to be slightly horrified a 15 film was shown to 11 year olds?

[plumandvanilla]

The film was Macbeth which they have been reading in English, but although it is Shakespeare aibu to think this is so inappropriate? Or will I be 'that parent'?

I am splitting hairs because you used the US system and applied it inaccurately to make a grand point whereas actually American kids COULD watch Macbeth at an R (albeit unlikely to)

So yes, off I trundled to pedants'' corner.

I wasn't trying to make a grand point.
I found information about the content of the movie being discussed and posted it.

But most of us discussing it have seen it so we didn't need that information, in all honesty.

We all know it is violent and has nudity. Some people will insist it's Ok because it is Shakespeare or 'the y will have seen worse' etc. Some/ many have said it's not appropriate and most have said the teacher should have sought consent.

I actually wanted to promote the BBFC guidelines which say a 15 should NOT be shown to 11 year olds. They suggest a year's leeway will be OK ( ie in year 10 a 15 will generally be acceptable fdepending on context) but would not endorse the showing of a 15 to 11 year olds.

I have visited the BBFC many times and they take their classification decisions very very seriously.

So, in other words the teacher shouldn't have sought consent because they shouldn't have shown it. It's that simple.

Sorry I spoke

My contribution was unnecessary

I would imagine it's harmless enough but the school should have sent out consent letters to covet their backs. My daughter's school did this and it was all fine. Also OP not sure how much Shakespeare you're familiar with but many of his plays have adult themes...in fact, I can't think of many where there's no violence...waits to be corrected

meh they'll survive I'm sure

Can’t be that bad-a young Keith Chegwin is in the 1971 version

I think generally it should be up to the parents to make those judgments; if responsible types, they will have seen the movie/done the research and will know if it is suitable for their own children. I would not be impressed if another parent/school showed my kids a film that was an inappropriate age rating. (Like my SIL who showed my then 3 and 5 yrs olds 18-rated Starship Troopers! Nudity, sex, and full-on gory violence including limbs being severed. We had a blunt conversation over THAT one!)

They should write and ask the parents if they are ok with it first and not just assume.

I think every teacher on this thread has said that it would be good practice to consult with parents re showing films outwith age classifications, AND that we wouldn't think this film a great idea at 11, not least because it's a waste when they'd enjoy & understand it so much more later.

It's the new 'cancel the cheque'...

Something which has just occurred to me: if any of the pupils shared a still or short clip from the film showing the naked boy being washed, would that be illegal? The police recently gave a talk at the DCs secondary school warning that sending underage nude photos is illegal, but I wonder if it would be ok if the image came from a film they'd seen in class?

I'm surprised they've chosen Macbeth in y7!
It's a dark play and I would feel awkward teaching it to y7 because to do it appropriately means showing cartoon versions and bastardising the teaching of it to There was a king and some witches. Then macbeth killed the king so he could be king but don't worry kids because an army of goodies comes and macbeth gets killed and order is restored
It's why I don't like hearing primary teachers claim they've 'done' Macbeth at primary. They haven't studied it at all beyond some sanitised version and writing witches poems.

YANBU at all. I won't show the fassbender version to y11 even though they are all 15. It's simply not something I'm willing to show.
I've used the polanski one woth y10/11 & I like the patrick stewart one (although it's weird).