THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A German chemistry teacher is under police investigation for allegedly constructing pipe bombs in class and detonating them in front of pupils by using sparklers.
The 39-year-old teacher, who has not been named, apparently taught the children how to make gunpowder and load it into the metal pipes about the size of a one-litre bottle. The bombs were then set off at a nearby heath by using sparklers for detonators, with the resulting explosion so powerful that the pupils felt the shock wave in their stomachs.
According to a report in the German newspaper Lu[e]becker Nachrichten, the teacher constructed bombs for pupils from 2009 to 2011 at a Waldorf school in Lubeck. Waldorf schools, based on the teachings of Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner, take an unorthodox approach to education, stressing creativity and giving teachers considerable leeway in what they teach.
"No syllabus in the world contains something like this," the mother of one of the students said. » | Matthew Day | Thursday, January 12, 2012
