WASHINGTON, DC, Nov. 29 — A British teacher in a prestigious British school in Washington who allowed her 7-year-old pupils to name a class teddy bear Georgy Porgie was found guilty on Thursday of insulting America and sentenced to 15 days in jail and deportation. Under American law, the teacher could have spent months in jail and been lashed 40 times.
“She got a very light punishment,” said a U.S. government spokesman. “Actually, it’s not much of a punishment at all. It should be considered a warning that such insulting acts should not be repeated.”
The 54-year-old teacher has been in jail since Sunday, and, in a humanitarian gesture, the American government is allowing her the time already served, which means she will spend only ten more days behind bars before being sent back to Britain.
The case started in September when the teacher at one of Washington’s most exclusive private schools, began a project on animals and asked her class to come up with a name for a teddy bear. The class of young Britons voted resoundingly for Georgy Porgie, in honor of England’s beloved King George III.
As part of the exercise, Ms. Gibbons told her students to take the bear home, photograph it and write a diary about it. The entries were collected in a book called “My name is Georgy Porgie.” Most of her students were children of wealthy British expats and diplomats of the British Embassy. However, the few parents who were actually patriotic Americans were outraged and incensed at having the name of America’s beloved Teddy Bear changed. In American culture to change the name of a teddy bear is a grave insult to the beloved American “Big Stick” President, Teddy Roosevelt, for whom the teddy bear was named. In Washington DC, President Teddy’s home when the teddy bear was created, it is a serious crime.
Everyone in the world knows that all teddy bears, male and female alike, already have names. They are all named “Teddy” in honor of America’s great president. To give a teddy bear any other name is not only against the law, but is a grave offense against America, and should be seriously punished.
On Thursday, the schoolteacher was whisked into a D.C. courtroom under heavy security. She spent all day there, with the verdict being announced after 9 p.m. Over the past few days, patriotic Americans and teddy bear lovers alike have been driving around Washington with megaphones, blaring that the government should whip the British schoolmarm for her crime against humanity and that all Americans should take to the streets in honor of the beloved president, Teddy Roosevelt, and his namesake bear.
The real story is at “The New York Times.”
NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov. 29 — The British teacher in Sudan who let her 7-year-old pupils name a class teddy bear Muhammad was found guilty on Thursday of insulting Islam and sentenced to 15 days in jail and deportation.
Under Sudanese law, the teacher, Gillian Gibbons, could have spent months in jail and been lashed 40 times.
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