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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Michael Jackson Thriller video shown in class to Yr 3!

87 replies

gingertoo · 08/07/2009 17:32

Feel free to tell me if you think I'm being over protective but I'm really not happy that my son's Yr3 class has been shown the full version of Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' video this afternoon in school.
The first thing he said to me when he came out of school was 'Are zombies real, mum?'
He keeps mentioning it and saying he didn't like it. He is a bit of a gentle soul - he has acute health needs, is young for his age and doesn't like the 'baddies' in alot of cartoon films.....

What do you think? AIBU to be unhappy that this has been shown to my child at school?

(Have no idea why they watched it either?? btw)

OP posts:
KingCanuteIAm · 08/07/2009 18:21

You don't think an 8yo can be told "it is not real, it is make applied to people to make a music video" Really? Gosh, I suppose I have unrealistic expectstions but I am pretty sure I could explain stage make up to my 5yo so I would be surprised to have trouble with my 8yo. Yes they may be unsettled by the image but I would not expect to have any trouble rationalising it or whatever with them.

Screamingadab, the Scooby Doo films? Zombies, people in stage make up?

BalloonSlayer · 08/07/2009 18:21

DS1 is 9 and hates anything that gives him a jumps.

The bit where MJ's eyes have suddenly turned yellow as he has begun to turn into a werewolf would make DS1 hysterical.

The zombies probably wouldn't bother him.

pagwatch · 08/07/2009 18:22

I would be bloody furious if my children were studying Micheal Jackson for pretty much any reason until they are in senior school and able to look at pop culture/iconography/modern celebrity with a critical eye. Otherwise we are emphasising this stuff as if it has weight when it is ...er...pop.

My DD is nearly 7 and is dimily aware that an odd looking bloke who made some good songs has died. Everything else is over her head and that is pretty much how I like it.

I would want to know in what contextthey were shown it tbh.
But I am an uptight witch

screamingabdab · 08/07/2009 18:23

KingCanute Nope, not seen the ScoobyDoo Films

KingCanuteIAm · 08/07/2009 18:24

Pag, I very much agree with that - I would not want my dc shown something like this in an "ooh isn't it sad" type context, never mind anything else but I think that is a seperate issue to the is it ok for an 8yo issue.

pagwatch · 08/07/2009 18:24

I sound like a screaming harridan. Sorry.

There was much less shrieking when I typed that in my head

screamingabdab · 08/07/2009 18:26

KingCanute yes, I could explain stage makeup, if I was there with them to explain it!

That's the point though . if I've got any worries about the content of a film (eg The Spiderwick Chronicles has some nasty bits), I'd like to be there to do the explaining the first time they see it.

cornsilk · 08/07/2009 18:27

King Canute - In that context is it okay to show a child something like 'The Evil Dead' and tell them that it's just actors in make up?

screamingabdab · 08/07/2009 18:28

I sound a bit cross, too. I'm not, honest. I think it is an interesting debate

Hulababy · 08/07/2009 18:28

I think it is inappropriate to be shown in a Y3 classroom, regardless of whether he average 8y would be scared.

Besides if it is a 15 it is not allowed to have been shown.

I would also want to know why it was shpown and in what context, as AFAIK, MJ isn;t on the school curriculum! And most 8y probably don't even know who he is.

cornsilk · 08/07/2009 18:30

I'm not cross either! I'm just joining in.

sweetnitanitro · 08/07/2009 18:31

I'm not sure that the Thriller video would be scary to all yr 3 kids, I'm sure some would just find it funny (especially since it's so dated) but the teacher should have checked first. I bought the 25th anniversary edition of the Thriller album a couple of years ago and the video is still rated 15.

witchofeastwick · 08/07/2009 18:32

For the choreography of dance scenes then yes.
For the scary werewolf then no.

I'm a teacher and there is no way I'd show the full version to any class of Primary school children without written permission.
It is a risky thing to do.

KingCanuteIAm · 08/07/2009 18:33

I think itis an interesting one too!

I think explaining it afterwards (ie after school sp a few hours not a few days) should be enough really, it only lasts a few minutes, it is not like it is enough to scar!

Cornsilk, a three of four minute music vid of blokes dancing around in rags and make up is not really the same as The Evil Dead is it? I see the point you are trying to make but I think Evil Dead is a bit of a stretch

screamingabdab · 08/07/2009 18:33

sweet No, I agree, some would not be scared. I'd put it at about 50/50 (but I am biased

LyraSilvertongue · 08/07/2009 18:35

My boys (4 and 6) both love the thriller video. But then they're not too sensitive to things they see on the TV (they also love Dr Who) so I made the judgement that they wouldn't be scared by it.
I wouldn't necessarily show it to their friends because other children might react differently.
Therefore I think it was wrong to show it to a year 3 class.

screamingabdab · 08/07/2009 18:35

I think we are all agreed about how reasonable we all are.

Now we just need some rude fucker to come along .......

KingCanuteIAm · 08/07/2009 18:36

Can I just say, I am writing as the mother of a very nervy and easily upset 7yo boy, he is more easily upset than my 5yo dd and he has watched the vid in question without a problem so I am actually basing my opinion on something. I know they are not all the same but my ds is at the sensetive end of the spectrum!

cornsilk · 08/07/2009 18:36

LOL King Canute. My sister who is one of the most boring sensible people I know used to let her ds watch Evil Dead when he was about 10/11. She said that he was able to see the funny side of it so it was okay.

Poshpaws · 08/07/2009 18:36

I agree with checking with parents first, though.

Having said that, films rated 15 or so in the 1980s have been shown as family films on tv in the 2000s, for example Gremlins or Ghostbusters.

I assume, therefore, broadcasters (and teachers...) think that children are more 'savvy' these days or that the effects are so dated, that children would clearly see that the events are not real.

I dunno, it's a tricky one. Maybe the boys that I know in YR3 are hard-nuts (although DS1 LOVES Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom)

KingCanuteIAm · 08/07/2009 18:37

it is MJ related - someone will be along shortly I am sure

screamingabdab · 08/07/2009 18:40

Poshpaws Yes, that's what I find interesting.

HAVE children changed all that much, or does it just suit marketing type people, who want to get the widest possible audience to their films,(and buy all the merchandise) to assume they have?

< senses a capitalist plot >

MrsKitty · 08/07/2009 18:40

YANBU.

The edited music video version (i.e. the one that would have been shown on TOTP etc) would have been fine, the full version with the werewolf eye flash at the end - No. It is a 15 certificate rated piece and if I were you I would probably be complaining to the school.

I remember when it first came out on VHS I must have been around 7-8 years old and a friend had it at home. I remember being utterly terrified and it bothered me for ages (even years later it sent the jitters up me!) Admittedly I am a complete wuss when it comes to this sort of thing, but as a rule I avoid watching anything 'scary' as I know when I turn the lights out to go the bed it'll creep me out - to have it shown in a classroom environment, without prior parental consent is irresponsible at best IMO.

KingCanuteIAm · 08/07/2009 18:40

Yes, I remember watching THe Omen 1,2and3 when I was about 11yo at a friends house. Her mother thought it didn't matter as long as we were quiet - I was quiet because I was pinned to the bed in terror

I still can't do horror!

Effects and things have come such a long way since then that, even a young child, can see it is not very realisitc, whereas it looked very real when it was doe - hence the rating then. The fact it has not been reclassified is probably more about them just not having done it yet than anything else!

cornsilk · 08/07/2009 18:42

Although Jaws is a pg! How crazy is that?