to complain to school for showing TV Series Life and Death Row to Year 8 kids

[Ponka]

DS has come out of school the last two Fridays pretty upset at having watched it and they are set to finish watching the 2nd episode next week and last week he didn't want to go to bed and couldn't stop thinking about it.

In the episodes, you see the murdered body and you also see the body of the Death Row inmate after they've been killed.

Am I overprotective Mum with a sensitive child or is it a bad call on the part of the teacher to show this to 12/13 year olds?

Should I complain, or bite my lip?

YANBU. That is weird. Why were they watching it?

Criminal responsibility is 10 so as unsavory as it is YABU.

I'm not sure how relevant it is showing to UK kids but I suppose they should know that other countries may treat crime more seriously.

Have you watched it to see the content? I watched the serieswith my young teen and it really wasn't that bad.

It's for "Citizenship classes" It seems they've been studying the argument for and against the death penalty for about 5-6 weeks now. Great to learn about these things but DS said for him and some others he spoke to, the programme was pretty harrowing.

Sometimes harrowing is good. I'd worry more about children who viewed it and didn't find it harrowing. Learning important lessons can be emotional. I'd want to know how gory it was though. Gory isn't necessary I don't think for this age although it doesn't particularly sound like it was.

I have just started watching this on the iplayer. The episode I watched this morning was quite disturbing but they did blur out the face of the murdered victims body. So sad.
Another episode they showed the executed inmate lying peacefully in his coffin, he looked like he was sleeping. I think it's a very well done series.

Dd has watched this (at home) when in Y9. I've watched it too-I must admit I find it very good, and very educational.

I can't remember if I saw actual bodies, either of perpetrator or victim; if they were shown, it would have been handled well and appropriately.

Have you seen it? It used to be on Catchup but it sure if it still is.

YABU

Maybe IABU. I haven't seen it but want to find it and watch the episode last week that he was very upset by. He said you saw the body of a girl lying in a contorted position and you saw blood and it really bothered him but I suppose you can't shield kids from the reality of life forever.

I'm not sure whether or not I would personally let a 12/13 year old watch this. It may depend on the child. However, I do think parents should have least been notified of this, with the option to opt out if they themselves had seen it and deemed in inappropriate for their child.

The number of children I have taught who blithely claim that they are 'pro death penalty' is astonishing. A little harsh reality is a good thing.

Watching that it's real people who are on death row is a good idea to bring the reality of it all to light for their argument for and against possibly some would change their minds.

But, year 8, I'm not so sure about really.

Trying to watch it on Iplayer but my computer is flaky so I've not managed to load it. I did manage to get to the loading screen where it had a red warning message that it "Contains Upsetting Scenes" and the parent lock screen that asked me to confirm that I'm over 16 though

It always depends on the kids. I think these are things teachers need to mention to parents beforehand. And there needs to be a less harrowing alternative.

12 is very young imo.

I think it's upsetting but real life and young people need to know the reality.

They don't execute children in the US so they often use the life without possibility of parole sentence. The youngest person given that sentence in the US was 13. The age of your DSs class.

I honestly think if the reality of things such as drink driving accidents, playing chicken on train tracks etc were shown to kids then it may prevent them doing stupid stuff later on. I think it's ok for children to be occasionally shocked by things as long as they are old enough and 12/13 year olds are perfectly old enough.

I think it's a goodbye thing. Adolescents need to see the reality of capital punishment so that they are better informed as adults. There are still too many who think an eye for an eye is the best form of punishment.

**good thing- not goodbye!

So, I've watched the one he saw now. Series 2, Forgiveness. It shows the crime scene. Two slumped bodies covered in blood spatters. Blood spattered carpet, clothes and sofa. It's not pretty. As an adult I didn't find it upsetting at all. In fact, I thought it was a very interesting programme but I can see how it bothered him and how he found it hard not to keep thinking of those images over and over like he did for a couple of days. He is particularly bothered about death.

However, I see the point. It's not worth complaining about. Kids need to see the real consequences of crime/violence and war, upsetting though it may be. Now he is at secondary school, I guess he's old enough for that.

Thanks for the MN reality check [:)]

I fundamentally disagree with the statement hat 'kids need to see that'. I'm fairly certain that depends on the kid.

I think that they should warn the parents and children first. Some of the children may have experienced murder in their family, and seeing real dead murdered bodies on screen at school might be too much for some children.

I am a secondary teacher - I have shown videos like this in English RE and PSHCE.

I have seen the parental advisory lock at the beginning. This implies maybe it was broadcast after 9pm?

Anyway, there is NO WAY I would show this video to Year 8 with that sort of warning on the front. The parents would be perfectly within their rights to complain. Year 8 is still very young for some of them in terms of their maturity to cope with stuff. Also, we have some very vulnerable students, who from their IEPs, would not be able to watch this.

For example, I have to be very careful in showing a 12 or a 15 to the right age group - I could get in trouble if I break this rule. I would treat this the same way.

I am a bit surprised the school have shown this - or at least that they felt the need to show them so many episode or the whole thing?

There are some interesting cases to look at historically - the tragedy of Derek Bentley for example, is one I have taught in Year 8 and Year 9.