sub shows Brokeback Mtn to 8th graders

angelmom

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What is wrong with our schools???

Lawsuit Over Brokeback Mountain in Class

CHICAGO — A girl and her grandparents have sued the Chicago Board of Education, alleging that a substitute teacher showed the R-rated film "Brokeback Mountain" in class.

The lawsuit claims that Jessica Turner, 12, suffered psychological distress after viewing the movie in her 8th grade class at Ashburn Community Elementary School last year.

<snip>

According to the lawsuit filed Friday in Cook County Circuit Court, the video was shown without permission from the students' parents and guardians.

The lawsuit also names Ashburn Principal Jewel Diaz and a substitute teacher, referred to as "Ms. Buford."

The substitute asked a student to shut the classroom door at the West Side school, saying: "What happens in Ms. Buford's class stays in Ms. Buford's class," according to the lawsuit.

more at link

http://www.ajc.com/hp/content/shared-gen/ap/TV/Brokeback_Lawsuit.html
 
i am sorry but this is just wrong. i decided what and when my kids are exposed to sexual themes. next thing you know they will show memoirs of a geisha as part of world history class.
 
R-rated should not be shown without parents permission. It seems to me that too many adults want to be "buddies" with kids instead of being adults.
 
I think the correct action in this situation would have been to give the kids a heads-up and have them sign a release form saying their child had permission to view this in school.
 
I would absolutely have that teacher's certificate. There is NO way that would fly w/ me. It's an R movie with controversial content. No child, and yes 8th graders are children, should be viewing that. I don't even let my girls watch some PG's. This makes me :sick: . No wonder kids are so troubled these days. We have adults (including some parents) who have no damn sense.
 
Not cool! When I was in High School (not too long ago, in the past 10 years) our teachers would let us know if a movie or video was being shown that might make us "uncomfortable." We were given other options instead of sitting in class, like working on a project in the hall outside class. Kids should not be forced to watch something that makes them uncomfortable. Nothing wrong with the movie, but a teacher is completely wrong to force it upon children and expect that they all would want to see that.
 
nothing wrong if i want to watch the movie. nothing wrong if i decided my 12 year old can watch it. something wrong with a teacher deciding my 12 year old can watch a R rated movie. my child cant go to the theater and buy a ticket with out a adult or rent it at block buster with out me. why should a teacher be able to decided it's ok for her to see it?
 
Why would a teacher even elect to show this movie to a group of 8th graders?


I have nothing against the topic but it is an R rated movie and I don't understand why a teacher would feel this was an appropriate educational movie.
 
Why would a teacher even elect to show this movie to a group of 8th graders?


I have nothing against the topic but it is an R rated movie and I don't understand why a teacher would feel this was an appropriate educational movie.

Especially a substitute! I teach high school and we don't show R rated movies unless they have been cleared for educational purposes, which usually includes a note home, with kids being given the option of sitting it out.

Eve
 
What amazes me is that our 4th graders went on a field trip and they showed G rated movies b/c they didn't want to go through the hassle of getting PG movies approved by all of the parents!

:laugh: They had to sit through Finding Nemo and Son of Flubber on the bus.

Can you imagine how lame they thought that was? PG-13 isn't allowed in the school at all. R? Fuggedaboudit.
 
I distinctly remember being in 8th or 9th grade and we had to get permission to see "Glory" (Civil War movie - about an African American regiment - Denzel Washington)

I thought BB Mountain was a wonderful movie! BUT - I would want to know if my child was going to watch any R rated movie in school. Even if that teacher was trying to promote acceptance, I can't imagine what a bunch of 8th grade boys did during the love scenes. And if you happened to be a gay 8th grade boy, how awful you would feel sitting in that class.
 
I distinctly remember being in 8th or 9th grade and we had to get permission to see "Glory" (Civil War movie - about an African American regiment - Denzel Washington)

I thought BB Mountain was a wonderful movie! BUT - I would want to know if my child was going to watch any R rated movie in school. Even if that teacher was trying to promote acceptance, I can't imagine what a bunch of 8th grade boys did during the love scenes. And if you happened to be a gay 8th grade boy, how awful you would feel sitting in that class.
i would have let my 12 year old watch glory. violence in the proper context with a historical value would be ok with me. BBM would not be. the sexual and moral themes would not be right for my 12 year old. i am the parent so i get to decided. til i am proved unfit nobody should take that right from me. what if i feel like the people in the article? if my religion says gay sex is wrong do i have the right to instruct my child in that?
maybe i think at 12 my child cannot tell the difference between judging a action as immoral and judging a person. what if i have no problem with sex between me but my problem is sex outside of marriage? i am the parent. it should be my choice to impart morals to my child.
 
The substitute asked a student to shut the classroom door at the West Side school, saying: "What happens in Ms. Buford's class stays in Ms. Buford's class," according to the lawsuit.

This part really bugs me. It tells me that this wasn't an innocent mistake on her part, (ie she wasn't aware of film's rating or sexual content). To me it appears that she absolutely knew it wasn't appropriate and thought she could compel the students not to say anything.
 
Substitutes no longer have to be certified teachers. They need only two years of college and a certain number of hours of education classes. :eek:
 
I distinctly remember being in 8th or 9th grade and we had to get permission to see "Glory" (Civil War movie - about an African American regiment - Denzel Washington)

I thought BB Mountain was a wonderful movie! BUT - I would want to know if my child was going to watch any R rated movie in school. Even if that teacher was trying to promote acceptance, I can't imagine what a bunch of 8th grade boys did during the love scenes. And if you happened to be a gay 8th grade boy, how awful you would feel sitting in that class.

Well put. Exactly.

My niece is 15 and has grown up around my partner and I, so she is no stranger to the idea of a gay couple. If she specifically asked to see BB Mountain, I would let her. But I wouldn't force her to watch it, which is essentially what a teacher is doing when she shows it in a classroom.

I have no idea what that teacher was thinking. Even if one wants to promote tolerance in teens, I don't think that particular movie (which depicts the two men as unhappy victims) is the way to do it.
 
Well put. Exactly.

My niece is 15 and has grown up around my partner and I, so she is no stranger to the idea of a gay couple. If she specifically asked to see BB Mountain, I would let her. But I wouldn't force her to watch it, which is essentially what a teacher is doing when she shows it in a classroom.

I have no idea what that teacher was thinking. Even if one wants to promote tolerance in teens, I don't think that particular movie (which depicts the two men as unhappy victims) is the way to do it.
if the teacher wanted to promote tolerance it may back fire with kids so young. the child in this story was 12. my child turns 12 on the 18th. i have strong religious beliefs and teach these to my child. at 12 i use topics that she sees in her real life to impart my values. i do not talk with her about gay men having sex at this point. she is to young to really get the fact i may not agree with what you do but i have no right to judge you as a person. these kids have been exposed to this topic in a way their parents may not like. now many of them will have their parents telling them how they feel before the kids are really old enough to make their own moral judgements.
 
Substitutes no longer have to be certified teachers. They need only two years of college and a certain number of hours of education classes. :eek:

In Florida not even that is required. Its a 4 hour course at the school board and that is it.
You need a GED or a HS diploma.
 
Our reasons may differ, Sherri, but I think this is one thing we can agree on: 12 is too young to be forced to watch sex scenes in a Hollywood movie. (In fairness to BBM, sex is depicted just once, for a few seconds, and it isn't actually "graphic." I'm not even sure what a 12-year-old would think is going on in that scene.)

On the other hand, we know for a fact that some 12-year-olds are having sex (no matter how much I might wish they would wait). So I don't have a problem with sex (straight and gay) being discussed in sex education classes.
 
On the other hand, we know for a fact that some 12-year-olds are having sex (no matter how much I might wish they would wait). So I don't have a problem with sex (straight and gay) being discussed in sex education classes.

I think there's also an unspoken element here that some parents are afraid their children will somehow turn gay by watching it happen. It's ridiculous logic but I'm pretty certain that is how some people think.
 

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