Is this ok for a teacher to ask?

is it right for a high school teacher to ask his class how much plastic explosive could fit into a tennis shoe. It came up at a really random time and was not even related to the topic which we were talking about at that time? What do you guys think?

Why did he bring it up, and for what purpose?

[Edited on 30-5-2003 by Thorfinn Skullsplitter]

It really would depend on the context: from the bare bones here it's hard to see how it would be a disciplinary offence unless the head/principal had issued instructions to the contrary.
I'm speaking in a professional/conditions of service context, of course, not a moral one. "Acceptable" might be more appropriate than "right" here.

Teacher of what? What was the class?

Look at it this way. My friends old history teacher said a lot worse than that. She was crazy and said she used to be a prostitue in france. She also said she was cleopatra.

My history teacher called one of the girls in my class a girl from the bible who was a slut. I do not remember the name from the bible.

So i do not think you have any thing to worry about. You must have a problem with him saying it thouhg, but i would just forget about it. Think of all the stupid and crazy things people say throught the day.

What size tennis shoe?

Do you know the anser though????? Simple volumes is all it is.

I must admit I was expecting something a little more riskey(sp).

Simple volumes yes, but what damage can be done?

Suppose you put some explosives in a US-14 size tennis shoe and the put a US-14 size foot in it and began walking somewhere (airport, shopping centre, wherever).

(a) The volume (in cubic inches or ccs) of plastic explosives can be calculated easily;

BUT

(b) The explosive potential of said stuff would only be calculable by those who have an interest in such potential.

I don't think teachers should be posing stupid questions linked to recent terrorism publicity, be they maths teachers, physics teachers, scripture teachers or any other kind. What could possible be gained, other than troubling children?

Utter paranoia from the politically correct straightlaced fear mongers.

What are you afraid of? that the teacher has activated in you or another student the subconscious desire to try it out? Or that it is wrong to even think of such things, or that it is behaviourally abnormal to be interested in it?

Personally I too wondered about the shoe bomber and how effecive the explosive would be considering how small the amount was.

Report him at once he was obviously a subversive actively recruiting for a terrorist cell and trying to brainwash the children.

it's goofy, probably a little strange, but not really inappropriate. I've definitely heard weirder from teachers. my junior year of high school, one of the teachers managed to convince all of her classes (all of which were freshman classes) that the world was going to end at 2:38pm that day, just after the last class let out. at the end of the day we saw all these poor freshman running around and calling their parents and crying that the world was going to end. quite a scene. oh well. one of my many strange and random stories from my days at an all-girls Catholic high school

Wow, your teachers tame. One yelled at a girl because she was wearing clothes a french whore wouldn't wear. After several slut, whore, corner call, so forth, the teacher sent her to Mr. Pedophile(the dean of students) and she had to change.

Or one yelled at me for a George Carlin report I made. Topic was problems America faces, and needed sources. So I used George Carlin as all of them. Nine pages of bs, my greatest masterpiece!