Ted Bundy Homework Assignment Not 'Humorous,' Says Parent, It's 'Creepy'

By Brittney R. Villalva, Christian Post Reporter Friday, May 03, 2013

A substitute teacher's attempt to make math more interesting has been met with criticism from parents who say they are "creeped out" by one of his assignments.

"Serial killer Ted Bundy has a 20-foot ladder leaning against his favorite tree. The ladder makes a 64-degree angle with the ground. What distance up the tree does the ladder reach?" question number four on a math exam read.

The exam was developed by a substitute teacher in a Tulsa, Oklahoma high school, who thought that asking strange questions would add a level of interest for his students. But it is not the student's interest that he has caught. Instead, parents have raised questions about the sub, stating that his math handout was "creepy" and perhaps even suggestive of his personal hobbies.

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"I don't know if he's trying to be humorous or if maybe that's some of his personal interests," one parent, Christina Mattaliano, told local station KFOR.

The sub was hired by Nathan Hale High School but following complaints about his handout, he has been asked not to return.

A second question on the handout read: "Creepy John watches his neighbors with a telescope. Their apartment is 12ft from the ground. John's is 36 ft. If the angle of depression from John's apartment is 47 degrees, how far apart are the two apartment buildings?"

But according to Mattaliano, it's the substitute who's the "creep."

"The first thing that popped into my mind was just it's creepy," said Mattaliano. "He could have just got to the same root of the problem with just a simple name. It didn't need the description about the serial killer."

Mattaliano's son, a tenth grader, was not aware who Ted Bundy was and had little concern over the assignment his mother said. The school's principle said the teacher was attempting to keeping things interesting with "colorful" questions.