I agree that "emotional kidnapping and psychological rape" are three exits past rational, but what were the school administrators thinking, showing an R-rated movie (any R-rated movie) to 9th graders, without parental consent? An R-rating stands for something like "Restricted" and I think the age tag associated with it is 17 years old. Ninth graders are typically 13 and 14 years old, and maybe 15, in some cases. I'd be pissed if the school showed my ninth graders an R-rated film without my consent.
Cindy, you’re absolutely right. I am rabidly anti-censorship, but we don’t show R-rated movies in class without sending a letter home, detailing our rationale for showing an R-rated movie, detailing the reasons for the R rating, and attaching a permission slip. If a parent denies permission, the kid simply stays out of class those days, doing an alternate assignment.
I have to wonder what dumbass teacher didn’t listen to their teacher’s ed profs.
I showed the movie “Thirteen” to my freshmen girls homeroom class this way last year, and the history teacher did it with “Schindler’s List.” Neither of us had a parent deny permission.
Besides being upset over the school's showing of Donnie Darko to Alexis and other ninth-graders, Tara says she is also outraged that the school required her daughter to read Always Running: La Vida Loca: Gang Days in L.A., a memoir by former gang member Luis Rodriguez.
I’m teaching this book to my 12th graders. It was taught last year, too. Of course, many of our students have personal experience with gangs and gang violence, but it's a well-written and clearly anti-gang book. There are drug and sex refs, but most of it is like "We smoked some pot, and then. . . " and "They had sex in the back seat. . . " Nothing pornographic or pro-drug.
We always have to order more copies; it seems to be our most "walks off" book.
What do you guys feel about showing a non-R-rated portion of an r-rated movie? When I was an assistant teacher in an acting class, someone had a monologue from "The Jury" and the teacher showed just the portion of the show with the monologue. A couple of parents were very upset, and I do have to say it never occured to me to question her (I was 19, though and the teacher was 50) motives in showing the exerpt.
If the excerpt contained profanity, sexuality or excessive violence, permission slip it. If not, hmmm. Well. I dunno. I guess to be on the safe side, I might...but if it were a really innocuous scene, I might not think of it.
Now you've earwormed me with one of the many odd bits of songs I grew up with.
I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate
If I could shimmy like my sister Kate
Shake it like jelly on a plate
My mama wanted to know last night
How sister Kate could do it oh so nice
Now, all the boys in the neighborhood
Knew Kate could shimmy, and it's mighty good
I may be late but I'll be up to date
When I can shimmy like my sister Kate.
I mean, shake it like my sister Kate.
What do you guys feel about showing a non-R-rated portion of an r-rated movie? When I was an assistant teacher in an acting class, someone had a monologue from "The Jury" and the teacher showed just the portion of the show with the monologue. A couple of parents were very upset, and I do have to say it never occured to me to question her (I was 19, though and the teacher was 50) motives in showing the exerpt.
If the excerpt contained profanity, sexuality or excessive violence, permission slip it. If not, hmmm. Well. I dunno. I guess to be on the safe side, I might...but if it were a really innocuous scene, I might not think of it.
The weird thing about this is that no one seemed to object to the girl doing the monologue in front of the class, just watching that same monologue in an R-rated movie. Which makes me think that the kids with the parent who objected went home and was all lik e"We saw and R-rated movie!!!!"
I have weirdnesses about parental approval in monologue choices, since that is really all I have ever taught to high school kids. They often want to do things that are shocking, and if it is within their range, I am usually fine with it.
I did have a lovely young woman of about 17 choose a really age appropriate monologue about divorcing parents and the effect it had on her. The monolgue closed with "It bites. It bites the big one"-- and people were horribly offended and walked out. It never even occured to me that "bites" would be offensive to people.
I wouldn't have either, Sophia. It suggests a profanity, rather than contains one.
And I am out for happy hour now! School starts on Monday!!!
I have to wonder what dumbass teacher didn’t listen to their teacher’s ed profs.
It's a charter school. Which is part of what makes it so funny to me.
Well, that and the Smurfs.
ETA: Tonight I may clean and take a quick nap while friends see Snakes, and then they might come over to watch some terrible TV. Or I may just nap first and see if I feel like cleaning later, since it's not a definite that they'll come and I'm awfully tired.
This weekend I plan to write a recap, and do laundry, and buy some comics, and do a little work that I brought home. And clean, sigh. I would like to see Snakes at some point but it probably won't happen this weekend.
The weird thing about this is that no one seemed to object to the girl doing the monologue in front of the class, just watching that same monologue in an R-rated movie. Which makes me think that the kids with the parent who objected went home and was all lik e"We saw and R-rated movie!!!!"
That's what I figured, when you told the story. The kids just went home and said, "We saw 'The Jury'," and the parents freaked out.
I have weirdnesses about parental approval in monologue choices, since that is really all I have ever taught to high school kids. They often want to do things that are shocking, and if it is within their range, I am usually fine with it.
Do they usually choose material with which they're already familiar? I mean, I'm not going to get angry at school personnel, if my kid sees or reads something on my time (that is, not on school time) and then chooses it for a school monologue. That's my fault, not the school's.
This weekend I'm pre-sleeping for working the graveyard tech support on Saturday night. I intend to play loud rock music and write fic while waiting for someone in the estimating and contractor industry to need his software supported at 3 AM on a Sunday morning.
My life is soooo exciting. I've been able to spend a fair amount of time this afternoon contemplating whether I should go to TJs tonight and do laundry tomorrow morning, or vice versa.
Still haven't made up my mind either.
Hmm. Wonder if that new TJ's they're building near my office has opened yet...
So.
I have put up my new curtains, and they are very pretty, and providing some much-needed shade.
I have also apparently broken my air-conditioner. I was moving a shelf of DVDs back to where they belonged (I had to move them out of the way), and I stepped on the extension cord. The AC turned itself off, and now I can't get it back on. Grrrrrr.
