To instruct students on the artistic technique of chiaroscuro, a Renaissance innovation that contrasts dark colors with intense whites, a typical teacher might display Baglione's Sacred Love versus Profane Love or Rembrandt's St. Peter in Prison. But at Adwick Washington Infant School in South Yorkshire, England, one teacher recently chose the more hands-on method of photocopying her student's head. While most of the tots participating in this "light and dark experiment" brought home images of their little white hands against a black background, the parents of five-year-old Luke Wilson received a xerox with some extra shades of gray--their son's face, with the hand of his teacher on top of it. Now Luke is suffering from serious eye irritation; doctors at Doncaster Royal Infirmary compared his symptoms to those commonly associated with "arc eye," or "welder's flash," which result from exposure to intense ultraviolet light. Luke's parents have not pressed charges. They seem more confused than anything else. It's been said many times: Hands-on learning is not a victimless crime.
"Teacher 'put boy's head in photocopier'," by Paul Stokes, Telegraph, January 26, 2007
