The question about movie ratings in school...

The question about movie ratings in school classrooms is too narrow.

Commercial movies have no place in K-12 schools -- neither those that

are taxpayer supported nor private. The rating is not the important

issue.

If you’re a parent like me, you’ve likely heard teachers complain

that they dont have enough time to present all the material in the

curriculum. Blame for this varies from student discipline problems to

teacher’s poor time management skills. I’ll bet the Corona del Mar

students who were shown the movie have homework assignments -- but

why, if there’s enough spare time to watch movies at school?

Movies in classrooms are like the “stealth curriculums” that

abound in schools populated by poorly informed teachers substituting

fiction for facts and avoiding the demands of their profession to be

objective and effective communicators.

The Fordham Foundation reports that only 31% of middle school

history teachers majored in the subject at college. Many school

rooms, wired for technology at great expense, are nothing more than

facilitators of what parents at Corona del Mar are finally noticing.

The class affected in your report was history. Would parents

rather their kids watch “Gladiator” or read and discuss a portion of

“Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.” Should they watch “Patriot”

or read and discuss Federalist 14? By the way, both of those movies

are rated R.

A travesty is that an assistant superintendent implies in the

comment attributed to him that the district approves movies in the

classroom. How many parents would have sat quietly at Open House last

fall and nodded in agreement if the instructor had included

“Zoolander” and “The Messenger” in his syllabus?

I’ll wager that those teachers didn’t have permission slips.

KENNETH LARSON

Newport Beach

I certainly oppose showing R-rated movies to seventh-graders. Do

we need a policy?

You wouldn’t think we would need one, but then after last week, we

probably do.

GWEN JOHNSON

Corona del Mar

Absolutely, the school should have guidelines or rules for showing

movies at the school. Absolutely no R-rated or X-rated movies should

be shown to any students -- high school, grade school, anywhere.

PG-13 should not be shown in the middle school. As for high

school, I’m not sure about that. But why are movies like this being

shown in school anyway?

The only way movies should be shown is if they have a direct

connection with what the class is studying. Also, it seems ridiculous

that a teacher does not have enough sense not to show these, even

though there may not be a stated rule about this.

As a taxpayer and as a grandmother of students in that school, I

think it’s absolutely ridiculous to show such movies.

BONNIE KOEHLER

Corona del Mar

We don’t talk about necrophilia with our children under any

circumstances, and I can’t imagine why they would show a movie in

school.

RICK BAKER

Newport Beach

Yes, (there should be a policy), and you ought to check into

what’s happening at Newport Harbor with the books they produce over

there for the English class.

BILL DUNLAP

Newport Beach

As a parent, I would not like my daughter, who is a third-grader

at this point, involved in showing anything like necrophilia, and I

don’t believe that in any way is it the proper way to study Joan of

Arc.

FRED RAWLINS

Newport Beach

I’m actually in his sixth-period class at Corona del Mar High

School, and he actually fast-forwarded through the scene.

BRIAN SMITH

Newport Beach

I have two grandchildren at Corona del Mar High School, and I was

very upset about it.

I would think at a minimum that the school...should not be able to

show any movies that need parents’ permission. It should be edited

down to probably G to make it safe for everybody. This teacher did

the exact same thing last year; my son was in seventh grade, and

there were complaints about it then.

RICK NICHOLSON

Newport Beach

I would say yes, they definitely should have a policy to have no

R-rated movies.

DIANE THORNTON

Corona del Mar

I talked to one of the mothers, whose daughter was in the class,

and the daughter was really traumatized. It was a terrible experience

for her I guess, and it would have been for me in seventh grade. I

absolutely think the school district should have some supervision

over what our poor children are being exposed to. It’s bad enough

with the TV and the computer and what have you, but to now find it in

the schools is really rather shocking.

PEGGY OGDEN

Newport Beach

I am appalled that a seventh-grade teacher would run an R-rated

movie in front of 12- and 13-year-olds. I’m disappointed. Actually

I’m kind of outraged. I’d be so upset if my child was in that class,

and I think that teacher should be let go.

ROSE REYNOLDS

Newport Beach

Yes, I do think there should be a policy against what kind of

movies we see at school because the last place I think to see such an

inappropriate film would be at my school.

JENNA CHATILLON

Newport Beach