--- description: The school canceled the assignment after families complained title: Utah Students Told to Create ISIS Propaganda for Class image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Education](/tag/education/) ## Education Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Utah Students Told to Create ISIS Propaganda for Class by [Victor Luckerson](/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 20, 2015 4:23 PM CUT by [Victor Luckerson](/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 20, 2015 4:23 PM CUT A Utah school has canceled an assignment that [tasked 9th-graders with creating a terrorist propaganda poster ](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/education/wp/2015/11/20/utah-school-realizes-it-shouldnt-ask-students-to-make-terrorist-propaganda-posters/ "undefined")as a way of learning about the recruitment methods of the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS). At Salem Junior High, in Salem, Utah, a teacher developed the assignment so that students would “understand how propaganda can be wrong and lead people incorrectly,” a school district spokesperson told the [Associated Press](http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/utah-school-apologizes-terrorism-poster-assignment-35314728 "undefined"). Multiple parents called the school to complain about the assignment. One voiced concerns that their child might end up on a federal watch list after looking up websites tied to terrorism on the Internet in order to complete the assignment. More than 60 students were given the assignment, which also included a worksheet listing “8 Reasons Young Muslims Join ISIS.” The teacher who gave the assignment won’t be disciplined, according to a school district official. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4122224/utah-school-isis-propaganda-terrorist/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4122224/utah-school-isis-propaganda-terrorist/"},"headline":"Utah Students Told to Create ISIS Propaganda for Class","datePublished":"2015-11-20T16:23:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T12:48:32.121Z","description":"The school canceled the assignment after families complained","url":"https://time.com/4122224/utah-school-isis-propaganda-terrorist/","keywords":["Education","Utah","Terrorism","ISIS","Schools","propaganda"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Victor Luckerson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/victor-luckerson/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/education/","name":"Education"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4122224/utah-school-isis-propaganda-terrorist/","name":"Utah Students Told to Create ISIS Propaganda for Class"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"What We Know So Far About the Paris Attackers","description":"What We Know About the Paris Attackers","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/UsrpFqeV/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-11-16T20:40:18.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/UsrpFqeV.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4122224/utah-school-isis-propaganda-terrorist/","duration":"PT2M47S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4122224/utah-school-isis-propaganda-terrorist/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```