AIBU to be annoyed with school?

[Carlymah]

My Autistic son attends a mainstream high school, he's 13 with the mind of a naive pre-teen. For this reason, we monitor closely the content of the apps he accesses, the films he watches and he's also not allowed to walk to/from school because of his vulnerability.

He has just informed me that in his drama class, they've watched a film and he can't get the visions out of his head. The film was a 1991 title "Let him have it" - a crime/drama with an age of 15 on it. It shows in detail (apparently - I've not watched it myself) a man being hung.

This isn't something I'd allow him to watch at home, because of the age on it but also because of the detailed images of someone dying/being killed! The children in his class are all 13/14, would this be something you'd be happy for your child to watch at that age, without your knowledge or consent??

Blimey, Equus for Year 7s!

We acted out some of the scenes as well (from the play). I’ll never forget writhing on a black box under red lighting pretending I was having a nightmare and shouting ‘Eq’. The erotic content was a bit lost on me.

Or pretending to ride a horse wearing a bridle (drama prop) and acting out whipping myself!

TBH I was too young to fully understand the themes but we all found it fascinating!

And I have a lasting love of physical theatre thanks to that teacher!

I started with my WW2 obsession around year 9 so my Dad bought me a few films like the Pianist, Schindler’s List and Life is Beautiful. All pretty brutal but I was fine.

Obviously different for your DS with autism but you won’t be able to shelter him forever. Perhaps with it being a 15 the school should have asked parents if they were ok with it first.

I think its perfectly reasonable to ask for a note to be put on the internal SEND register to contact you prior to sensitive topics being covered, but you also need to be realistic that sometimes that might not happen - it should, but teachers are human too!

As for the film Let Him Have It, I'm glad its still being studied, its important for so many reasons but its also the only film that I have ever truly sobbed at and I was much older (about 18). My brother has severe learning difficulties and I saw so many traits of my brother in the portrayal of Derek that it actually physically hurt. I would question why your son was upset by it as this will change how you support your son. If he is upset by the hanging (which is perfectly reasonable thing to be upset by) it needs handling differently to if he saw traits of himself in the film and thats left him feeling vulnerable which for me, would almost be more of a concern. Of course it could be a combination of both or something else completely but I think its worth establishing.

If the version showed to 13/14 year olds at school is s 15 then they are in breach. Contact the school to find out. It may be that they have seen a version that is not a 15. It may be Headteacher does not know what has happened. If school know your child is autistic they should be taking this in account when planning lessons.

@caringcarer

If the version showed to 13/14 year olds at school is s 15 then they are in breach. Contact the school to find out. It may be that they have seen a version that is not a 15. It may be Headteacher does not know what has happened. If school know your child is autistic they should be taking this in account when planning lessons.

In breach of what? If you mean the law then no, they are not.

www.bbfc.co.uk/education/teacher-guide/teacher-faqs