Film clip gets teacher in hot water (15 Minutes of R-Rated Amistad)

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/16605850.htm

A Ridglea Hills Elementary School teacher has been disciplined after showing portions of the R-rated movie Amistad to fifth-grade students during a lesson on slavery.

On Jan. 25, Larue Washington, who has taught for 27 years, apparently showed parts of the movie depicting slaves en route to the Americas, including a scene in which a character was stabbed.

"The teacher in question did show a clip from the movie," said Barbara Griffith, a district spokeswoman. "It was 10 minutes long."

Letters were sent to parents this week explaining what happened, Griffith said.

"I deeply regret that this happened," Principal Sandra Garza wrote in the letter. "The appropriate measures have been taken to ensure that this will not happen again."

So they saw some film portraying what it was like for people getting dragged over here as slaves. Yes, it's gruesome, and yes it's grotesque, and yet it deserved an R rating because of that. But should kids only get whitewashed history?

Those parents should be glad that a teacher is presenting them with information in a way they'll remember.
x(

I remember seeing it as a child and I don't recall it glossing over the conditions that were experienced on the slave ships.

When there are other materials available that present the same images is it acceptable or even necessary for teachers to show children scenes from a movie that they aren't even old enough to see on their own in the theaters?

This movie is so inappropriate for 5th graders. They are 10 years old.

The principal is taking measures to ensure teaching the truth won't happen again. What is wrong with people.

the other is of what some people do in their private bedrooms.

Nice straw man argument, though. :)

not a teacher.

Parents are hardly qualified to have anything to do with education. I'd sooner trust an expert.

So no, that is not a strawman.

she showed a clip 10 minutes long of the brutality of slavery. Your response doesn't make sense to me.

show the half of it. I'm sure the principal would've much preferred Song of the South, so kids could see the warm and fuzzy side of slavery.

against R rated films in the classrooms. So don't criticize the principal.

She showed a clip from the film.

Sheesh. What a bunch of prudes.

R rated movies are not appropriate for 10 year olds. Clips from R rated movies with graphic content are not appropriate for 10 year olds. I can't imagine any school district in the entire US allowing this.

The R rating is for the movie as a whole, not clips taken out of it.

Out of the 152 minute running time of Amistad, I'll bet 145 minutes of it is appropriate for a 10 year old audience. They've ran the thing, edited for content, on networks, for fuck's sake.

It was broadcast on commercial TV and I think people would be hard pressed to say that it glossed over any part of slavery.

There are some pretty gruesome scenes there, too, so the teacher would have to use some discretion. But my son saw it at about that classroom's age. I wanted him to see it.

Roots is a novel.

We can't have history being made graphic and real can we? The kids might get a feel for what things were actually like. Remember, history must be sanitized and anyway the the whole point is to bore not to enlighten.

Never in a million years would I show anything not rated G to my elementary students. Only an idiot shows R rated movies to 10 year olds.

how will these children ever grow up to cope with the future if in their impressionable years they are shown what went on in the past?

I think they can be shown this kind of graphic imagery when they are a few years older.

Obviously I disagreed with your point of view. Reminding me of their age, which I already knew, certainly won't change my mind.

Amistad is nothing. Besides, by grade 5, they've been grief bombing each other with dancing goatse's for two years. People should try to remember what it was like being in grade 5. I recall that was the year my buddies and I stole our first beer and started trading around Playboys... surely we could have handled a movie showing the horrors of the middle passage.

Up in Canada, my kids watched Schindler's List (the whole damn thing from start to end) in grade 7 and I'm glad they did.

The Inquisition probably isn't important enough a subject to American history to warrant the use of A/V materials about the Inquisition in an American public school. Also, I can't judge whether a movie that isn't even named would be appropriate teaching material. American kids are taught a very American-centric history over the course of their K-12 years. This is inevitable and given time constraints it's the proper thing to do. To the extent that European history is woven into the subject matter, it is mostly for purposes of furthering understanding of American history: and thus most European history taught in public schools is going to be overwhelmingly English history, in which the Inquisition is not going to be a prominent theme. The subject matter of Apocalypto is also somewhat tangential to the main goals of teaching American history. What's more, this is a film that has attracted overwhelmingly negative response from historians and anthropologists who have Mayan expertise. It's not the visual details which are recreated from the archaeological record and which are important to audience response that have been so harshly criticized by historians, but rather Gibson's anachronistic mistakes with his period details, and his rampant ideological distortions of the historical narrative. So unless you were teaching it in a unit on propaganda in a social studies or in language arts class, showing it next to Birth of a Nation or The Triumph of the Will perhaps, I would have to say that I can't see a role for Apocalypto in public school curricula in America, either. If there was a historically accurate movie that depicted the interactions of Indian tribes with the colonists or with the Federal Government--for example a historical drama depicting Andrew Jackson's forced relocation of Cherokee Indians far to the west of lands deeded to them forever by treaty law, enhanced by current "production values" but vetted by historians--then that might be an example of historical reenactment on film that would benefit public school students learning about US history. If that film was ever made, I haven't heard of it and haven't seen it so I can't say whether showing excerpts of it would be justified use of students' time.

If it was taught in the 5th grade, do you feel graphic pictures would be appropriate?

I am not suggesting kids not be told the truth about history. I very much support that. But 10 year olds are not allowed to see R rated movies in a theater; why do we allow them in a classroom?

I said it probably isn't important enough to the public school curriculum in America to warrant a/v materials for it in class. If there's a parochial school system for "Recovering Catholics" they might want to dwell on the Inquisition at unusual length and teach it using selected film materials. Otherwise you won't find a lot of interest, except perhaps in Protestant fundamentalist school districts where they can't decide whether the Inquisition is worth dwelling on as an example of how the Catholic church is an enemy of Christ and individual conscience, or on the other hand whether the Inquisition's use of violence to enforce religious orthodoxy proves that Catholics weren't wrong about everything.

10 year olds aren't allowed to see R rated movies when they aren't accompanied by an adult parent/guardian. Your categorical statement is incorrect. They aren't allowed to decide to watch an R rated movie on their own deciding whether to see an R rated movie and what to see. In this case the school is acting in loco parentis and showing students an excerpt from an R rated movie in the context of teaching American history. If you can't see the difference between that and kids deciding to sneak into a theater on their own to watch their choice of gory slasher-flick or softcore porn for purposes of pornographic entertainment, then we really have nothing to talk about.

The decision for viewing an R rated movie lies with the parent, not the school. Schools do not act in loco parentis. I have spent nearly 30 years as an educator and I am positive of that. We are NOT the parent!

The other factor no one has mentioned yet is copyright law. Many school districts now forbid teachers to show ANY movies or parts of movies for fear of violating copyright laws.

And also consider that many teachers have taught 5th graders about slavery for many years without showing them movies about slavery.

Let's just sugar-coat everything for this next generation of kids so the chasm of understanding between our next generation and the last one grows even larger. We wouldn't want our children to feel shame toward their "great" ancestors for their reprehensible treatment of African Americans.

No, we couldn't do that. If the youth actually understand the racial inequalities that they were born from, they might be able to make strides in trying to change centuries of racial prejudice and bigotry, and we wouldn't want that!

It's not like there's anything in that sequence that kids wouldn't see on TV any night during Prime Time anyway. Oh wait, it shows slaves rising up against their misfortunes, I forgot that part.

That scene does definitely show some swinging weenies, which I have to assume is at the root of this "outrage."

:shaking head:

and my car isn't paid for.

So I would never show this movie to 5th graders, regardless of the condemnation on DU.

Now if you guys are willing to make my car payments, then I might reconsider.

edited. But I think the teacher should have both screened it and run it by the principal. "R" for elementary kids is a BIG goof.

now what if that teacher was showing what had happened to the Jews during WW2 would that get banned also?

it is more dumbing down of Americans that is taking place, these kids now know much more than we did.

and I would imagine most school districts would not approve of them in a 5th grade classroom.

I do think the children were too young, though accurate verbal descriptions and perhaps some other visual representation would be appropriate.

Amistad (other than the massively dull parts) is totally age appropriate for 5th or 6th grade students.

Schindler in grade 8.

they're old enough to see the history of what those differences REALLY mean.

those children have seen already on TV AT HOME?

:eyes:

Not knowing that there was a breif nude scene. Some of the "What about the Children", Catholic fundies raised a stink about it and
the head of the English Dept. a great teacher lost his job and tenure over it.
C'mon allready! It was hardly porn.

The Amistad defense lawyers were paid by churches of our tradition in Connecticut. It's a proud part of our heritage, and the real beginning of our church's justice and peace commitment. So, my confirmands and I spend one evening every year watching the film.

Of course, I do tell parents we'll be doing it, and that it's R-rated, and they're welcome to join us to watch, and that if they don't want their kids watching, they don't have to. But I've never had a kid opt out, and it does teach them how bad slavery was, what courage it took to fight it, and how we began to take such stands as a denomination--all the points I want them to see. I've never had a negatvei reaction from a kid or a parent.

Of course, I'm working with Middle Schoolers, but kids are more sophisticated than we give 'em credit for. And history was more brutal than we can imagine.

Years and Years ago my English class at High school made the news here in NewZealand, I was only 13 at the time and it was near the end of the year, of my first year at high school, our teacher got out a video for our class to watch as a treat , it was DIRTY HARRY!

It made our day.

GO Clint!

All that singin' and dancin', bowin' & scrapin', smilin' & laughin', would've been more "appropriate" for impressionable young minds and protected them from unseemly and unAmerican reality.

Or, perhaps, a couple of episodes of Amos & Andy and some Aunt Jemimah pancakes to keep the kiddies smiling.

It's wrong to show them this, but it's o.k to have violent video games? :wtf:

I would come to the defense of the teacher if this were my childs
teacher .