School showed 13 yr olds a 15 horror film. im i making to much of it ?

[melandtony]

I had a letter home to ask me to sign to say i had to sign to say my dd could watch a 15c horror film in school for media studys. my dd isnt the kind of child to enjoy or even want to watch a horror film so from the start i wasnt happy. my dd left giving me the letter to the night before the lesseon. i said i will think about it. in the evening she said she didnt want to go to school tomorrow. i said right thats it im not signing it coz its clear you dont want to watch it. world war three broke out and she got upset. i then said i would sign it but im adding a letter and if they say you dont have to sit in there then i want you to leave. she got uoset coz she said if i said no and she was the only one she would look like a baby and she said that the teacher had said he wanted them all signed or he would have to miss out on the film. so the poor kid had pressure from all sides.

this was my letter -

I have returned the form but not entirely happy with Evangeline watching a horror film. Not informing the parents of the films title also makes it hard to judge. Evangeline does not like to watch this type of film and it tends to play on her mind if she does. Evangeline feels under pressure from the teachers to have the form signed and join the class but also has the peer pressure if she is the only child not being granted permission or wanting to take part. If she is not the only one with reservations or I am not the only parent then I would like you to give her the option of not having to watch. If there is something I can do at home with Evangeline in order for her to have an understanding of the film or I can show her something and discuss at home then I am happy to do so. Evangeline has discussed this with me and has said that she is not the only one looking forward to this. In future I feel it would be better to inform the parents of the film title so at least I could have looked into it before hand with her or made a better judgement on this.

when my dd got home she said she said she didnt want to watch it to a couple of friends and they felt the same. luckly my dd said she could not watch it and the other 3 girls screwed up there slips and said there mums said no to watching it.

the film turned out to be "drag me to hell". i have watched the trailer and even i would not watch it. am i being over the top with this. i really cant understand why they would need to watch the whole film to understand how a film in narraded / cut / edited.

am i being ott ?

What is all this about being forced or persuaded to watch the film?

The teacher did the professional thing and sent home a permission slip, no one was forced to watch it, the OP signed the permission slip.

All you have for any persuasion is a 13 year olds account of what happened. Which, no offence OP, may not be accurate?

I'm sure the teacher would have had a backup in case parents said no, either another film or a separate activity for the students who did not want to watch.

Peer pressure at that age can be intolerable, inspired. And it certainly sounds as if the teacher was putting pressure on as well. It really shouldn't be necessary to watch 15 rated films - there are plenty of good films with lower ratings.

I'm fairly sure school should not be showing a 15 film to U15s legally, even with parental consent. Even if they are (and I know my school would never condone it) you are not being OTT, they are completely out of order.

I have a 13 year old daughter (well 13 in 3 weeks time) and there is no way I would allow her to watch "Drag me to Hell". She wouldn't sleep for a week. They watched "The hole" at school a few weeks ago which is a 12 and I know that left her feeling uneasy as she kept talking about the film and how it had creeped her out. If I was sent a permission slip asking me to allow her to watch an un-named 15 rated film there is no way I would sign it and I would be asking the school why they felt the need to show 13 year old children horror films.

I've found this a very interesting thread.

I think the discussion of Gremlins rather misleading though. As a media studies teacher, the poster must know that the 15 classification was nothing to do with 80s sensibilities, rather the result of what certificates were then available. The difficulties with classifying that film (and Indiana Jones that year) lead directly to the creation of new certificates in UK (12) and US (13).

I would not give my permission for my children to watch films in schools that they would not be allowed to watch in a cinema (might let them watch on a DVD at home, where the experience would be less intense and a parent would be present).

The showing of film to children under age for the certificate in schools appears to have become routine. I am very glad this thread had warned me of it, and I shall ensure that, if my DCs take a film-based subject, that I send in a letter at the start of the course indicating they may not be shown such material.

When my dd was in Yr 9 (13/14 yr olds), she bought home a permission slip to watch Slumdog Millionaire (15). As
a) I was aware of the film title and therefore the film I was happy to make informed decision
and
b) she had already seen it, as we thought it was a 12, and were surprised to discover it was a 15.

This was for geography.

As a teacher, I think your first step should be to speak directly to the teacher involved. From what you've posted, it does sound a strange permission letter, and the way your daughter has spoken about the class seems concerning. However, I would want to know more about what the teacher intended and how the class reacted to it. I've known teachers to show a variety of videos which on first glance would seem inappropriate, but they have good reasons or specific clips to show and really set them up to make it a good learning experience.

Did you get a reply to your letter? If I received one like that, I'd have passed it to my head via my dept head for one of them to phone you and discuss your thoughts. When you do talk to the school, don't be surprised if they defend the action - they are likely to then go and deal with the incident effectively in private (just like you would if someone commented on the behaviour of your child when they were out!)

Let me know what happens