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Original poster

School showed 13 yr olds a 15 horror film. im i making to much of it ?

57 replies

melandtony · 29/03/2011 11:21

I had a letter home to ask me to sign to say i had to sign to say my dd could watch a 15c horror film in school for media studys. my dd isnt the kind of child to enjoy or even want to watch a horror film so from the start i wasnt happy. my dd left giving me the letter to the night before the lesseon. i said i will think about it. in the evening she said she didnt want to go to school tomorrow. i said right thats it im not signing it coz its clear you dont want to watch it. world war three broke out and she got upset. i then said i would sign it but im adding a letter and if they say you dont have to sit in there then i want you to leave. she got uoset coz she said if i said no and she was the only one she would look like a baby and she said that the teacher had said he wanted them all signed or he would have to miss out on the film. so the poor kid had pressure from all sides.

this was my letter -

I have returned the form but not entirely happy with Evangeline watching a horror film. Not informing the parents of the films title also makes it hard to judge. Evangeline does not like to watch this type of film and it tends to play on her mind if she does. Evangeline feels under pressure from the teachers to have the form signed and join the class but also has the peer pressure if she is the only child not being granted permission or wanting to take part. If she is not the only one with reservations or I am not the only parent then I would like you to give her the option of not having to watch. If there is something I can do at home with Evangeline in order for her to have an understanding of the film or I can show her something and discuss at home then I am happy to do so. Evangeline has discussed this with me and has said that she is not the only one looking forward to this. In future I feel it would be better to inform the parents of the film title so at least I could have looked into it before hand with her or made a better judgement on this.

when my dd got home she said she said she didnt want to watch it to a couple of friends and they felt the same. luckly my dd said she could not watch it and the other 3 girls screwed up there slips and said there mums said no to watching it.

the film turned out to be "drag me to hell". i have watched the trailer and even i would not watch it. am i being over the top with this. i really cant understand why they would need to watch the whole film to understand how a film in narraded / cut / edited.

am i being ott ?

OP posts:
mummytime · 29/03/2011 11:59

Personally I would be complaining to the head teacher. If it has a 15 certificate it should not be shown to under 15s. Now if it was just carefully choosen segments, that is very different.

BestNameEver · 29/03/2011 11:58

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

AlmightyCitrus · 29/03/2011 11:56

I think the school should of put the title of the film in the letter, so you could make a properly informed decision.
IMDB has a parents guide for each film, and you can see the different ratings in different countries. In the USA it's a PG13, in France 12 and in some countries 18. IMDB Parents Guide

I'm not overly fond of horror films myself. I remember going to a General Studies lesson and being sat in front of a video which I found incredibly upsetting and disturbing, and I got up and walked out. It affected me a great deal mentally. I was about 15 at the time.

If she doesn't want to watch it she should be allowed to go and either sit in another class or school library, with no pressure from other children, and especially not from the teacher.

Rycie · 29/03/2011 11:53

I couldn't agree with you more. but then again I have incredibly strong views that violence shouldn't be used as entertainment.

Sportsmum · 29/03/2011 11:53

In the first instance, the school should have told parents the title of the film they were due to watch so that they could make a more informed decision. I don't believe you were OTT and it is nice to see that a 13 year old child was able to make up her mind about whether or not she in fact wished to see the film.

Some 13 year olds aren't mature enough or interested in seeing 15c films of certain genres. Good for her having the courage of her own convictions. It's good when they can blame Mums in order to keep their street cred in tact!

DrNortherner · 29/03/2011 11:49

No YANBU. I'm with you all the way.

OliPolly · 29/03/2011 11:45

I have watched 'Drag me to hell'. It is a scary film but then again I don't like horror films.

I however think you were OTT. I think your daughter should have at least given the film a chance with the option to leave if she found it too much.

I would be interested to know what your DD and the other girls were doing when the rest of the class where watching the film?