Now, do please tell me if you think IABU
As part of a history lesson, year 7s (many barely 11) were shown an extract from a cerificate 15 film. (The Life of Brian). This extract was inocuous.
For homework they are ancouraged to access this extract for themselves on youtube.
The response from the head of history is this:
We have shown the clip in class for a number of years and it is always received well by students; they enjoy the comedy and it is a good introduction to the topic, and for this reason we will continue to use it next year.
My concerns are
- A child is being introduced to something potentially unsuitable, which they wouldn't have come across otherwise, and it would be easy to view other (less suitable) clips from this film on youtube.
- A 15 film classification decision is reached by trained film classifiers, so it's not really the teacher's job to decide whether this is OK or not.
- I have the right to expect that the classroom at least will be a safe place, and that my child will not be exposed to unsuitable material BY THE TEACHER.
- The fact that a film clip is "received well" doesn't justify it.
Does anyone know what the law says about this and has anyone any suggestions for taking this further? I am not quite angry enough for the Daily Mail. Yet.