Decision Soon in Lewd Movie Incident

UPDATE: Christopher Poston was terminated Wednesday. Read more here.

School leaders may soon decide the fate of a Wando High School teacher who showed a class of students scenes from a lewd, R-rated comedy movie.

Christopher Poston, a sociology teacher at the school, has been on leave since Feb. 15 when he admitted to administrators that he played a portion of the movie “Jackass Number 2” on a projection screen in a high-school Latin class.

"We are in the final stages of the internal investigation,” said Jason Sakran, school system spokesman. “During the investigation, Mr. Poston has been on paid administrative leave.”

Read more about the incident.

The movie, which was displayed for several minutes, showed a man placing his sock-covered genitalia into a cage with a poisonous snake. The “Jackass” series of movies and TV shows are known for dangerous and often lewd comedic acts.

School leaders directed specific questions about the incident to Mount Pleasant Police, who became involved in the case after school administrators filed a report about the incident.

“Any questions regarding the incident report that was filed should be directed to the Mount Pleasant Police Department,” Sakran said.

Meanwhile, students are mobilizing in defense of Poston. More than 1,500 signatures have been collected on an online petition of support of the 36-year-old sociology teacher.

Poston is a gifted teacher who simply had a momentary lapse in judgment, students wrote on multiple comment boards and on the online petition. Even his mother came to his defense.

"Did he make a mistake yes, but to take his job away would be huge mistake," wrote a poster who identified herself as Darlene Poston. "If he is dismissed it would be a shame that the students will never get to know what a wonderful teacher and person he is. It will be Wando's loss."

In addition to his compelling teaching style, students cite Poston’s work with the Buddy Olympics, a spring event that pairs sociology students and children with special needs for a daylong field day.

“Coach Poston is a good person, and everyone needs to calm down because he is a human being so everything he does is not going to be perfect,”

School administrators became aware of the incident after a student’s mother complained about the movie. Poston, in a written statement to the school, called the incident “inexcusable.”

Poston is a 1994 Wando graduate and Citadel alum, according to his Facebook page.