http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070514…SHoKAJlBoTMWM0F
CHICAGO - A girl and her grandparents have sued the Chicago Board of Education, alleging that a substitute teacher showed the R-rated film “Brokeback Mountain” in class.
The lawsuit claims that Jessica Turner, 12, suffered psychological distress after viewing the movie in her 8th grade class at Ashburn Community Elementary School last year.The film, which won three Oscars, depicts two cowboys who conceal their homosexual affair.
Turner and her grandparents, Kenneth and LaVerne Richardson, are seeking around $500,000 in damages.
“It is very important to me that my children not be exposed to this,” said Kenneth Richardson, Turner’s guardian. “The teacher knew she was not supposed to do this.”
According to the lawsuit filed Friday in Cook County Circuit Court, the video was shown without permission from the students’ parents and guardians.
The lawsuit also names Ashburn Principal Jewel Diaz and a substitute teacher, referred to as “Ms. Buford.”
The substitute asked a student to shut the classroom door at the West Side school, saying: “What happens in Ms. Buford’s class stays in Ms. Buford’s class,” according to the lawsuit.
Richardson said his granddaughter was traumatized by the movie and had to undergo psychological treatment and counseling.
In 2005, Richardson complained to school administrators about reading material that he said included curse words.
“This was the last straw,” he said. “I feel the lawsuit was necessary because of the warning I had already given them on the literature they were giving out to children to read. I told them it was against our faith.”
Messages left over the weekend with CPS officials were not immediately returned.
Source:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070514…SHoKAJlBoTMWM0F
Now, there is multiple ways of looking at this. You cannot become homosexual by hearing/seeing/or watching anything, including a movie. Also, children are already exposed to news and laws in school which includes some issues with homosexuality. Plus, the chances of their 12 year old not knowing about gays is pretty slim to none.
On the other hand, why would a school expose 12 year old students to an R-Rated movie? Especially a movie with graphic sex acts. The ratings are there for a reason. According to the ratings, most high school students would also not be allowed to watch the movie without parent permission. And what was the purpose of showing this movie? Watching movies like Schindlers List or Saving Private Ryan, while still a little graphic have more to do with history than a fictional story and would more than likely have a greater impact on any class than Brokeback Mountain.
So is watching a movie about an affair of two male cowboys worth $500,000 or is the grandfather just using this movie and his religion as a motive to profit from this child’s supposed distress about being exposed to things that happen in the real world?
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9 users commented in " 12 Year Old Sues Over Brokeback Mountain "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackWow! Great article.
I think they are money hungry! I don’t think that a straight out porn video in sex ed is worth $500,000 in trama and those can be pretty tramatic.
This is the real world, get a LIFE. Sex and gay rights are everywhere.
Turn Jessica over to the Jesuits !
KUDOS, Chase!!!!
This whole thing makes me sick. The purpose of this lawsuit is NOT to make money. It is to make a statement about what has been happening in public schools all over the US.
The decline in morals, good taste and respect for those of faith has resulted in an increase is immoral behavior that may very well be the beginning of the end for our next generations.
For one thing, no teacher should be able to make a choice about allowing a child of 12 to see “R” rated material ever. That decision should be solely in the hands of the parents or guardians. We DO NOT live in a Socialist state, folks. This isn’t Old Mother Russia or Switzerland for crying out loud. We live in a country where freedom reigns and people choose what they believe. It is not the state’s job to indoctrinate our children in the ways of Hollywood and the depraved minds of Communist/Socialist wannabes. The decision to show this disturbing film alone should have landed this substitute teacher in the unemployment line. In addition to the liberal agendas of the public school system, this teacher violated the trust of the children they were hired to teach and their parents. I hope they win every dime and that the Education System will take note.
I’m having a hard time taking this story at face value. Most substitute teachers are either semi-retired, or trying to get their foot in the door for a full time position. I’m having a hard time seeing a semi retired teacher showing this, and an even harder time imagining some new teacher, looking to impress, seeing this as good resume builder. Then there’s the length of the film, 2 hours and 14 minutes. How that fits into a 6th or 7th grade class period escapes me completely.
Given the grandparents’ admited political agenda, my best guess is that their case is massively overstated to get the broadest possible attention.
Apparently there are lots of people who would like us to go back to one-room schoolhouses and making kids do their homework by the light of whale oil lanterns. It’s called progress. It’s called moving forward. It’s called accepting the realities of the world that our children live (and learn) in, and dealing with it head on instead of suing teachers and schools.
Here’s another article on the story: http://www.thenewsroom.com/details/301364?c_id=kc
They have a right to sue and should win - the substitute teacher should be fired for showing an R rated film, but the award should be $1.00 and no more. Twelve year olds know a lot more than Grandma and Grandpa think and they are using her for their own greed.
I have sexual neurosis. Please give me $500.000…
I would laugh if I didnt know that american taliban wasnt so strong that judges actually have to take this seriously.
That child needs therapy to cure her abnormal fear against sex and it should be questioned if the parents should be sued for child abuse.
I agree with Ro Wilson above - & it isn’t Socialist - yet. But that seems to be what half of the country wants. The twelve year old and her grandparents who stick up for her are right! At least they have the courage to stand up and say something. Wrong is wrong. And right is right. Why pour badness into children? And the majority of our media is not only trying to normalize this behavior but promote and celebrate it. Our country may be destroyed from within.
The 12-year-old, grandparents, and substitute teacher all acted ridiculous. The teacher had no right to show an R-rated movie in class without getting permission from every parent. She should be fired at the very least. In my opinion there should always be permission slips for movies to be shown that are specifically for an older demographic - ex. permission slips for 10-year-olds to watch a PG-13 movie.
On the other hand, it is ridiculous for someone to say that she needed psychological counseling after seeing a movie with sex in it. The movie didn’t have any extreme graphic-ness. Who ever heard of a kid needing counseling for seeing a movie with sex in it? It is a part of life. I’m sure that this 12-year-old has had sex ed class.
The grandparents are also ridiculous for filing a lawsuit. While I would have understood if they would have sought to get the teacher fired, it is total nonsense for them to expect monetary compensation. Perhaps they should have instead viewed this as a teaching moment to talk to their kid about the birds and the bees, tolerance of different sexual orientations, etc.
Ridiculous all around.
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