Updated: Horror movie shown to my little one

[Harriet Vane]

UPDATE BELOW

Just had to write a sternly-worded letter. We are foster parents to a seven-year-old whom we love very dearly who is required to be in public school. The class was shown Coraline today. I am horrified. That movie is intense, with lots and lots of violence and stress and fear. It's so inappropriate for young kids. (Honestly, I don't think it has much to offer older ones either.) The teacher is young and disorganized but seems to really like kids, so I was completely blindsided by this unbelievably awful choice. When I called the assistant principal didn't see what the issue was--she was aware this movie was shown. I stayed calm on the phone and just emphasized that horror films are not a good choice for children. Isn't that a given? I ended up writing a letter expressing my dismay. Normally I would expect to talk to a teacher directly about issues, but this was such a stunningly horrible choice (especially for a foster child!!!) that I felt I had to bring it up Officially to the school. This will bring drama, and it will definitely place awkwardness in my relationship with the teacher. 

 

UPDATE:

First, I am kinda perplexed at the posters claiming this movie is not a horror movie because it's not an adult movie. Age has nothing to do with the themes of the movie or what drives the plot. What defines a horror movie is the intent to frighten and/or disgust as a main theme. Mutilation and death and eternal suffering and gore and nightmare sequences easily make up the bulk of this movie. Coraline is definitely a horror movie.

Now on to the update. The teacher resigned. I doubt it was over the movie. My note was direct but not mean in any way. A friend took a look before I sent it. Plus I have chatted in a friendly way with teacher and multiple staff lotsa times--I have good relationships there, so my expression of concern was in that context. Teacher was a last-minute hire after the school year had already started, and she wants to be a music teacher. Not a second grade teacher. While she seemed nice enough, she was terribly disorganized and honestly didn't seem to know what she was doing. She was out several days this week, and today it was announced that tomorrow is her last day. Administration doesn't have anyone else lined up. Administration also hasn't seen fit to respond to my concern, but that does not surprise me either.

One other thought, as long as I am posting. ?  I have no issues with studying movies as one might study literature, and in fact I have facilitated many literature discussions comparing books and movies. I have also required students to write papers about movies. However, I am not crazy about showing movies to kill time in a school day. Fill the time with actual education or games and active fun or at least have recess. Watching a movie at school is not the same as studying a movie. And it goes without saying that showing horror movies to small children is not an effective use of educational time.

Edited November 2, 2018 by Harriet Vane
Update

[Sneezyone]

23 minutes ago, Harriet Vane said:

Just had to write a sternly-worded letter. We are foster parents to a seven-year-old whom we love very dearly who is required to be in public school. The class was shown Coraline today. I am horrified. That movie is intense, with lots and lots of violence and stress and fear. It's so inappropriate for young kids. (Honestly, I don't think it has much to offer older ones either.) The teacher is young and disorganized but seems to really like kids, so I was completely blindsided by this unbelievably awful choice. When I called the assistant principal didn't see what the issue was--she was aware this movie was shown. I stayed calm on the phone and just emphasized that horror films are not a good choice for children. Isn't that a given? I ended up writing a letter expressing my dismay. Normally I would expect to talk to a teacher directly about issues, but this was such a stunningly horrible choice (especially for a foster child!!!) that I felt I had to bring it up Officially to the school. This will bring drama, and it will definitely place awkwardness in my relationship with the teacher. 

 

I haven't seen the movie myself but PG is about as low as it gets these days so it wouldn't phase me. I understand that the theme (struggling to return to the family of origin) might be traumatic or difficult for a foster child, but that's where parents (foster or adoptive) can come in and provide context. Did you have advance notice?

I'd be asking things like, "What was it about her FOO that made her want to return? What troubling signs did she see in the new family that prompted her wish to flee?" No one can tell a child how to answer those questions but I would encourage journaling, etc. If a a child is in foster care, chances are good that the FOO is a lot more traumatic than what's shown in the film. Trying to put the innocence genie back in the bottle vs. confronting what *is* doesn't seem right to me but YMMV.

Edited November 1, 2018 by Sneezyone

[Harriet Vane]

11 minutes ago, Sneezyone said:

 

I haven't seen the movie myself but PG is about as low as it gets these days so it wouldn't phase me. I understand that the theme (struggling to return to the family of origin) might be traumatic or difficult for a foster child, but that's where parents (foster or adoptive) can come in and provide context. Did you have advance notice? I'd be asking things like, "What was it about her FOO that made her want to return? What troubling signs did she see in the new family that prompted her wish to flee?" No one can tell a child how to answer those questions but I would encourage journaling, etc. If a a child is in foster care, chances are good that the FOO is a lot more traumatic than what's shown in the film. Trying to put the innocence genie back in the bottle vs. confronting what *is* doesn't seem right to me.

 

I do understand that PG movies are often quite innocuous, and I have shown my kids PG movies. This particular movie is a horror movie. Even the director says it should not be shown to young children. The theme of choosing to return to FOO is the very least of my concerns with this movie. Rather, the many, many images and sequences of mutilation, torture, and fear are what concern me. No, I was not given any notice at all. There is no reason to show something this gratuitously scary in a school setting to such young children.

We do confront what *is* and we do talk about real life absolutely all the time. We have never shirked from that, and that is our unique reality as foster parents. And the child in question receives an array of services to help with that. Whether or not the child's FOO was better or worse doesn't really matter--the images in a movie like this one can be triggering to some even if not to others, and the images in this movie are upsetting even to children who don't come from a traumatic context. Either way I still wouldn't ever advocate wallowing in a movie that is so gratuitously horrifying, certainly not at the age of seven.

Edited November 1, 2018 by Harriet Vane

[Sneezyone]

5 minutes ago, Harriet Vane said:

 

I do understand that PG movies are often quite innocuous, and I have shown my kids PG movies. This particular movie is a horror movie. Even the director says it should not be shown to young children. The theme of choosing to return to FOO is the very least of my concerns with this movie. Rather, the many, many images and sequences of mutilation, torture, and fear are what concern me. No, I was not given any notice at all. There is no reason to show something this gratuitously scary in a school setting to such young children.

We do confront what *is* and we do talk about real life absolutely all the time. We have never shirked from that, and that is our unique reality as foster parents. And the child in question receives an array of services to help with that. Whether or not the child's FOO was better or worse doesn't really matter--the images in a movie like this one can be triggering to some even if not to others, and the images in this movie are upsetting even to children who don't come from a traumatic context. Either way I still wouldn't ever advocate wallowing in a movie that is so gratuitously horrifying, certainly not at the age of seven.

 

Understood. Was the child upset or disturbed? I think that would be the tipping point for me.

[Harriet Vane]

1 minute ago, Sneezyone said:

 

Understood. Was the child upset or disturbed? I think that would be the tipping point for me.

 

Yes. And the child did not feel able to speak up in the moment at the time. 

Even if the child were not upset, I would have objected anyway. There are emotionally healthier options out there.  

[katilac]

It annoys me when kids are shown movies in school to begin with. They can watch movies at home! 

[Harriet Vane]

Just now, katilac said:

It annoys me when kids are shown movies in school to begin with. They can watch movies at home! 

 

I agree! 

[Liz CA]

I have no clue about the movie but sometimes you just have to stand up for what you believe - especially in defense of those who are too young to have a voice. Your foster kid will know you care if you go to bat for her. You guys won't have this teacher forever and perhaps she needed to pause and think a bit as well and a letter (if it's brought to her attention, seems like the principal was rather clueless) may just do that.

Edited November 1, 2018 by Liz CA

[Sneezyone]

30 minutes ago, katilac said:

It annoys me when kids are shown movies in school to begin with. They can watch movies at home! 

 

Really? Has Blockbuster been resurrected? In our homeschool it's certainly not all work and no play. If that's the norm, God help my son. He'll never make it. I actually remember taking a class in critical cinematic analysis/theory in HS.

Edited November 1, 2018 by Sneezyone

[LMD]

Yeah, I like that movie but it is super  creepy. It's supposed to be. I would not show it to a bunch of 7 year olds. No way. You are reasonable to follow this up.

[katilac]

16 minutes ago, Sneezyone said:

 

Really? Has Blockbuster been resurrected? In our homeschool it's certainly not all work and no play. If that's the norm, God help my son. He'll never make it. I actually remember taking a class in critical cinematic analysis/theory in HS.

 

Blockbuster?? 

[Sneezyone]

4 minutes ago, katilac said:

 

Blockbuster?? 

 

Uh, yeah. If movies are supposed to be available to the unwashed masses, they need to a) be free/cheap and b) be easily accessible in ways that DON'T require monthly internet charges. Unless Redbox is now ubiquitous, yeah, it's a problem to assume kids can just watch movies at home, at will.

Edited November 1, 2018 by Sneezyone

[katilac]

18 minutes ago, Sneezyone said:

 

Uh, yeah. If movies are supposed to be available to the unwashed masses, they need to a) be free/cheap and b) be easily accessible in ways that DON'T require monthly internet charges. Unless Redbox is now ubiquitous, yeah, it's a problem to assume kids can just watch movies at home, at will.

 

You know that Coraline came out like a decade ago, right? They can probably watch it on plain old tv, along with the other eleventy billion movies they replay every Halloween. 

I'm not going to feel guilty because I don't think schools should be in the business of screening movies. You can disagree, but it's a bit much to try and shame me about it. It does not mean I am oblivious to lower-income families as you are implying. I think that lower-income families are actually at the greatest disadvantage when schools stray too far from their core mission. 

I live in a county where 76% of students are on free or reduced lunch, it's not a distant issue for me. Redbox is indeed ubiquitous. I can walk to four of them with ease. Your Blockbuster comparison misses the mark -  there are far more Redbox locations today than Blockbuster ever had. 

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

I would be angry.  Even PG means PARENTAL GUIDANCE, not what the teacher deems appropriate.  Watching a movie in school is a lazy way out.  There are a million other ways to celebrate a holiday.  

I'm sorry this happened to your child and he/she did not have a way to escape or opt out.  Poor kid!  

Also, I don't think insufficient screen time is a *thing* we need to worry about for kids of any income level.  lol

[RootAnn]

I have a teenager who is still creeped out by Coraline. The audio book is creepy, and those images are self-produced from the text description. (I liked the book, but I have sensitive kids. A couple of them were definitely freaked out by the audio book.) 

Good for you speaking up, OP.

[mom@shiloh]

I'd be upset for several reasons.  First, two of my adopted kids are highly sensitive to any type of frightening or intense movies.  Their definition of what is frightening or intense is way different than mine would be. I don't have an explanation for that.  Early trauma?  Maybe.  At any rate, my job is to respect that they have a low tolerance for that. When they were younger, they wouldn't have felt comfortable speaking up to a teacher. They would have sat mutely through the movie and I'd be dealing with fall-out for months.

Second. I don't think that teachers should be showing movies during class time unless it has some educational value. 

[ashfern]

I have 1 child who loves that movie. The rest of us think it's creepy and refuse to watch it. Definitely not a good choice for a school to show. 

[Guest]

I say Good for you for writing the letter. I have never seen the movie; I don’t like scary movies anyway and would not be drawn to it. (In fact, I get annoyed that the TV channels I usually like try to embrace scary stuff for Halloween...I don’t need to see “haunted places” on HGTV or food make to look like severed hands on Food Network!) 

The few times I have made a confrontation about inappropriate content I have not regretted it. I still remember my fury about a magazine cover (Vanity Fair) displayed at the eye-level of a FOUR YEAR OLD at the grocery check out. I didn’t have little kids with me that day, but the lady behind me did. It made me angry. I snatched out the magazine, asked the lady behind me if she was comfortable with this image right in front of her son (she said no) and then spoke to management about it. And I’m generally not a censorer! As I said to the manager, “It does not bother me that there are magazines like this for sale. It bothers me that it’s marketed at a little child’s eye level.”  

So in this case I would say, It doesn’t bother me that this is a movie some people are fine with watching. It bothers me that it is viewed at public school where not all kids can navigate it equally. And we’re here to learn math and English, not pop culture. 

[Ausmumof3]

I don’t know the movie but commonsense media recommends 9+ and their guidelines seem to make sense to me most of the time.  Could you request that the teacher check the commonsense media age guideline in future?

[Scarlett]

I would be livid. 

[alisoncooks]

My 10 year old loves that movie -- but I would not have shown it to 7 year old her! Heck, I watched it once, after reading the book, and said to myself, "Nope.  Never again."

At the least, the school should have sent a note home beforehand and offered alternative activities. 

[Ravin]

I tend to be pretty liberal about this sort of thing, but even I can understand the objections for first graders. Third grade and up, I would see it as totally unproblematic. But as kids' halloween movies go, it IS one of the better ones, with more educational value insofar as having solid plot, storytelling, etc. goes.

[Sneezyone]

5 hours ago, katilac said:

 

You know that Coraline came out like a decade ago, right? They can probably watch it on plain old tv, along with the other eleventy billion movies they replay every Halloween. 

I'm not going to feel guilty because I don't think schools should be in the business of screening movies. You can disagree, but it's a bit much to try and shame me about it. It does not mean I am oblivious to lower-income families as you are implying. I think that lower-income families are actually at the greatest disadvantage when schools stray too far from their core mission. 

I live in a county where 76% of students are on free or reduced lunch, it's not a distant issue for me. Redbox is indeed ubiquitous. I can walk to four of them with ease. Your Blockbuster comparison misses the mark -  there are far more Redbox locations today than Blockbuster ever had. 

 

The age of the movie wasn’t my objection. It’s the idea that being in a brick and mortar school must necessarily mean the end of all things fun, nose to the grindstone, no movies for thee! Most of us reject that idea in our homeschools. We use movies for all sorts of reasons- incentives, teaching/learning, fun/relaxation, etc. It’s hardly cringeworthy when it happens in other learning environments too. This particular movie may be cringeworthy, who knows, I haven’t seen it as I said upthread. Movies in general tho? That’s a bit much and that’s what you complained about.

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

21 minutes ago, Sneezyone said:

 

The age of the movie wasn’t my objection. It’s the idea that being in a brick and mortar school must necessarily mean the end of all things fun, nose to the grindstone, no movies for thee! Most of us reject that idea in our homeschools. We use movies for all sorts of reasons- incentives, teaching/learning, fun/relaxation, etc. It’s hardly cringeworthy when it happens in other learning environments too. This particular movie may be cringeworthy, who knows, I haven’t seen it as I said upthread. Movies in general tho? That’s a bit much and that’s what you complained about.

 

You're being hyperbolic here.  No one suggested brick and mortar school should be all about nose-to-the-grindstone.  I can think of a number of educational activities related to Halloween that could have been done in place of a movie.  

Also, I would never count watching a movie towards my own definition of a school day, unless it was an actual documentary.  We do watch the occasional movie for relaxation/fun, just like parents of public school kids might let kids watch a movie or tv after school.  The school does not need to be doubling the recreational screen time.  

Where we live, I have never -ever- heard of a recreational movie being shown during class time.  Nope.  The elementary school does, however, open up the school auditorium one Friday per month for a movie night, which is advertised ahead of time and entirely optional.  I don't mind that.  

 

Note I have not seen the film in question.  But reading the Wikipedia article on it will probably give me nightmares.  ?

[Ausmumof3]

2 minutes ago, Monica_in_Switzerland said:

 

You're being hyperbolic here.  No one suggested brick and mortar school should be all about nose-to-the-grindstone.  I can think of a number of educational activities related to Halloween that could have been done in place of a movie.  

Also, I would never count watching a movie towards my own definition of a school day, unless it was an actual documentary.  We do watch the occasional movie for relaxation/fun, just like parents of public school kids might let kids watch a movie or tv after school.  The school does not need to be doubling the recreational screen time.  

Where we live, I have never -ever- heard of a recreational movie being shown during class time.  Nope.  The elementary school does, however, open up the school auditorium one Friday per month for a movie night, which is advertised ahead of time and entirely optional.  I don't mind that.  

 

Note I have not seen the film in question.  But reading the Wikipedia article on it will probably give me nightmares.  ?

My primary school had movie afternoon  once a month during 2nd grade I think?  I only remember because they showed never ending story and it gave me nightmare for months!

[Sneezyone]

9 minutes ago, Monica_in_Switzerland said:

 

You're being hyperbolic here.  No one suggested brick and mortar school should be all about nose-to-the-grindstone.  I can think of a number of educational activities related to Halloween that could have been done in place of a movie.  

Also, I would never count watching a movie towards my own definition of a school day, unless it was an actual documentary.  We do watch the occasional movie for relaxation/fun, just like parents of public school kids might let kids watch a movie or tv after school.  The school does not need to be doubling the recreational screen time.  

Where we live, I have never -ever- heard of a recreational movie being shown during class time.  Nope.  The elementary school does, however, open up the school auditorium one Friday per month for a movie night, which is advertised ahead of time and entirely optional.  I don't mind that.  

 

Note I have not seen the film in question.  But reading the Wikipedia article on it will probably give me nightmares.  ?

 

It was repeatedly suggested that popular movies, in general, are inappropriate for public school students. I reject the notion that all activities that occur 'during a school day' must be 'educational' in nature. That's not a standard I hold myself to and it's not one I'd like to see inflicted on my kids when/if they attend public schools either. All kids will not react to or be able to respond to or process anything the same way due to their varied life experiences. That doesn't mean we stop exposing them to things or ideas, it means we help them by providing context and facilitating discussions in age-appropriate ways.

Edited November 1, 2018 by Sneezyone

[mom2scouts]

I haven't seen the movie, so I went and read some reviews. There were many reviewers who loved the movie, but adamantly said the movie is not for kids and was very creepy. Unfortunately, I've found that public school teachers love to have a movie day and often don't preview the movie before showing it to their classes. If the teacher had read a few reviews, he or she probably would have decided that it wasn't appropriate for that age group. Also, wasn't it based on something written by Neil Gaiman?  I'm an adult and I find his books creepy!

[Arctic Bunny]

I haven’t seen it, but from reading the description, I can tell you that as a 7yo, my now 11yo would have asked to leave the classroom. In fact, he would still have left, at 11yo.

When he was in grade one, his teacher showed a Disney movie (I can’t remember which one!) and he asked to leave. The teacher approached me apologetically after school, but whichever movie it was, was so innocuous, I could only laugh and thank her for letting him stay in the library/computer room instead. This is my child who has cried and had to leave during Frozen, Epic, and Brave....

I hope that you do make them aware of how this movie is not generally acceptable for 7yo children. Hopefully your little one will feel comfortable enough to ask to leave if it happens again (and that the teacher will be supportive!).

[Scarlett]

1 hour ago, Sneezyone said:

 

It was repeatedly suggested that popular movies, in general, are inappropriate for public school students. I reject the notion that all activities that occur 'during a school day' must be 'educational' in nature. That's not a standard I hold myself to and it's not one I'd like to see inflicted on my kids when/if they attend public schools either. All kids will not react to or be able to respond to or process anything the same way due to their varied life experiences. That doesn't mean we stop exposing them to things or ideas, it means we help them by providing context and facilitating discussions in age-appropriate ways.

I am not against 'fun' during the school day but movies are a bad choice for the very reason that is being discussed in this thread.  Especially for that age group.  

[PrincessMommy]

9 hours ago, katilac said:

It annoys me when kids are shown movies in school to begin with. They can watch movies at home! 

Me too.  I was astounded that they're watching movies.  Maybe on the last day of school but in the middle of the year?!  Sigh - I went to school in the dinosaur age though.  My comparisions are faulty.  

[dirty ethel rackham]

5 hours ago, RootAnn said:

I have a teenager who is still creeped out by Coraline. The audio book is creepy, and those images are self-produced from the text description. (I liked the book, but I have sensitive kids. A couple of them were definitely freaked out by the audio book.) 

Good for you speaking up, OP.

Our family listened to the audio book during a car trip (mostly adults and older teens.)  I thought it was well-written, enjoyable, but creepy.  But, I had no desire to watch the movie because I don't really like horror movies.  Dd and her (then) boyfriend watched it over the summer and her boyfriend was creeped out.  This is not a movie I would show to elementary aged children.  And certainly not in a school setting where they may not feel like they have the option to just leave if they don't like it.  My kids would just leave the room if they didn't like something we were watching at home.  You don't just get up and walk out of the room at school.

5 hours ago, mom@shiloh said:

I'd be upset for several reasons.  First, two of my adopted kids are highly sensitive to any type of frightening or intense movies.  Their definition of what is frightening or intense is way different than mine would be. I don't have an explanation for that.  Early trauma?  Maybe.  At any rate, my job is to respect that they have a low tolerance for that. When they were younger, they wouldn't have felt comfortable speaking up to a teacher. They would have sat mutely through the movie and I'd be dealing with fall-out for months.

Second. I don't think that teachers should be showing movies during class time unless it has some educational value. 

I'm not opposed to movies that have an educational purpose (like exposing children to another culture, or a film that has literary merit in the context of literature studies.)  But, this just seems like lazy teaching.  

3 hours ago, Quill said:

I say Good for you for writing the letter. I have never seen the movie; I don’t like scary movies anyway and would not be drawn to it. (In fact, I get annoyed that the TV channels I usually like try to embrace scary stuff for Halloween...I don’t need to see “haunted places” on HGTV or food make to look like severed hands on Food Network!) 

The few times I have made a confrontation about inappropriate content I have not regretted it. I still remember my fury about a magazine cover (Vanity Fair) displayed at the eye-level of a FOUR YEAR OLD at the grocery check out. I didn’t have little kids with me that day, but the lady behind me did. It made me angry. I snatched out the magazine, asked the lady behind me if she was comfortable with this image right in front of her son (she said no) and then spoke to management about it. And I’m generally not a censorer! As I said to the manager, “It does not bother me that there are magazines like this for sale. It bothers me that it’s marketed at a little child’s eye level.”  

So in this case I would say, It doesn’t bother me that this is a movie some people are fine with watching. It bothers me that it is viewed at public school where not all kids can navigate it equally. And we’re here to learn math and English, not pop culture. 

It would be an interesting movie to watch for older kids as part of literature studies (film can be a good way to study literary elements.)  But this is not one of those cases.  (ad good for you for speaking up about magazines in the checkout aisle.  I stopped taking my kids to the stores unless they were places that had family friendly check-out aisles (no candy and no kid-inappropriate magazines.)  

2 hours ago, Ravin said:

I tend to be pretty liberal about this sort of thing, but even I can understand the objections for first graders. Third grade and up, I would see it as totally unproblematic. But as kids' halloween movies go, it IS one of the better ones, with more educational value insofar as having solid plot, storytelling, etc. goes.

Yep.  My kids are huge Neil Gaiman fans and love this story.  My daughter did a paper on some of the more literary horror movies (Pan's Labyrinth and this one and another one that I can't remember.)  But this was for high school and she was specifically analyzing the cinematic and literary techniques.  

[Bootsie]

Unless the school holds the proper copyright permissions OR can show that the movie was directly tied to academic purposes, it is a violation of copyright law for classes to be shown movies at school.  I fought this battle with my local school district when DD was attending  She was spending much of middle school watching Disney movies (and no, I did not think Little Mermaid was part of the "marine biology" science curriculum).  I do not think student time should be wasted on watching movies; but, I also think it sends students the wrong message regarding respecting intellectual property when the teachers totally disregard this. 

[JustEm]

While I wouldn't say Coraline is a horror movie, it certainly isn't appropriate for a first grade classroom.  Our children have all been able to handle it very well even before age 7, but not all kids can handle that intense of a movie and a teacher should know that the majority of kids that age would be scared.  I wonder if the teacher had seen the movie prior to showing it to the kids.   

[happi duck]

34 minutes ago, jdahlquist said:

Unless the school holds the proper copyright permissions OR can show that the movie was directly tied to academic purposes, it is a violation of copyright law for classes to be shown movies at school.  I fought this battle with my local school district when DD was attending  She was spending much of middle school watching Disney movies (and no, I did not think Little Mermaid was part of the "marine biology" science curriculum).  I do not think student time should be wasted on watching movies; but, I also think it sends students the wrong message regarding respecting intellectual property when the teachers totally disregard this. 

Good point!

Op, I'm glad you spoke up!

Full length movies are not needed to have a fun, engaging, and educational day.

[Peaceseeker]

Wow, I just thought Coraline was a typical Halloween cartoon movie.  I was completely oblivious as I have never watched it.  Part of me now wants to watch it just to see what it is about, but I am sensitive and avoid violent imagery.  

I wonder if the teacher did any research at all???   At the very least she should watch the movie herself first before showing it to a bunch of 7 year olds.  Or just read reviews.  That is really lazy and poor judgement on her part if she just grabbed something with a Halloween cover and popped it in. I mean a PG rating means very little to me.  There are a ton of 80's movies with PG ratings I still don't want my teens watching. I do think most were rated before the new PG 13 came out but still.  I definitely didn't trust a PG rating when they were 7.  I had a kid scared by things like the bear in Brave or the witch in Snow White.  

This why parental guidance is suggested.  PG is not for everyone.  

Edited November 1, 2018 by CaliforniaDreamin

[Peaceseeker]

Ok really all the teacher needed to do was read the Wikipedia page on it and that would be enough information to know it is not appropriate for first graders.  I would be an unhappy mama too.

[katilac]

4 hours ago, Sneezyone said:

 

The age of the movie wasn’t my objection. It’s the idea that being in a brick and mortar school must necessarily mean the end of all things fun, nose to the grindstone, no movies for thee! Most of us reject that idea in our homeschools. We use movies for all sorts of reasons- incentives, teaching/learning, fun/relaxation, etc. It’s hardly cringeworthy when it happens in other learning environments too. This particular movie may be cringeworthy, who knows, I haven’t seen it as I said upthread. Movies in general tho? That’s a bit much and that’s what you complained about.

 

That is indeed what I complained about. You made some huge leaps from that to the 'nose to the grindstone' and 'poor kids don't watch movies at home' nonsense. As Monica noted, there are numerous ways to have fun and celebrate a holiday. Coraline is an hour and forty minutes of screen time. That time could have been spent doing any number of fun things.  They could have played games, sang songs, read fun books, explored different cultural traditions, socialized with each other rather than staring at yet another screen. Heck, taking them outside for an hour-long recess would have been a far better use of that time. 

Homeschool and brick and mortar school are two very different creatures and I think it's pointless to compare them. With that said, I would never have considered just watching a movie to be part of our schooling. 

Can movies be used to teach or support teaching? Yes (see Rafe Esquith's books). But that isn't what happened here. It takes a tremendous amount of work and preparation to use movies as a meaningful part of the school day, you don't just plop them in front of a screen. For a myriad of reasons, I think 7 is too young for this in a classroom setting, but it doesn't matter because that's not what the teacher was doing. 

4 hours ago, Sneezyone said:

 All kids will not react to or be able to respond to or process anything the same way due to their varied life experiences. That doesn't mean we stop exposing them to things or ideas, it means we help them by providing context and facilitating discussions in age-appropriate ways.

 

Coraline is not age-appropriate for a first- or second-grade classroom. The teacher did not provide context or facilitate discussion, she tossed in a movie. You are concerned about the low-income children who don't get to watch movies at home; where is your concern for the kids with noteable trauma in their lives who have to watch movies that might be harmful to them? 

You keep changing your reasoning. When I pointed out that kids have as much or more access to movies now as they did in the days of VHS, you ignore that and act as though you never cast shade on me for thinking that kids could watch movies at home. You talk about film studies, which have zero to do with simply showing movies in class. You talk about what you do in your homeschool, which has nothing to do with what a teacher should do in a public classroom. 

1 hour ago, jdahlquist said:

Unless the school holds the proper copyright permissions OR can show that the movie was directly tied to academic purposes, it is a violation of copyright law for classes to be shown movies at school.  I fought this battle with my local school district when DD was attending  She was spending much of middle school watching Disney movies (and no, I did not think Little Mermaid was part of the "marine biology" science curriculum).  I do not think student time should be wasted on watching movies; but, I also think it sends students the wrong message regarding respecting intellectual property when the teachers totally disregard this. 

 

Very good point. 

Edited November 1, 2018 by katilac

[mom2scouts]

12 hours ago, katilac said:

It annoys me when kids are shown movies in school to begin with. They can watch movies at home! 

My 23 year old son still talks about the "horrible middle school teacher" who showed movies every week. I wouldn't have minded so much if they were related to the subject, but he says they were usually Disney moives.?

[katilac]

4 minutes ago, Patty Joanna said:

But I had permission slips--and this was also a high school class.  

 

 Two big differences for sure. Permission slips would have solved the OP's particular problem. 

[JustEm]

1 minute ago, heartlikealion said:

had to watch that dang O Brother Where Art Thou in full in my college film class and then in sections in a literature class (not the whole film that time) so the teacher could comment on it. I was so over that film lol. 

 

I would have loved to watch that movie in a class and discuss it.  That is one of my all time favorite movies.

As an aside I rook a war films class in college, best lit class I've ever taken.  We watched movies every class and were also assigned a film a week.  Then we wrote papers of varying topics related to the films that week.  It really makes me want have time to take other film oriented classes.

[ktgrok]

10 hours ago, katilac said:

 

You know that Coraline came out like a decade ago, right? They can probably watch it on plain old tv, along with the other eleventy billion movies they replay every Halloween. 

I'm not going to feel guilty because I don't think schools should be in the business of screening movies. You can disagree, but it's a bit much to try and shame me about it. It does not mean I am oblivious to lower-income families as you are implying. I think that lower-income families are actually at the greatest disadvantage when schools stray too far from their core mission. 

I live in a county where 76% of students are on free or reduced lunch, it's not a distant issue for me. Redbox is indeed ubiquitous. I can walk to four of them with ease. Your Blockbuster comparison misses the mark -  there are far more Redbox locations today than Blockbuster ever had. 

Also, most libraries have plenty of movies now to borrow for free. 

5 hours ago, Sneezyone said:

 

The age of the movie wasn’t my objection. It’s the idea that being in a brick and mortar school must necessarily mean the end of all things fun, nose to the grindstone, no movies for thee! Most of us reject that idea in our homeschools. We use movies for all sorts of reasons- incentives, teaching/learning, fun/relaxation, etc. It’s hardly cringeworthy when it happens in other learning environments too. This particular movie may be cringeworthy, who knows, I haven’t seen it as I said upthread. Movies in general tho? That’s a bit much and that’s what you complained about.

Not watching a movie doesn't mean not having fun. A class party, games, crafts, outside time, etc etc are all fun too and don't require a movie. That said, some movies I do think are great, but not for school because you never know how kids will react. My son is 6 and SOBBED during Wizard of Oz - not because of the scary parts, but because Toto and Dorothy got separated in one part and he has a trauma related to being lost/separated from his family. Even I didn't see that coming! But I was there, so when he got upset I could talk him through it, reassure him that they find each other again, offere to fast forward, etc. And no other students to tease him for crying. Had he seen it in school, without me there, he would probably have had nightmares for a week. 

[ktgrok]

In middle/highschool I think movies are better suited. We watched Inherit the Wind in an American History class, and another, that I can't remmber the name of, about a Quaker family and their ambivalence about war/killing. That was at least apropos to the topic we were studying. And we watched some film strips in elementary school in my gifted class....but some of them DID upset me. I Juan De Pareja was one, and The Black Cauldren was another I think. 

[rebcoola]

I can't believe that was allowed and my family loves that movie and has been watching it probably since my youngest was 5.  But their is extensive work to get movies on the list to be viewed here all movies are vetted and put on a list with grades allowed. All teachers can only show movies from the list or have to get it approved and put on the list and permission slips are sent home.

[mom2scouts]

2 hours ago, dirty ethel rackham said:

Our family listened to the audio book during a car trip (mostly adults and older teens.)  I thought it was well-written, enjoyable, but creepy.  But, I had no desire to watch the movie because I don't really like horror movies.  Dd and her (then) boyfriend watched it over the summer and her boyfriend was creeped out.  This is not a movie I would show to elementary aged children.  And certainly not in a school setting where they may not feel like they have the option to just leave if they don't like it.  My kids would just leave the room if they didn't like something we were watching at home.  You don't just get up and walk out of the room at school.

 

Off topic, but a friend of mine put her always homeschooled kids in public school this year. One of the boys, a fifth grader, had a substitute and he felt the sub was being very rude to the students in his class. He walked out of the classroom, went to the office, and filed a written complaint against the subsitute teacher.?

[JustEm]

2 minutes ago, heartlikealion said:

I don't think I'd like that format lol. I didn't even enjoy all the films we watched in class. One film I think was nothing but sound and images. Not fantasia but like random things... I couldn't tell you the name of it. Sitting through Citizen Kane was also torture for me. Ha. 

 

haha,  I'm a pretty huge movie fan and in the right mood and setting can enjoy almost any film. The only films that are torture to me are romantic comedies.

[CAJinBE]

The only time I went in to complain at my kids school was when they were showed a PG-13 movie on the bus for a school trip. It had totally inappropriate scenes for kids under 13 to see. I was outraged that I'd protected my kids from that kind of stuff so far only to have a teacher unthinkingly pop a movie in on a field trip. The dinner conversation that night made me so angry that I couldn't get to the school early enough the next day. Just one of many reasons we decided to homeschool.

[Peaceseeker]

7 minutes ago, Arctic Mama said:

I know right?  I’m not a huge Gaiman fan but that’s my least favorite of any of his works, and none of my kids would watch it comfortably, including the ones who aren’t sensitive to themes.  It’s just really dark.

Yeah, I am reading about sewing buttons on their eyes and about severed hands and thinking how is this appropriate for first graders???

The teacher must have just grabbed something. Hopefully she learned her lesson and the children aren't too traumatized.  Goodness!

Edited November 1, 2018 by CaliforniaDreamin

[itsheresomewhere]

It is not a horror movie to us.  My kid saw it around 7 and didn’t bat an eye on it.  I know not all are able to watch it. 

For those surprised they show a movie- Schools are showing movies around here as a treat now as they are doing away with parties.  Food allergies and such so they had to come up with a way to give the kids a treat.  I remember when it was end of the year only.  

Edited November 1, 2018 by itsheresomewhere

[dirty ethel rackham]

36 minutes ago, mom2scouts said:

Off topic, but a friend of mine put her always homeschooled kids in public school this year. One of the boys, a fifth grader, had a substitute and he felt the sub was being very rude to the students in his class. He walked out of the classroom, went to the office, and filed a written complaint against the subsitute teacher.?

Bravo to that boy.  Unfortunately, school socializes kids to be obedient ... just sit there and accept what those in authority tell them.  I know that, as a kid, it would never have occurred to me to leave ... "good kids" just didn't do that.  

[Bootsie]

11 minutes ago, dirty ethel rackham said:

Bravo to that boy.  Unfortunately, school socializes kids to be obedient ... just sit there and accept what those in authority tell them.  I know that, as a kid, it would never have occurred to me to leave ... "good kids" just didn't do that.  

And when the teachers and principal realize that there is a kid who is not afraid (and even feels the responsibility) to report inappropriate behavior by adults, they can quickly use their powers to discredit the child and protect each other.