Author |
Message |
Rissa
Member
03-20-2006
| Tuesday, October 16, 2007 - 1:44 pm
I can't speak about most teens, I just know that mine is absolutely NOT sensitized to any level of violence and was very very upset. If the teacher wanted to motivate them to get into Shakespeare he has achieved the opposite. Denecee, to be very simplistic Macbeth is about the lure of power. Its just one murder after another in quest for the throne. You can imagine that reading a Shakespeare play about murder is much different than watching a Polanski film about mass murders.
|
Ladytex
Member
09-27-2001
| Tuesday, October 16, 2007 - 1:58 pm
Rissa, see if there are written guidelines about media shown to students. Some districts do not allow R rated movies to be shown in a classroom ... period. If there are, and these were not followed, you should follow the grievance procedure in your parent's handbook.
|
Serate
Member
08-21-2001
| Tuesday, October 16, 2007 - 2:30 pm
Everything You Always Wanted To Know About The Movie Rating System ******** R - Restricted. Children Under 17 Require Accompanying Parent or Adult Guardian. An R-rated motion picture, in the view of the Rating Board, contains some adult material. An R-rated motion picture may include adult themes, adult activity, hard language, intense or persistent violence, sexually-oriented nudity, drug abuse or other elements, so that parents are counseled to take this rating very seriously. Children under 17 are not allowed to attend R-rated motion pictures unaccompanied by a parent or adult guardian. Parents are strongly urged to find out more about R-rated motion pictures in determining their suitability for their children. Generally, it is not appropriate for parents to bring their young children with them to R-rated motion pictures. ***** Is the rating system a law? No, the rating system is strictly voluntary and carries no force of law. So to get into an R rated movie it is recommended that a parent or adult guardian accompany the under 17 aged child. And teachers are adult guardians - though not legal guardians - while the students are in class. But obviously in this case the teacher did not know at least 1 student well enough to know this movie was not suited for her. So in the case of R rated movies for children under the age of 17 teachers should not be able to make the decision to show these movies w/o a parent or legal guardian's permission. In my opinion.
|
Beckie03
Member
07-05-2007
| Tuesday, October 16, 2007 - 2:37 pm
Serate, I have only been out of high school for four years...maybe things have changed, but when I was under 17, my teachers if they were going to show a movie that had language or anything else would either tell us that if we don't want to be in class to leave (some people actually did) or they made us take home a permission slip to have our parents sign.
|
Rissa
Member
03-20-2006
| Tuesday, October 16, 2007 - 2:52 pm
Beckie, that's what is SUPPOSED to happen. Serate, thank you for looking that information up. I want to add that to the letter so I went and found the Canadian rating: Restricted (R) Restricted to persons 18 years of age or over. Guidelines Language: No restriction. Violence: Visually explicit portrayals of violence, which may be characterized by extreme brutality, extreme bloodletting and extreme tissue damage. May include torture, horror, sexual violence. Nudity: Full frontal nudity in a sexual situation. Sexual Activity: Simulated sexual activity; limited instances of brief, non-violent explicit sexual activity. Horror: Horrific themes, incidents and images will have a more prolonged or graphic focus and greater frequency. Psychological Impact: Scenes and situations may cause extreme adverse psychological impact. Could involve intense and compelling terror, acts of degradation, threats of violence, and continuous acts of non-extreme violence. Such situations could be accompanied by coarse, abusive, and degrading dialogue. We have an 18A rating which seems to correspond to the American R. The Cdn R is actually one step up and this movie qualifies.
|
Serate
Member
08-21-2001
| Tuesday, October 16, 2007 - 2:57 pm
Why is there no uproar if the book/play is violent but there is uproar if the movie is? I can only answer with my experience with me. I can read the scariest, goriest, most detailed novel and it not bother me at all. Let me see it on tv or at a movie and I'm freaked out. I'm sure this movie is a good one. I just don't think it is appropriate for 14 year olds. I know my 13 year old step daughter would probably love this movie and have no problems with it. But does that make it appropriate for her? Not in my opinion. My 17 year old step daughter would probably have nightmares if she saw it. As far as if it should be read by 14 year olds, I have no idea what the literature levels are in teenagers today. If I relate it to when I was 14, it seems a little more graphic than anything we read.
|
Julieboo
Member
02-05-2002
| Tuesday, October 16, 2007 - 3:21 pm
Oh, when I read Misery, it did bother me. It was the first time a book made me react like a movie did. (Where I had to almost close me eyes to go on reading...if that can be!)
|
Landileigh
Member
07-29-2002
| Tuesday, October 16, 2007 - 4:01 pm
i would have called the school IMMEDIATELY, not wait for all this talk, and told them, under no certain terms did you give your permission for your child to see a R rated movie in her english class. I'd inform them that no permission slips were sent home for your approval and then I'd ask them what actions that they planned to take so that this did not happen again. PERIOD. it's not acceptable. there is no pussyfooting around. this is not something to be secretive about and send anonymous letters.
|
Beckie03
Member
07-05-2007
| Tuesday, October 16, 2007 - 4:52 pm
Sorry, Rissa, didn't read up on the topic except for what Serate posted...guess that's what I get for writing before reading everything LOL
|
Rissa
Member
03-20-2006
| Tuesday, October 16, 2007 - 5:19 pm
Nope, can't do. I need to balance my actions with my daughter's wishes and she does not want to be singled out. This was not something that happened btn just her and the teacher, something he can deny if my name isn't on a letter. There is no up-side (for my daughter) having the teacher know WHO lodged the complaint. But I do intend to ask for an statement/apology sent to the parents as well as a review of their policy enforcement procedures. NP Beckie, I appreciate your jumping in. 
|
Landileigh
Member
07-29-2002
| Tuesday, October 16, 2007 - 6:37 pm
you do realize you could sue the school and the district about this? and this teacher could be fired? recently my daughter had to have permission, even though she is 17 to watch Private Ryan. what your daughter's teacher has done IS AGAINST THE LAW! not just about being singled out. and if this teacher did any sort of thing to do that, they should be removed from teaching.
|
Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Tuesday, October 16, 2007 - 7:03 pm
1st -- I totally agree; r-rated movies should not be shown to students of that age (heck -- I even "edited" a PG-13 movie "Dirty Dancing Havana Nights" for my Spanish class). Unfortunately, some districts do NOT have specific movie policies...and I don't think you can sue based on a voluntary ratings system. Definitely contact the school's principal. As a teacher I've heard from my boss, "The parent didn't want to tell you b/c they didn't want you to take it out on their child." My response: First, I'm more professional than that. Second and MOST IMPORTANT: I WANT to know if there is a problem! How can I fix it if I don't know? I care about all my students, and would never take something out of one of them b/c of something I did that made them uncomfortable. Quite the opposite - I'd be apologizing all over the place and trying my darndest to make the student feel safe again. My guess is the teacher is a younger one? You'd be amazed at the "dumb moves" a younger teacher can make when they think they're connecting to the kids because they AREN'T "old fogies." If it were me, I'd call my daughter in sick, but I'd also speak to the principal to find out if there is a movie policy. Whether there is or there isn't, I'd lodge a complaint (anonymous or otherwise). I'd also ask for a FOLLOW UP call from the principal so as to know how it was handled.
|
Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Saturday, October 20, 2007 - 1:17 pm
If it's not one thing, it's another! Darren's working today doing inventory (end of year) and this will be the only Saturday this year he'll work 10-12 hours. Of course, this morning I get a phone call from one of my neighbors who never calls me on the phone, ever, since we usually run into each other several times a day outside. Asks if I've been outside, I said nope, just got out of bed. She told me I have water running out of the yard, into the gutter and down the street. My first thought was that Darren turned on the sprinklers on the side of the house and forgot them when he left. When I walked out, I knew that wasn't it! Water was seaping up from the ground and my second thought was that was the sprinkler pipe. I turned the knob on the sprinklers (I have two, one to turn the hose/sprinklers on that side of the house off, and one that shuts the sprinkler pipe off from the main) and that didn't work. It's a freaking pipe into the house. I send Kota across the street to get my neighbor (I have the tool to shut off the water, and know exactly where to do it, but don't have the stregnth with my wrists to do it) and he's not home. I call Darren at work and ask him if there's any other way to shut that pipe off without shutting off the main and he says no. If neighbor isn't home, call bil and have him come over. Darren can't come home cuz not only are they doing inventory, he is doing it with a brand new team who has never done it in their section before so he's having to train them as well. Luckily another neighbor had come out to see where all the water was coming from and came over and shut it off for me. I thanked him profusely and we talked about the fact that it's most likely the main pipe that's broken. Called my bil and told him about it, he said he'd come help Darren fix it. Said Darren won't be home til 4-5 and it could be as late as 7 and he said, "ew, you're going to be without water all day!" ACKKK! Had to ask if I could drop the kids off cuz I can't keep them here all day with no water. Kids are gripping cuz they want to stay home. Dakota and I had plans for movie night and cooking dinner and the idea of spending the day with his sister and 3 girl cousins just isn't fun for Caleb. I can't clean or do laundry, take a shower, or even cook (cuz I won't be able to wash dishes!) all day. And poor Darren's going to have to work all day then come home and dig up the pipe to fix it, unfortunately with our plumbing he's pretty much an expert at that.
|
Heyltslori
Moderator
09-15-2001
| Saturday, October 20, 2007 - 1:21 pm
(((War))) That really sucks.
|
Ladytex
Member
09-27-2001
| Saturday, October 20, 2007 - 1:37 pm
War, that really does suck ... since you're free today, however, you could always come down here and cook and clean 
|
Jimmer
Moderator
08-30-2000
| Saturday, October 20, 2007 - 1:41 pm
You have my empathy. I hate it when that happens. We had our water shut off for a couple of days and when you actually live at home during the day (as opposed to many people who are away from their house during the day) it is a really big issue!!!
|
Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Saturday, October 20, 2007 - 2:50 pm
LOL Lady, give me a couple hours and I'll be there! Last time this happened we were without water for four days and ended up renting a hotel room for a few days. It's a pita and something you don't think too much about when everything is working great. Called my bil and told him I thought Darren would probably need his help later. I think (easy for me to say since I'm not the one fixing it, lol) that this will be an easy repair job but since he'll be home late that could turn it into a more time consuming job. Darren's only got one day off this week and then has school stuff next week so less time at home. While we can do without water through the weekend, we'd be in trouble once the week started cuz not only would he have less time to fix it, with him working and going to school and the kids in school, we just can't go much longer without water!
|
Kstme
Member
08-14-2000
| Saturday, October 20, 2007 - 3:26 pm
{{{{War}}}} This is the pits!! I am so sorry you all have the broken pipe. Hopefully, Darren and bil will have it fixed asap!
|
Lumbele
Member
07-12-2002
| Saturday, October 20, 2007 - 4:00 pm
(((Warclan))), being without water sucks big time. Sorry to hear you have to deal with that too now. Good luck to Darren and the bil! May they be able to take care of the problem in a jiffy so you can all still have at least *some* weekend fun.
|
Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Saturday, October 20, 2007 - 5:19 pm
Well crap, Darren called a few minutes ago to tell me they were still at work and didn't know when they'd get home. I forgot he drove to work with his buddy today, but he said when they got back to town, and bil comes over, they will dig up the yard and check it out. Told me they'd already talked about it and if they can't get it fixed quickly, they're going to leave it for tomorrow morning (argh, though I understand) cuz it's getting late and it's really windy out. Was also talking about staying at a hotel tonight and leaving the kids with my sister. Called her to ask if they could stay, she thought they already were, lol. She'd just come back from the grocery store picking up dinner for all of them and planning a big breakfast. Now I'm wondering if I have to go to a hotel tonight, would it be wildly inappropriate to pick one with a nice restaurant and bar, pack the dress clothes and call it date night??? Ideally, it'll be a minor prob the guys can fix quickly and we can pick the kids up and save the money, but heck, why can't I have fun with it, lol!?
|
Kstme
Member
08-14-2000
| Saturday, October 20, 2007 - 5:51 pm
Have FUN and GO! War, I think this sounds like a TERRIFIC idea! 
|
Ophiliasgrandma
Member
09-04-2001
| Saturday, October 20, 2007 - 5:54 pm
Great idea to get away from it. Mini vacation!
|
Y2krazy
Member
09-17-2002
| Saturday, October 20, 2007 - 6:04 pm
I concur, you need a date night. So does Darren. Go for it!
|
Ducky
Member
08-27-2000
| Saturday, October 20, 2007 - 6:26 pm
Some things happen for a reason. I say go and have fun and make the best out of the situation. It could be the break that you both are needing.
|
Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Saturday, October 20, 2007 - 6:37 pm
LOL, thanks guys! Darren's still not home, but called a bit ago to tell me they'd be on there way and to find a hotel with a restaurant and we'd go out to dinner. Already found a room, and let the neighbor know we'd be gone for the night so they can keep an eye out for emergencies. Not worried about the dog, he'll be fine home for the night (we'll be back early in the morning) and can let himself in and out. I have the kids bags packed and now just need to do ours and run over to pay for the room and hit the store real quick for a few things sis forgot to pick up.
|
|