The New School Curriculum – Reading, Writing and Watching “Brokeback Mountain”
Scott on May 13, 2007 at 5:49 pm
Once again, as a teacher I am mortified at the poor judgment and sheer stupidity of some of my fellow educators. As the story is being reported, a substitute teacher showed the gay-themed movie “Brokeback Mountain” to an 8th grade class. As she prepared to show the film, she told the class, “What happens in Ms. Buford’s class stays in Ms. Buford’s class.”
Please pardon my language, but what the #$%@&$! Are you KIDDING me?!? How stupid is this person?
My daughter is in 8th grade this year, and if I found out that a teacher at her school had done this, I would be going NUTS! How does this person feel as though it is their right and/or place to expose a group of 12-14 year old students to a story about gay cowboys?
This girl’s grandparents have taken the correct action…a lawsuit against the district and the substitute. Though the district may not have had a direct connection to what was done, this will certainly motivate them to take the appropriate actions to prevent this from happening in the future.
Once again I must say…What the #$%@&$!
John Adds: Wow, that’s amazing. It was an R-rated film. Don’t you need parental accompaniment to allow 13 year olds to see something like that?
Here’s hoping this teacher never works again.
Scott Adds: Typically, you need parental permission to watch any movie over the rating of PG (including R-rated films) in BOTH junior high and high school. In junior high (at least in California), you would RARELY IF EVER be given permission to show a movie with an R-rating unless there was a really solid/amazing tie-in with the curriculum (such as watching a top-notch R-rated historical drama that parallels a social studies unit, such as the movie GLORY), but even then if the R-rating was for sex or explicit violence/language, that movie would never fly.
Category: Health & Education |
Obviously its stupid to show an R-rated movie to an 8th grade class, and hopefully against the rules. However, this whole story seems like one stupid and questionable followed by another stupid and questionable act.
They are suing on the gounds of psychological damage? And the 12 year old girl needed therapy? And they’re suing for half a million dollars? I’m not believing their story. By the time I was in 8th grade, I had seen plenty of R-rated movies. Anyone who says that violent material in movies causes psychological damage should be taken out and shot, then stabbed, then fed to sharks. Irony intended.
If the class where Brokeback Mountain was shown is anything like my old 8th grade class, they would be making cracks at the movie every few seconds, and a large number not paying attention at all.
May 13, 2007 @ 9:03 pmJim,
Do you have children? If so, are they young or older? And if you do have kids, do you spend ANY time with them at all?
Try spending considerable time with/around children (especially older ones and on into the teenage years) and then tell me that violent material doesn’t have an affect on children. In fact, come shadow me at the high school where I teach or at the elementary school where my wife teaches and then talk to me about how viewing excessive amounts of violence doesn’t influence the behavior of various students. If you want to stand by your story after spending a few weeks in a classroom, then I will have to conclude that you are as clueless as the substitute that showed the movie.
Do I buy into the hysteria that claims that this generation of children is growing up into homicidal lunatics because of the excessive violence on TV and in the movies? No. Do I know for a fact that the constant exposure to excessive violence affects a certain small percentage of the population and encourages deviant behavior? Absolutely.
Now, in terms of the damages that the family is suing for, I agree that the amount seems dubious. Though I can’t speak to the motivations of the grandparents, from being a teacher and working closely with administration at the local and district level, I know that at times money is attached to law suites to be sure that the school district is forced to give its full attention to the matter at hand, rather than just blow it off or push it to the back burner.
And I agree that in most (if not all) classrooms at the junior high or high school level, there would be a high degree of mocking and derision aimed at the film. But at the same time, you are deluded if you think that the derisive and dismissive comments of some would lesson the impact that the film would have on others. There would be an impact, though the whole “psychological damage” thing smells more like legal twaddle than an actual reflection of reality.
May 13, 2007 @ 9:47 pmActually, in the part about violence having an impact, I was being sarcastic and intentionally ironic. “Anyone who says violence in movies has an impact on kids should be shot.”? How can you not chuckle at that?
And no, I don’t have any children (though I hope to someday) as I am only 20. So I am not speaking as a parent of a teenager, but as someone who recently was a teenager. And that is why the whole “psychological damage” thing smells fishy. I think that by 8th grade, you are old enough to be “grossed out” without being scarred for life.
And I agree that in most (if not all) classrooms at the junior high or high school level, there would be a high degree of mocking and derision aimed at the film.
Oh yeah, my 8th grade class made cracks at To Kill A Mockingbird. Which should be shown at that level.
However, it is absolutely necessary that certain films, when shown in schools, parents should be notified beforehand of both the film and more importantly, its relevance to the class. Not all films, of course, but those with questionable content.
May 14, 2007 @ 6:13 amBeing a teacher as well, I am disgusted, outraged, and saddened by her behavior.
Although how much “damage” was inflicted is too subjective to know, her predatory attitude is what needs to be dealt with, and harshly.
It is one thing to do something wrong on your own, and then proceed to hide it from others, fearing judgement or consequences. But, it is something quite different to take children with you on the journey, and then tell them to keep it hidden as well. That is downright evil (and if that word feels too strong, it is not. The definition is: “profoundly immoral and malevolent”).
Ms. Buford planned it ahead of time, knew it was wrong, and told young ones under her authority to keep it a secret.
Honestly, I can think of nothing other than – shame on her, in every sense of the word.
May 14, 2007 @ 9:10 amshe needs to get a job at the local DQ and not teaching children. My gosh. What a loon! What person in there right mind would think that was a good idea? And then to top that off tell the kids to not tell. Did she really believe a classroom full of 13 and 14 year olds would have no leak?
My guess is that the rediculous amounts they are suing for probably have more to do with making a point and getting press. I’m guessing that they will settle for much less but want the word out that this stuff will be severly punished so that it doesn’t happen to someone else’s kids.
May 14, 2007 @ 12:26 pm