Apparently a parent at Woodland Middle School in Henry County, GA was not too excited about T.I. appearing at his daughter’s school as a surprise guest for an anti-bullying assembly. The parent was so upset that he decided to write a letter to the principal of the school, expressing his anger.  He stated that he would have never let his 12 year old daughter attend if he would have known.  T.I. was there fulfilling his community service obligations last month.

“The first e-mail I sent to him was to ask that from now on we have some kind of parental input whether or not a speaker is appropriate. If I don’t want my child to be there, just give me the right to opt them out,” Myers said.

Myers also wrote in the e-mail, “How about next time, let him mow the grass or pick up the trash around the school grounds? If the kids see that they might understand that what he did was wrong.”

The principal had a very interesting response…

Principal Oatts replied, “I thought about asking a guy who snorted cocaine and got arrested for DUI when he was 30 to come and speak to our kids, but President George W. Bush was not available.” Oatts also when on to explain  that even the president has made mistakes when he was young and T.I.’s message was ‘to take their education seriously, put forth their best effort, pursue their dreams and not engage in bullying.”

I think that the parent had a right to be concerned but I think that he might have taken it a bit too far. I love the principal’s response though…I couldn’t have said it better myself.