There is something very, very wrong about this particular tale.
Schoolboy Peer Larson has made himself so popular with his classmates at Whitnall High School that some of them are wearing T-shirts bearing his picture.
The teenager has taken a step that is the stuff of childish fantasies - he's taking his maths teacher to court to try to stop him dishing out too much homework. In the latest example of what critics say is an out-of-control 'compensation culture' in the United States, Larson claims his summer holidays were ruined by too much calculus.
The 17-year-old from Greenfield, Wisconsin, is suing both his advance calculus teacher, Aaron Bieniek, and his school. 'There's not supposed to be any work when someone is on vacation,' he said. 'It should be my time to pursue whatever I like without having the school following me when it's not even the school year.'
The worry of three complicated maths projects hanging over him ruined his enjoyment of his 40-hour-a-week job as a summer camp counsellor last year. 'Not too many people were exactly happy with it. Nobody really likes to do homework, especially during the summer,' he said.
The lawsuit seeks to restrict homework to the regulated 180 days of the school year and has made Larson and his father, Bruce, minor celebrities in their hometown. 'Some of his classmates have pulled our picture off the internet and printed them on T-shirts that they're now wearing to school,' Bruce Larson said.
I see that this is one clear-cut case of inherited stupidity, as he's being egged on by his father. To read this story, one would think the school math teacher was the prime beneficiary of the homework being set, rather than the idiot taking him to court; talk about a sense of entitlement.
Not to worry... I'm sure Mr. Larson will make a fine caddy for someone in the years to come.
Posted by: Andrew Reeves | January 30, 2005 at 10:26 PM