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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think it's bit much DS1's new USA teacher showed them 9/11 footage

94 replies

carocaro · 12/09/2009 18:59

They are 7 by the way in year 3, UK school.

DS is freaked out by seeing the planes hit the towers, he has never seen it. She cried apparently and asked what the kids thought happened to the people hit by bits of builing in the stree below AND that they were bad people in the planes trying to bring down the USA.

What the fuck?

I need to clarify the details with other Mums/kids but DS is defo shocked.

Is it on the cirriculum?!?!?

Am quite cross about this. AIBU?

OP posts:
limonchik · 12/09/2009 19:01

Definitely clarify the details with the school first, but it does sound quite inappropriate for 7 and 8 year olds.

blametheparents · 12/09/2009 19:01

I would be cross too.

Children need to gradually learn about 'the real world' and the good and bad in it, but I don't think this is the way to do it.

How did it fit into the curriculum?

HigherThanAWombat · 12/09/2009 19:04

YANBU. That's very odd and inappropriate at that age.

When I read the title I thought that you were speaking of teens.

Goblinchild · 12/09/2009 19:04

No, it's not on the UK curriculum for Y3, not for History, PSHCE or anything else.
Yes, you need to have a conversation with the headteacher.
Teachers are human, and the woman obviously feels very deeply about what happened, but she's gone way past appropriate. Is she new to the school? To the UK?

AppleHEAD · 12/09/2009 19:06

It isn't part of the curriculum it is totally inappropriate and involves issues that you just don't want to go into with a seven year old. I have taught for 15 years and this is not appropriate

tribpot · 12/09/2009 19:06

That's too much, definitely. Different perhaps for 7 year olds who were 7 when it happened, but these children were barely born then. I'm not saying they shouldn't know about it and/or see the footage when appropriate, but surely it can never be right for school children to see their teacher cry?

Not that it really maatters in context but I think the suggestion the terrorists were bad people "trying to bring down the USA" might be correct in terms of their own beliefs but in terms of their capacity is not realistic. They cannot realistically have believed that their individual action would bring down the USA. That is too emotive a description for 7 year olds.

Heated · 12/09/2009 19:09

Misjudged. Ok, at about yr 9 secondary upwards I would think. I doubt you'll be the only one concerned. Speak to the headteacher so that they can investigate and get the full picture/ have a word/ take the appropriate action.

happywomble · 12/09/2009 19:09

I would be furious if my 7 yr old was shown this...it would give him nightmares. I don't think it should be shown in primary schools at all.

HumphreyCobbler · 12/09/2009 19:09

I would be very annoyed about this.

fishie · 12/09/2009 19:10

crikey that is well out of order.

gingerbunny · 12/09/2009 19:10

silly woman, what on earth did she think she was doing? what exactly was she trying to achieve, apart from scaring the children.
i would be furious if this was my ds and i would be straight the the head on monday to complain.
YANBU at all.

GirlsAreLOud · 12/09/2009 19:10

Totally wrong.

I was shown a book about the holocaust with pictures by a school friend at a similar age (same friend also told me in graphic detail about the moors murders).

I was far, far too young to be able to process that level of hatred and destruction.

It took me many, many days to process 9/11 when it happened and I was 23 then.

limonchik · 12/09/2009 19:12

The fact that her explanation was "they were bad people in the planes trying to bring down the USA" shows that the issue is too complex to have a meaningful classroom discussion with 7 year olds anyway.

MrsHappy · 12/09/2009 19:15

That is completely inappropriate.

I am always shocked by that footage, am in my 30s and have seen it lots of times before.

Even if world events are in the curriculum (which I kind of hope they are) there are better ways to talk about them than to show footage. I mean, at (secondary) school we talked about what was going on in the Balkans, for example, but they didn't go out of their way to show us footage of the stuff that was going on. I think that her own feelings have been put ahead of any educational objective.

Goblinchild · 12/09/2009 19:16

I was teaching 7 year olds when it happened, and we certainly didn't fill them full of nightmares about terrorists and buildings exploding and crushing pedestrians.

tribpot · 12/09/2009 19:18

Yes, I don't see how a 7 year old could understand what "bring down a country" means.

We watched a few minutes of the 'previously .. on ER' programme just now on C4, i.e. well before the watershed. Ds (aged 4 admittedly) could not understand things in 'real life' catching on fire / blowing up / collapsing even from the very sanitised bits of the programme being broadcast. We immediately turned it off. Okay 4 is not 7 but I can't imagine him being told that real people were really on a plane that really exploded into a building.

I say this with absolute empathy to all survivors; as I say, what you would have said to a child who was 7 at the time it happened and thus aware that 'something' dreadful was happening is entirely different to what you would tell a 7 year old now.

ginormoboobs · 12/09/2009 19:42

YANBU
Will it be holocaust next week? The execution of Sadam Husein?
It is not her job to tell children about 9/11.

CherryPopTart · 12/09/2009 21:29

i find it disturbing enough to watch 9/11 footage, what the hell does she think shes doing?
7 and 8 year old should not be shown images of mass murder especially when it is explained to them and then they are questioned about it

go straight to the head

Dumbledoresgirl · 12/09/2009 21:37

At the time 9/11 happened, my son was 5 and was told about what happened by teachers at school. I was less than impressed because, although he had seen the footage of the buildings collapsing while it happened on tv, he was young enough to not understand it was really happening and people were dying, and I was glad of that. It really annoyed me to find that it was openly spoken of in assembly before all the school.

Complain to the head.

slowreadingprogress · 12/09/2009 21:47

I agree with everyone. Totally inappropriate for 7 year olds. I would be really cross about this not only because of it being shown but also her allowing the kids to see her crying about this. Talk about emotionally overloading them. We're only just into the new term, they're still trying to settle in to year 3 fgs.

I would complain about this personally.

gorionine · 12/09/2009 21:51

YANBU!

ZipadiSoozi · 12/09/2009 21:54

My dts who are 5yo in year 1 were told about at school, my dd is asking all sorts of questions and seems quite confused and upset by it all. I can't believe their teacher thought this appropriate to tell a class of 5yo

MrsGladpuss · 12/09/2009 21:55

I would be concerned as well about her comments about bringing down the USA. I mean is it really her place to voice a political opinion like that?

Of course I don't condone 9/11 or any other terrorist action (who would?) but I also don't condone holding the USA up as something to aspire to. There are several reasons for my opinion, none of which I would deem appropriate to discuss with a 7 year old either. Rendition, Guantanamo, Afghanistan etc.

Firawla · 13/09/2009 00:01

YANBU, agree with mrs gladpuss its not her place to bring in her political opinions and bring in this topic which is not in the curriculum, esp if the young children are disturbed by the footage.

paisleyleaf · 13/09/2009 00:05

If it makes her cry to see it, what was she thinking showing it to 7 year olds?