aged children. While some understood the motivation behind the assignment, they did not agree with the final decision made by this teacher. A local CBS affiliate in Tampa reported that parents were uncomfortable reading the Lil Wayne lyrics, and that is what prompted the school’s concerns and review of the teacher. In a statement regarding the assignment, the headmaster reported that the guidelines of the school are for teachers to use G-rated materials in the classroom and for take home assignments. Headmaster Wayne Owens told WPTV “the material did not meet school standards and was not approved. The teacher recognizes that it was totally inappropriate for a school assignment.” Before this assignment was given, the teacher’s record was unblemished.
While analyzing rap lyrics, including lyrics by artists such as Lil Wayne, is part of the curriculum for some college level classes, most agree that it is not appropriate for school aged children, and that is what ultimately led to the suspension of this teacher.